7 Days Inn (Xi'An Dachaishi)

... on the streets of Xi'an. While it is crowded here, it did not appear to be as bad as Beijing. Eventually, we found our hotel. Our hotel is not how I imagined it to be. That is, it is not one building but consists of two buildings (an East Wing and a West Wing) located on a private property (like a mansion). There are several restaurants on site, as well as a spa, travel agent, gym and pool. It's like we never have to leave the hotel. We checked in ...

... Town. It has a very similar atmosphere as Shuyuan Hostel, also with clean rooms, a unique tri-level setup, and a very informative and helpful staff.
Today was stressful, and I think we're starting to feel the effects of the intensive itinerary. Good thing we have a little more flexibility with our time in Lijiang to slow the pace for the last week of the trip.
Black Dragon Pool and Lijiang Old Town coming up.

... a Mcdonalds and starbucks which for me is the way i feel about china- Contradictory and a bit mixed up. Also saw women selling small puppies out of a binbag. Persuaded Giles not to touch them! xxx Giles: Well, it's been quite advenurous over the past few days - Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven Park, a train journey from Hell, sore bums (from the "hard seats" we were on on the train), worst hangover I've ever had for a while. Didn't get round to seeing a ...

... five halls, dedicating to the protective god of Taoism-Wang Lingguan. The second section has two halls, and the color-painted statues of the Eight Immortals are worshiped in the back hall. The third section is the Main Hall with a tablet hanging on its lintel. The four characters 'Dong Tian Yun Ji' was inscribed on the tablet by Empress ...

... complaining. Many Chinese sit in hard seats that are little more than benches. Even worse, if you can imagine, a handful even stand the entire way. In honor of these enduring souls, Adam and I want to write a book called "Chinese People Sleep Everywhere." On newspapers between cars, underneath rows of seats, and even standing - the Chinese do it all. I think a pop-up book would work best. After leaving our packs at a surprisingly nice hostel (Bell Tower Hostel) and eating a ...

... very tired by the time we got close to the walls. No taxis seemed to want to stop so Travis, bless him, finally got a small motorized rickshaw to stop and agree to take us to the hotel! It was a long day and we had a great time and we were tired. So, we decided to pay for a taxi to take us to see the terra cotta soldiers the next day and a very nice young man agreed to take us and wait for us.. It was a deal! The next morning, we got up and got ready to go-I was VERY excited-I'd ...

... old things and rebuilding them like they would have been the day they were built). Differing from other cities I have been in China they have a Muslim quarter which is a bit of tourist mecca; but they did do the best noodle soup I have had thus far in China. Outside the old town you can see the normal Chinese obsession with shopping malls and building. I can see why shopping can become an obsessions as I tried in vain to find (a) a Chinese Lonely ...

hello again everyone! ok so since i last spoke to you we went to the great wall of china, now that was amazin! the hardest thing ive ever done in my life but im soooo proud of myself for doing it! as most of you no im not the fittest person in the world and we had to walk 10km of the wall! it took us 5 hours and a thought i was going to die by the end of it. It was completely different to what i expected, there were so many ...

... There had been a power outage so most of the restaurants were very dark with just candlelight. Very romantic but I needed to be able to see. We found a restaurant with light and joined a long table. When we asked our neighbours what they were eating they pointed at the menu and very generously offered us some beef tripe, thank but no thanks. We did manage to find something edible which turned out to be delicious.

... at quite a pace! On the way around there are also some stupas and some small buildings with more prayer wheels which the pilgrims visit. Some have their own smaller prayer wheels on a wooden stick which they hold in front of them at about waist level and by a slight wrist movement cause the prayer wheel to move in a clockwise direction and they chant prayers.

The even more dedicated pilgrims carry out prostration which involves taking ...