In September 1980, I travelled to China for the first time. We started in Hong Kong and travelled to Canton by train. A few days later we flew (in a Hawker Siddeley Trident(!)) to Shenyang.
That night we wandered around town listening to the wholly steam operations of a major railway junction, including the chime whistles I recalled from the pacifics I knew in my childhood. Even the valve setting was similar, and while everyone was impressed (we had well known English railfans with us, including Pat Whitehouse) the people from my home town were almost floating above the ground with the force of memories brought back!
Peter