Eighteen minutes past midnight. Night train from Beijing to Datong. The lights go off and an awkward silence settles in while everybody curls up in their soft beds trying to calm down the excitement of the journey ahead. Well…I am feeling this way, at least. The only Chinese person in this four-bed compartment is already asleep by the time I write this, no excitement, just another journey to work perhaps. Did I say soft bed? It isn’t soft at all. Even my feet are softer. (Yes, I just squeezed my feet to get the comparison accurate). But they provide us with a nice soft pillow and a duvet. The air-conditioning…