Oh China. ^^;

[firebird_88]

So, Dad called from a train station in Beijing because (JUST FOR KICKS) he decided that he wanted to ride on the high speed train to Tianjin, about 73 miles (117 km) away. (Btw, China's high speed train service can reach average speeds of 200+ miles/hr (330+ km/hr). WHAAAT. SO JEALOUS. ;A; The U.S. needs to catch up, yo. Although apparently China

Comments

[envirion]

I wish there were cheap high speed trains here.

I mean, even Korea's got a bullet train. (Which I hear has to put on the brakes as soon as it reaches max speed - Why they got one, I don't know. ) *shrugs*

Or high speed internet.

Or those cute cell phones.

[firebird_88]

Pht, I'm pretty sure we have the last two. XD; I have a cute cell phone.

Also, it makes sense that we're behind, especially for trains. :/ Asian didn't HAVE a lot of trains until recently, so of course theirs would be more advanced. Also, ours works pretty well so I'm pretty sure people will protest if we try to use more money to upgrade them. OTZ

[envirion]

Idk, Korean sites take forever to load due to all the flashing ads. I keep hearing about how U.S. companies are selectively limiting bandwidth too.

And Japan's way ahead in cell phones. It's kinda cool to have a phone that unlocks by facial recognition. x3

Yeah, I guess it does make sense. Still our Amtrak tickets are pretty expensive. ^^;

[falleny]

XD Awesome! ♥

German trains aren't that bad either, though not as fast as 330+ km/hr! *_*

My dad wanted to take the train to China first (from Germany to China. :|) and then go by train to Tibet. My mom was against it so we won't be going to Tibet for a while. \o/

[firebird_88]

Haha I think European trains are generally better maintained than American ones too. xD; We're just... lazy and stretched too thin, I think. @_@; Also, NYC's policy with their trains is like "Well, it's the oldest subway system in the world and it works. Why mess with it?" (Except it's so dirty. ;A;)

Ooooh Tibet! Yeah, we had plans of going there, but then the whole Tibetian protest of 2008 came along and... we decided that was a bad idea. X.x; Also, did you hear about any health restrictions for that train ride? I know some people can't handle being up that high very well...

[falleny]

Yeah, I think we use the train more often. Though it can be verry dirty as well. >_<;; But that's the fault of idiotic adolescence most of the time because they love to contaminate everything. -_-* Sometimes they even break the glass. :|

It's the highest rail track with the highest station -- still I was surprised when I heard about the health restrictions and that each wagon had some kind of breathing device. :O But my parents also said that we have problems going to Tibet because we have German passports and China is being cautious about "foreigners". :(

[firebird_88]

X___x; I guess that happens all around the world. I know China has the problem with people spitting everyone 'cause decade-long habits are hard to break. XD

Ooooh yeah. I think we were worried that my mom would need the breathing device because she has heart problems. ^^; Aw, same! :( China's just a douche about foreigners in general. We have American passports and it takes us a while to go back and forth too. *SIIIGH*

[epiic]

I don't know how lucky they'd be building such trains here. Amtrak was working on high speed North East Corridor, where it can only get to its highest speed for a tiny part of the trip, due to too many curves. So, hope for anything much faster on that route above ground is unlikely.

The next most useful route would probably be up the CA coast, but here people are very obsessed with their cars, and taking public transit except airplanes is frowned upon. (Suggesting taking bus/train anywhere, even if it might be FASTER (since trains bypass the mess of traffic) is met with a wtf look.)

People in CA are really dumb regarding trains and such - it bugs me. Everyone complains about traffic (which during rush hour I can WALK faster than), but virtually no one wants to try anything else.