Our Shandong journey was coming to an end.
Dad & Elaine had reached Dezhou (德州, Dézhōu), and that evening we were heading back to Beijing.
The journey sounded straightforward:
DiDi → Dezhou East Railway Station → high-speed train → Beijing South → Beijing Metro → hotel.
By this stage of our China travels, that combination was beginning to feel almost normal.
What Dad didn’t know was that Elaine had plans for the journey.
Somewhere between Dezhou and Beijing, traveling at a photographed 305 km/h, Dad was going to have a birthday celebration.
There was just one small problem.
We didn’t have a birthday candle. 😂
☕ Our Journey at a Glance
Route: Dezhou → Beijing
Departure: Dezhou East Railway Station (德州东站, Dézhōu Dōng Zhàn)
Train: G190 high-speed train
Time: Evening
Onward transport: Beijing Metro
Where we’d been: Traveling through Shandong Province
What made it memorable: Elaine’s improvised birthday celebration at high speed ❤️
🚗 Our Journey Started With a DiDi
Before the HSR came the first little piece of the journey:
getting ourselves to Dezhou East Railway Station.
We called an executive-category DiDi (滴滴, Dīdī).
When the car arrived, Dad noticed the badge:
红旗 (Hóngqí) — Hongqi, literally “Red Flag.”
Hongqi is a Chinese premium automobile brand with a particularly interesting history. The brand has long been associated with Chinese state and ceremonial vehicles.
Dad’s reaction was considerably less historical:
“Wah. Our DiDi today quite atas. (high class) 😂”
But there’s something useful for a first-time traveler hidden inside this very ordinary photograph.
We were in Dezhou, far outside the standard Beijing–Xi’an–Shanghai first-trip triangle.
Yet getting ourselves to the station was:
open phone → call DiDi → car arrives → go to station.
New city.
Familiar travel rhythm.
That’s one reason independent travel around China gradually became less intimidating for us.
If you’re still trying to understand when to use HSR, metro, DiDi, taxis or flights, our Getting Around China: The Essential Guide for First-Time Travelers puts the pieces together.
📷 Then Came One of Dad’s Favorite Kinds of Travel Photos
At Dezhou East, Dad & Elaine took a selfie beside the station sign:
德州东站
Dézhōu Dōng Zhàn
Dezhou East Railway Station.
Nothing spectacular.
No Great Wall.
No UNESCO monument.
Just:
Dad + Elaine + railway station.
We even photographed our shadows while walking.
At the time, that’s just a silly little travel photograph.
Later?
It says something a postcard cannot:
We were there together.
That’s exactly why we’re sharing photographs like these in FOLLOW OUR STORIES.
The beautiful photographs show you China.
The ordinary photographs often show you:
what traveling China actually felt like.
🚄 What Did Boarding the HSR at Dezhou East Actually Look Like?
This is the part a first-time international traveler may find difficult to picture before arriving in China.
So instead of showing you another screenshot…
watch what Dad & Elaine actually saw.
Our G190 high-speed train arriving at Dezhou East Railway Station for the evening journey to Beijing.
Passengers were already waiting.
People lined up.
Then the train appeared.
That’s it.
😂
Before your first China trip, the railway process can sound intimidating:
huge station + security + passport + waiting hall + boarding gate + platform + train number.
Once you’ve done it several times, those separate worries start turning into a rhythm.
Dad & Elaine weren’t standing there thinking:
“Can foreigners really use China’s HSR?”
We were thinking:
“There’s our train.” 😂
If you’re preparing for your first journey, our China High-Speed Rail for Foreign Tourists — 2026 Guide covers the booking, passport, station, boarding and luggage process in detail.
🎫 Sometimes the Most Reassuring Photograph Is the Most Ordinary One
Elaine had her backpack.
Headphones.
Suitcase.
Phone.
And she walked toward the railway gate, and board the HSR train..
If you’re wondering what other first-time travelers worry about before their first HSR ride, we’ve also published this real traveler question:
China High-Speed Rail for First-Time Travelers: What Should You Know Before Your First Journey?
🚄 G190 — 305km/h
Once aboard, we settled in for the evening journey to Beijing.
Then Dad photographed the display.
There it was:
G190
19:44
and:
305 km/h
😳
The first few times Dad experienced China’s high-speed rail, numbers like that were the story.
305 km/h!
But something funny happens after you travel around China by HSR repeatedly.
Eventually:
305 km/h becomes the background.
You’re sitting down.
Looking at your phone.
Doing something on your iPad.
Having a drink.
Waiting to arrive.
Which is exactly what Elaine was doing.
Except Elaine was secretly working on something else.
😂
❤️ Dad’s Birthday at 305 km/h
Elaine had an iPad.
Dad had a small cake.
But:
no candle.
Problem?
Apparently not.
😂
Elaine took Dad’s photograph and started drawing.
A candle appeared.
Then:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD.
No real candle.
No flame.
No matches.
China Usually Has Another Way. 😂
And then came the photograph Dad still remembers.
Dad.
A little cake.
Milk.
A drink.
Blue HSR seats.
Somewhere between Dezhou and Beijing.
And Elaine behind the camera.
❤️
Dad even posted about it that evening:
“Super memorable BIRTHDAY cake cutting ceremony on board China High Speed Rail on the way to Beijing… candle was provided (hand-drawn) by Elaine.”
Photo credit?
Elaine Lee. 😊
Sometimes the best travel memories aren’t the things you put into the itinerary.
🚄 By Then, HSR Wasn’t Really an Attraction Anymore
That’s perhaps the most interesting part of this story.
Dad & Elaine had traveled on Chinese high-speed trains before.
By this journey, HSR wasn’t something we were taking simply because:
“China has cool bullet trains.”
It was infrastructure we actually used to travel.
Our wider Shandong journey had taken us through:
Beijing → Jinan → Mount Tai → Qufu → Zibo / Linzi → Dezhou → Beijing.
Different places.
Different experiences.
And the railway helped stitch the journey together.
That evening, G190 was simply taking us back to Beijing.
Dad happened to be having a birthday along the way.
😂❤️
🐇 Why Were Dad & Elaine in Dezhou Anyway?
Now we have a choice.
If you came into the Coffee House because you wanted to see what traveling China’s HSR actually feels like:
finish your coffee. ☕
You already have the answer.
But if you’re wondering:
“Why on earth were Dad & Elaine traveling through Dezhou?”
there’s another door.
Dezhou was the final stop on our journey through Shandong:
Jinan → Mount Tai → Qufu → Zibo / Linzi → Dezhou.
And Dezhou surprised us.
There was the Grand Canal (大运河, Dàyùnhé).
Then there was something Dad certainly hadn’t expected:
the Sulu Royal Tomb (苏禄王墓, Sūlù Wáng Mù).
A ruler connected with maritime Southeast Asia…
buried in Shandong?
😳
That’s where the Coffee House starts getting dangerously close to the Deep China Tasting Room. 😂🐇
If you’re curious, follow our Deep China: Shandong History Tasting Menu — Learn Chinese History by Traveling Through It.
If not:
stay for the train ride.
That’s perfectly fine too.
🚉 Then G190 Reached Beijing South
Eventually our evening HSR journey ended at:
Beijing South Railway Station (北京南站, Běijīng Nán Zhàn).
But our travel day wasn’t finished.
And again, rather than Dad trying to explain what happened with another screenshot…
come with us.
Arriving by HSR at Beijing South Railway Station and continuing toward the connected Beijing Metro.
We got off the train.
Elaine walked through the arrival area.
We followed the station signs.
Then continued toward the:
Beijing Metro (北京地铁, Běijīng Dìtiě).
The Metro connection was within the same station complex.
So our journey had effectively become:
Dezhou
↓
DiDi
↓
Dezhou East Railway Station
↓
G190 HSR
↓
Beijing South Railway Station
↓
Beijing Metro
↓
hotel
This is something Dad wishes first-time travelers could picture before worrying themselves silly about independent China travel.
You don’t have to solve:
CHINA.
You solve:
the next little step.
Then the next.
And the systems begin connecting.
☕ What We’d Tell a First-Time Traveler
Before your first China trip, HSR can look like one enormous problem:
How do I book?
Which station?
Where do I go?
How does my passport work?
Where’s the gate?
How do I connect to the Metro afterward?
Learn those basics before traveling.
That’s what our practical guides are for.
But then look at Dad’s photographs — and watch those two little videos again.
Elaine pulling her suitcase.
People lining up.
The train arriving.
Elaine going through the gate.
305 km/h.
Dad eating birthday cake.
Then:
HSR → Beijing Metro.
Nothing there says:
“Expert China traveler required.”
They’re simply moments from two people traveling.
And perhaps that’s the most useful thing this story can show someone planning their first China trip:
“Ahhh… THAT’S what it actually looks like.”
And maybe:
“I think I could do that too.”
Dad hopes so.
Because once the transport stops feeling scary…
China gets much bigger.
And there are a lot more places waiting beyond Beijing.
☕🚄🐇
🚇 Down We Go — But Dad’s Birthday Story Wasn’t Finished Yet
One last little video from our journey.
We had arrived at Beijing South Railway Station (北京南站, Běijīng Nán Zhàn), made our way from the HSR into the connected Beijing Metro…
and down went Elaine.
Elaine heading down into the Beijing Metro after our evening HSR journey from Dezhou.
And that should have been the end of Dad’s birthday travel story.
Dezhou → DiDi → G190 → 305 km/h → Elaine’s digital birthday candle → Beijing South → Metro → hotel.
Quite enough excitement for one birthday. 😂
Except…
Dad’s eldest daughter was in Hong Kong.
And while Dad & Elaine were still making our way across Beijing, she had been arranging something Dad knew absolutely nothing about.
We eventually reached our hotel.
Checked in.
Put down our luggage.
Then…
Dad’s birthday dinner started arriving.
❤️
Apparently Elaine’s candle at 305 km/h wasn’t the final birthday surprise after all.
☀️ Continue Dad’s birthday story in DAILY CHINA →
Sometimes one journey ends…
and the next little story is already waiting at the hotel. 😂❤️
