I grown up in a lovely small town with rivers big and small, mountains high and low.
There were railway lines which connected this town to the captital city of the province.
We lived not very far from the railway tracks and the train station. Close to our house, a creek ran along the railway tracks and seperated us from the tracks. There were mountains on the other side of the tracks. We often crossed the creek, and then crossed the tracks to get to the mountains. Sounds very dangerous. But we did a lot at that time. Since it was a small town, the train was not running that frequently. we just had to watch carefully before running cross the tracks.
The train station had a waiting area and a ticket office. In front of the building was a Square which was used as a temperary waiting area in peak time.
When we were kids, we spent lots of time playing outdoor. Beside played in water and in the mountain, We hanged out a lot inside the train station or at the square.
At Summer night, we played in the square, catching cricket and played creket fight under the dim light . In winter, if there was snow, we played snow fight or built snowman.
It could get very humid and hot in Summber. In those days without air conditioning or fan, it was not unusuall to sleep outside at night, either just outside the house, or on the street, or on spacious place where there were better air flow. Don't be scared when you see " we sleep on the street". We were not trying to block traffic or commit suicite . No car on the streets at that time.
The square before the train station was just a pefect place to sleep at in Summer.
When the Sun went down, people poured water on the floor to cool it down and setup the bed or sheet made from Bamboo. Some people slept whole night outside. Some people went home in the middle of night when it cooled down a little bit.
The most exciting event was watching outdoor movie at the square in summber. Since this only happened occashionly and it was free. The space was alway filled up very quickly long before the movie started.
some people sat on small stool, some just sat on the ground, some stood to watch. Some people had to watch from the back of the movie screen - a piece of white color sheet.
There were two type of trains in and out of the train station --freight trains and passenger trains.
The trains in those days were steam trains which were fuelled by burning coal to produce steam in a boiler. The steam moves reciprocating pistons which were mechanically connected to the train's main wheels.
These kind of trains made more noise. But I was used to the sounds they made. I liked the whistle sound when they arrive or depart, it made me excited.
Days after days, years after days, I listened the train coming and leaving. I watched people getting on the train and getting off the train. But I never had a chance to take the train to anywhere else. Sometimes, I was wondering what the capital city looked like at the far end the railway lines. Sometimes I was dreaming that I wore a red dress, went on a train to Beijing to visit the zoo, to Shanghai to see the huge shopping centers.
When I was 18 years old, I finally got on the train for the first time in my life. I was going to travel hundreds, hundreds of miles to an univerty in a big city.
When I arrived at the station of my destination after switching two trains at two different stations, it was 5am in the morning. I follewed the crown and exit to the square. It was a quite morning in early September. A light drizzle made the air very fresh and more quite. I looked around and took a look at this new city. "Wow", the train station was huge and beautiful, with a big square.
Years later, I went to Beijing to visit the Beijing zoo.
years later, I went to Shanhai to walk on the Nanjing road.
As somebody said: "Keep your heart open to dreams. For as long as there is a dream , there is Hope. And as long as there is Hope, there is Joy in Living."
