Tom and Laurent
On board the high speed train from Beijing to Shanghai.
One side of the track hundreds and hundreds of tiny single story houses flashing past. On the other, fields and plots without end, every square foot being used as far as the eye can see ...
This train is the Chinese equivalent of the French TGV. Very, very fast and quiet. The carriages imperceptibly tilting on the rare change of course.
Every so often a city can be seen on the horizon. Suddenly a group of skyscrapers with no transitions at the edges. As if just planted there. There's very little greenery in sight. Lots of brown and grey.
This is a free day. Books, kindles, snoozing, iced coffee, pistachio nuts. For Laurent and Tom, chess. Five hours of train.