Wuxi Expat Blogger Says that Only Eunuchs Will Be Allowed to be Wuxi Metro Train Drivers

Rumors abound in the Wuxi China Expatdom about the Wuxi Metro Line where line #1 construction seems about to be finished.

Some say the line will begin operations in June; some say it will start serving the public in July.

Some say the it will cost three to eight rmb to take the train; others say that it will cost a passenger eight to ten.

Some have said that tunnels on line #2 are to be filled in with cement because of cost overruns.

But the most astounding rumor has come from Wuxi Expat blogger Andrew Cowlinch who says that only Eunuchs will be allowed be drivers on the Wuxi Metro. In an interview with the Wuxi China Expatdom Blog, Cowlinch claimed that he had two of his students told him of the eunuch driver policy. “Two different students in different classes told me of this.” said Cowlinch. “It is not a figment of my wild imagination!”

Lord Kenneth Clark, an expert on China and Metro trains, says there may be something to that rumor. “Contrary to conventional wisdom, Eunuchs did not die out with the fall of the Qing Dynasty. The Chinese, during the warlord and People's Republic, had continued to employ eunuchs and place them in positions where they can have a great deal of influence. Recently, they have sought to reduce the Eunuch influence. I would say that the reasoning behind the Eunuch train driver policy, is that trains run very fixed routes and there is minimal meddling that that eunuchs can do with a subway train route!”