I was reading the other day that one of the changes made on the London Underground that increased customer satisfaction the most was not adding more trains, or cleaning the stations, having more female toilets, increased security or having smoother transit through the stations or anything else like it, it was actually providing a countdown timer for when the next train would arrive!
So this says a lot about human behaviour - if we know the time when something will happen, then we are happier than having a vague 'soon’.

I found myself applying the idea to two of my former staff members that I met again last week.  

One was fretting because her mother had been to visit her and she had an ultimatum - marry your foreign boyfriend within the next 6 months or the parents would arrange a wedding for her before it was “too late” - the mystical 28 year old ’use-by’ date. Meaning that in much of Chinese culture, a woman over this age and unmarried is ineligible. There is even a word for it in Chinese sheng nve (left over woman).

My friend’s dilemma was that she was perfectly happy in her relationship with her boyfriend and was unsure how to “attack” the subject with him - given the ultimatum she had been delivered! Marriage proposal before Chinese New Year or ... She wasn't sure how the boyfriend would respond - because it had never been an issue - would he say yes, or would she return to her hometown to marry a pig farmer, at her parents behest!

Back to the train analogy, she had the departure time, she just didn't know which train would arrive at the platform!

The second lady had essentially settled into a seat on the train, but wasn't sure when it was actually going to depart.

She was a bit older and had a teenage daughter, she was divorced and had found a foreign boyfriend who took good care of her, allowed her to purchase designer clothes, took her on overseas holidays and to expensive restaurants. She was very happy, but still very worried - The main problem, he was estranged but not divorced. He had promised her that he would divorce and marry her, but this was slow coming! He would start proceedings soon, they would be married soon, they would buy a house in China soon...she hoped sooner rather than later, but it wasn't so clear-cut.

The gossip of the day was about another associate who got on the wrong train for the wrong reason and got off at the next stop - she had married a few years ago and been recently divorced! 
There was an age gap of 20+ years between the young Chinese woman and the foreign man and he had a family overseas. They had dated for 3-4 years and seemed like a good couple, they accompanied each other everywhere and their wedding had been a lavish “multi-cultural” extravaganza in her hometown.
His stipulation in the marriage, no more children - she married him knowing this, but was unable to defeat the family requirement of an son and heir.
He held firm and the marriage didn't last - the ’last chance for a baby’ at 30 years old was quick divorce and re-marriage.
The two friends reported the outcome - she had recently married an “ugly” local man she had no feelings for and was expecting a baby. Her family were excited, but she didn't seem to be! She was talking about divorce soon after the baby was born. 

Are there other options for travel that don't require a long train journey - some people try ’train hopping’, changing trains at obscure stations a few times to get to a destination. Or maybe the ’midnight subway’ is more your style. Or maybe you have the quaint hobby of ’train spotting', collecting a brief montage of different types and models of trains! Each to his own! 
Of course, some of us don't even know where the railway station is located, or we turn up at the bus station instead of the railway station because we got the complex timetable of life upside-down. Or some, like me, end up bicycling everywhere because public transport (and especially train travel) scares the hell out of us!

One of the key points about ’train’ travel in China is that you really have to listen closely to the “announcements” that are made - sometimes the ticketing isn't so clear, or the boarding gate is obscure or the location to the assembly area is shrouded - but one thing is sure, the route has already been set and the train will depart at the correct time regardless of whether you are on it or not. The other true point is that the train driver controls the speed of the train, not the passengers! Happy journeys!