Of Sardines and Flying Dutchmen

Bus 731, Beijing, China

No, this it not about old sailors' legends but actually buses in Beijing.
Today I found the bus that goes non-stop from Chaoyang District, where I currently live, to Wudaokou, where I go to school: it's 731. I tracked it down north of Wudaokou station following its route without finding any stops. Still, 731 buses kept passing as if to taunt me. But every time I did reach a bus stop it did not serve no. 731. Now, I don't believe in ghost ships and the Flying Dutchman but this was just too similar: a bus that goes past but stops nowhere. Surreal!
Finally, after surely an hours or so, I tracked it down to its terminus. There an attendant told me that 731 only starts back at Wudaokou station. I had really been chasing phantoms.
And sardines? Well, that's the condition of people on the bus during rush hour. Like sardines in a tin, squeezed together with hardly any way out, with other people's crotch pressed embarrassingly against your knee if you sit. If we can somehow squeeze another person in we will just push a bit harder inward.
And then the speed of the bus in Beijing's traffic is, on average, also that of a can of salted fish. At least I'm sitting. Now, the rest of the trip can only be a matter of days.