Security

On my recent trip to Guizhou province I took a few trains. Chinese train stations have a lot of security nowadays - metal detectors and X-ray machines at the entrances. Unfortunately, trains are the transportation of choice for all Chinese peasants, who frequently travel with all of their worldly possessions on their backs or in two enormous sacks balanced on a beam of wood and painfully held on a shoulder.

On one of my recent train trips there was a slight hold up at the entrance to the station. A group of peasants was waiting on the side while their bags were X-rayed and searched. The cops had pulled out a hoe and an ax and were trying to decide if the ax was kosher to take on the train. I didn't wait for them to come to a decision. But I recently accidentally tried to bring a Swiss Army knife and a bottle of Burmese whiskey in Kunming and two or three screwdrivers at the airport in Beijing. Both times they were picked up. So the Chinese security machine is working well.