Our first full day in China.  A bit of an early start for breakfast, and what a breakfast it was.  Everything from frittas to fried doughnuts to eggs and hot milk to soup and chilli noodles.

We rolled out and walked to our classroom in the brisk morning Nanchang air.  After a quick welcome from Paul, our first privilege was to listen to one of the preeminent railway engineers in China (who also happens to be the President of the University) – President Lei.  After a warm welcome, he proceeded to inform us of the wonders of the Chinese High Speed Railway network.  After only starting construction in 2007, they have by far the most track (over 11 000 km) and fastest average train speed (276 km/h) in the world.  The figures he quoted were mind-blowing.

After a quick morning break, Dr Fangjian worked with our students, introducing them to aligning a railway and the key concept of ruling grade.  It was heavy stuff but the students lapped it up, as you’d expect.

As if we hadn’t eaten enough already, it was back to the hotel for lunch – more delicacies to experience.  Off to the shops for a quick look, then back to the classroom where the students really had to work.  Choosing an appropriate line route, completing a vertical transect and calculating the ruling grade took them all afternoon. Fortunately, Zhou Liping had provided a mountain of snacks to keep the wolves at bay, not that anyone needed anything to eat!

Before another scrumptious dinner, the local supermarket got a thorough working over by the boys (and some of the girls, if we’re honest) – a couple of rooms now resemble a supermarket themselves, albeit just the snack, softdrink and lolly section.  Others explored the pop-up restaurants across the road.

All of the students enjoyed a free night of exploring the campus and surrounds before collapsing into bed.

Oh, and I won’t mention that someone else left his passport in the supermarket, which was fortunately found by a couple of fellow travelers and returned quickly (before he even realised it was missed).  And the reason I won’t mention it is that because it was the author!