En Route to Zhangjiajie, China

China is a country of great beauty with its mountains and rivers. 

It is also a country of great contrasts.  The cities are expanding fast with high rises and multi-tiered roads. Super highways and fast trains connect the cities.

The Shenzhen train station is huge and we caught the fast train to Changsa from here.  It was a four hour ride even at the speed of 307 km/hr.

 As these highways and trains cut across the countryside, there are still lots of small farms worked by farmers who have only their hands to toil and till the land.

The fast train has coaches dedicated to the disabled and nursing mothers.  There is also a buffet car. Here is one of their menus and here is my ice cream!

 The train is very comfortable with plenty of leg room and an overhead shelf to store your luggage.  The seats area numbered so there will be no quibbles about seating.

 It stops at major stations along the way for passengers to disembark as well as to pick up new passengers. The stops are just long enough for passengers to get off and to get on.  Ticket inspectors conduct random checks to ensure that everyone is a bona fide passenger.

When we alighted from the train, our bus was waiting for us and we wended our way to our next destination.

Cactus Garden in Changi Airport

This lovely spot is tucked away on the rooftop of Terminal 1 in Changi Airport, Singapore.

An unobstrusive signpost pointed to a staircase leading to this evergreen oasis which showcases a variety of cacti. Here are some of them.

They are very pretty and perhaps it's the thorns that keep itchy fingers away, thus protecting them from would-be poachers.

Although no smoking signs are posted among  the plants, there is a spot uncomfortably close by where the smokers puff away unconcerned.  Don’t they realize that smoke travels through the air??

Let’s hope that the health of the cacti remains unaffected, hardy as they are. 

Changi Airport Terminal 1

Changi airport has new surprises each time we pass through. This time there is the Social Tree, lit up by lovely lights that catch your eye as it rotates.

I saw people busy at one of the four or five kiosks not far from the tree.  When there was a kiosk that was free, we approached it and this is what we saw.

We had 2 alternatives, either to snap a photo of ourselves and post it up on the social tree or take a video.  All that we had to do was to press on the button of our choice and follow instructions on the screen.  Hey, voila!  There was our snapshot floating up in the tree among the others.

Different types of flowers are planted in the main area of the of the departure lounge.  This made it very pretty and relaxing, as if you were in a little garden.

Many people posed for photos with these flowers as backdrops, perhaps to capture memories of this terminal.