Travelling by Train in Beijing

Everyone has horror stories of travelling by train in Beijing so we were prepared, well we thought we were.  Firstly I will say that the train system in Beijing is easy to navigate and puts anything we have in Sydney to shame.  It's a mixture of lines and colors but they all intersect so you just go a few stops one way and connect with another line.  Easy.  The most difficult part is getting on the train.  When you arrive on the platform is looks very orderly - people seem to be  queing to get on the train.  However when the train arrives you just push your way on - now I have been on crowded trains before but these trains are not crowded they are crammed!

Not my view!

But I will take a step back.  Firstly when the train arrives you do not let the people off but rather you just push your way on and somehow you find a spot - I guess its like filling a jar with sand - every available spot just gets filled.  Matthew at one point seemed to have his body in one place but his feet in another, there is no risk of falling because you have no room to fall.  The Chinese are bigger then the Vietnamese so I am once again in a country where I am not considered tall hence I can't see much above people's shoulders, rather I am in the  unenviable  position of being at armpit height! thankfully travelling with my family I can never lose them.

We must have stood out!

When you arrive at your stop arriving you need to push your way off - I have to admit I felt a little like a cork coming out of a bottle but if you don't push your way off you will quickly find yourself missing your station.
Maybe we are more Vietnamese then we think because the whole process took us only one trip to master and we spent the rest of our time getting on and off trains like we had done it all our lives.