we headed for the zoo as our train wasn't until 21:36pm. Tried the subway system, the fellow giving out the tickets had no English but by pointing to the map we got our message across. Using a map and Joe's trusty compass we hopped on, it was a loop train with a few transfers on it, only for going the long way round the loop we did fine. At the Transfer station one train before us was packed, the door wouldn't close so the attendant just pushed the last few in until the door closed. Besides the crowds it's cheap travelling 2yu'an (20cent) to get anywhere in the city.We walked to the zoo, compass in hand about 20mins. It's a lovely big area, full of trees and lakes with ducks and geese plodding across the pathway and swimming away. Even the crowds of Beijing getting swallowed up in its green areas. The conditions are fairly atrocious, monkeys in cramped cages, wolves in tight runways and tigers and lions in room sized cages, even though the big cats have outside runs it seems they have to go through their daily performances in front of the baying crowds looking for roars. The Pandas had a bit better conditions, there was only three and they didn't seem too interested in having their photo taken so we headed off for the train.Made it to the train station good and early, here we saw the real people of Beijing, all different minorities in working clothes carrying their belongings on their backs wrapped in blankets or refuse bags. This is the part that you could miss by staying in the bright glitzy street fronts of downtown Beijing, behind it lies a largely peasant population, with an ever widening gap between rich and poor. We ate at the station poor enough rice and chicken but all for 4 Euro. Waiting in line we met this Chinese student who really helped us, wrote down the name and address of our hotel in Chinese and walked with us up to the carriage. The soft sleeper we were staying in was very nice, two bunk beds, two Tvs, an armchair and table and our own bathroom. We didn't know what to expect from the train so it was a nice surprise.