The following notes relate to a visit undertaken during the second half of March, 1999. Of the four people in the group, three were old China hands. It was the first time, however, that any of us had visited China other than in a large group, and we found that organising our own tour was highly satisfactory in a number of respects. In particular:

• It allowed us to tailor our trip to reflect our own particular interests;
• It gave us great flexibility when, for instance, "chasing" trains at Jing Peng.
• It was very significantly cheaper (probably by about £500 per head) than travelling in a commercial group. The budget was also helped by obtaining tickets from Lufthansa well in advance, which cost less than £300 per head, including UK provincial connections.

The success of the trip must be attributed to:

• The organisational prowess of Zhao Yang at Harbin (zhaoyang38@yahoo.com), who faultlessly arranged the bookings, and who is easy to deal with, being an enthusiastic Internet user, and;

• Tina, the famous guide from Chifeng, whose efficiency and enthusiasm at Jing Peng had to be seen to be believed.

Our visit started with a fairly generous three days at Chengde, which was reached on the afternoon train from Beijing. On arrival, it transpired that the hotel heating system had broken down, but to our cynical surprise, promises that this would be repaired the following day were fulfilled!

The weather here was none too good, and it was overcast for 2½ days. However, activity on the branch was well up to expectations, with at least five up-trains each day during daylight hours. As usual, nothing much seemed to happen before about 10.00 a.m. (presumably there is a breakfast-time shift change for loco crews). All trains were triple worked by the usual combinations of SY and JS 2-8-2s, but unusually, two of the trains seen featured double-heading with a single banker.

Fuxin was reached by the night train from Chengde, which gets in at a rather unsociable 03.30! None of us had visited the city previously, but we had high expectations in view of the glowing reports that have been issued by enthusiasts over the last year or so.

In general we were not so upbeat as other visitors, and the reasons for this are as follows:

• The weather was overcast for almost the entire duration of our three-day stay (we also experienced about two inches of snow, apparently the heaviest of the season).
• Whilst there is still quite a lot of steam around, the photo locations are not very inspiring, and did not really provide the sort of gritty industrial potential, which is on offer at Anshan, for instance. The city has at least two, large open-cast coal mines but these are almost entirely worked by electric traction.
• Our visit to the engine sheds gave rise to bad feeling. We were charged 110 Yuan per head for photography (about £8) but were not allowed to even enter, let alone photograph in, the shed building. To rub salt in the wound, we were even hassled to leave the shed yard after about five minutes, long before we had fully exploited the photographic potential. The whole experience was very reminiscent of Vietnam.
• Our "English speaking" guide was new to the job and despite good intentions, she found it very difficult to interpret adequately.

On the positive side, Mr. Goo the Chinese-speaking guide (who has featured in other Internet reports) is very enthusiastic, and was able to provide really useful assistance through his encyclopaedic knowledge of the timetables and photo spots. As with Michael Rhodes before us, we were enthusiastically banqueted by the local tourist director, who was most concerned that we should enjoy our visit. The date for the Steam Festival has now been fixed for the fortnight starting November 20, but the authorities are still vague about exactly what will be on offer. Doubtless it will be worth visitors making for Fuxin if they happen to be in China at this time, although quite what steam will be left on the China Rail (as opposed to colliery) lines by then must be open to question. Also our treatment at the engine sheds (see above) does not bode well for an influx of enthusiasts! We tried to stress the importance of publishing the Festival plans well in advance, both through the Internet and the railway press: watch this space!

Ressui was reached by catching the convenient overnight train from Fuxin to Chifeng, and thence by CITS minibus. During our eight-day visit, traffic was about par for the course, with an average of perhaps four trains each way during daylight hours (including periodic light engines). Not surprisingly the weather was very mixed, the temperature generally rising to a high of about freezing. One day was written off due to continuous snow, but we experienced no repetition of March last year, when at midday it was still –20c with a very strong wind! On one of the days the temperature rose to +10c with a strong wind, and this caused a rapid thaw. "Steam effects" disappeared, the ground became very muddy in places and streams that we had previously hardly noticed, suddenly became impassable barriers! We all breathed a sigh of relief when the temperature dropped again: never did I think I would pray for colder weather in March at this location!

Our visit served to endorse what a fantastic location Ressui is, and what a tragedy it will be when the sound of diesels echo round the hills. Various estimates put the life of steam at between two and five years, and generally the QJs seem in very poor condition. Few, if any, have mechanical stokers that work, and thus 45 minutes of continuous shovelling is required when tackling the Pass.

There are now twelve hotels at Ressui (mainly because it is highly regarded as a spa, apparently) and the new three-star Railway Hotel was due to open at the time of our visit. This will be the best in town, and features a Doric portico that is both literally and figuratively way "over the top". Now we know what happened to the old arch from Euston Station!

On the Saturday before our departure, we had arranged with CITS to visit the Dahuichang Lime Works. This brought to light two significant discoveries:

• Although the works are now firmly established on the enthusiast itinerary, this does not mean that CITS necessarily know how to get there! We hadn’t bothered to take directions, and wasted perhaps 45 minutes before we located the railway.
• The railway doesn’t actually operate on Saturdays and Sundays. All the four serviceable locos were locked in the shed, the door of which was obligingly opened by a friendly staff member.

At the works we met a (presumably affluent!) German enthusiast who claimed to have just paid Yuan 500 in the works office for a "photo permit", and was not told that the line was closed for the weekend! Understandably he was furious, but did not appear to try to obtain a refund.

Within the city, our party went to the Friendship Store in order to get souvenirs and presents. The store has been recently refurbished, and now seems to concentrate very much on imported luxuries, which are sold at indifferent prices. Overseas visitors are therefore recommended to visit a department store, where local Chinese goods can still be purchased at incredibly low prices.

Roy Laverick