Heading north into Sìchuān province, I rode the hard sleeper from Kūnmíng to Xīchāng. What a pleasure Chinese trains are. The worst trains I've ever ridden were in Bolivia and Myanmar. Bolivia takes last place because one of my trains actually derailed, but Burmese trains are equally poor otherwise. The best trains of course are in Japan, and nothing tops the
shinkansen. China takes second place – they're smooth, professionally staffed, and clean as a whistle. Classical music chimes away in the background – the opening song after we pulled out of Kunming, to my amazement, was a rendition of the United States national anthem, if I've ever heard it. A public execution will likely be held in the near future concerning this not insignificant oversight on the part of a railway employee.
