The Big Beijing/Xi'An Trip Day 1 and 2

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  Beijing, China
Saturday, November 8, 2008

Hello everyone! 好久不见！(Long time no see)

I arrived back from my big 8 day 放假 （vacation）to 北京和西安 (Beijing and Xi'an) at 7:30 AM today (Saturday the 8th). But let's back up to the begging shall we?

I left for the train station in Chengdu at 9:30 AM on Thursday the 30th to catch a 26 hour train that left at 11. There were 9 of us taking the train there, all in hard sleepers. Let me back up and describe the train system in China. When taking trains you have two choices (actually I dont know if you get to chose or it is just luck actually) between the fast train and the slow train. The fast train means that you have less stops along the way at other train stations, whereas the slow train means you stop multiple times along the way hence making the journey slower.

After you chose (luck choses for you?) you next have to chose between hard seats, hard sleeper, or soft sleeper which I have listed here in order of their prices. Due to the length of the trip, hard seat was out for me, but being the cheapo I am I took the hard sleeper, which also had the added bonus of being chosen by all of the other eight people going.

After that choice, you have to chose if you can between 下（bottom）, 中（middle） or 上（top） bunks. All of us had bottom on the way there, and my roommate, Genna, had the other bunk next to mine.

That morning I had ran around to purchase food for the train after hearing my other 4 roommates horror stories about train food. I got a couple of 方便面 (instant noodles, literally convenient noodles haha) and some bananas, tangerines, oreos, chips and of course a lot of water. I also brought along the nifty new tea container I recently purchased to utilize some of the hot water provided on the train but forgot to bring tea leaves. So once we arrived at the train station I walked around the stores looking for 茶, but 3 out of the 4 people didn't understand me when I said it, which I really dont understand because I had the tone perfect and everything.

The last lady misinterpreted my mime motions of drinking tea for eating I guess and proceeded to bring me toanothpicks, a spoon and then a fork which I finally just bought because i was so frustrated and the train was boarding. On the train I ate, watched a small small bit of TV with one of the Chinese ladies above me who thought it was hilarious us watching the same thing and laughing at the same things, talked to Genna, read about Tibet and The Scarlet Pimpernell, and slept. Actually there was a lot of sleeping going on.

There was a bed time too. At 10, while I was reading, all the lights went off except for the emergency lights, so I went to sleep. I haven't talked about the train potties yet. They were squatters with a nice handle to hang on to so you didn't fall and pee all over yourself. They were actually pretty nice and not as smelly (initially) as I was led to believe. They even flushed toilet paper! I was shocked.

Upon arriving in Beijing at 1 or 2 pm, I was even more shocked to find a blue sky to welcome me (but sadly no Beijing welcomes me song). Actually I didn't have a smoggy day in Beijing at all. After the Olympics the residents of Beijing were liking seeing the sky so much that the driving restrictions stayed in effect, thus the beautiful weather.

Our hotel was really nice and we had a floor that most of us were on. We had a little bit of time before the big group dinner at 6:30 that night so we went out to get some jaozi since we were all starving. I saw some interesting graffiti on the way as well as a bridge teaching me the rules of functions.

Then me and Scott went exploring a bit and found 天安门 （Tian'anmen） Square but only the southernmost point. Then we found some alley shops in a hutong and I got myself a nice "I love China" shirt. Then we met a lot of the kinds from the Shanghai progam and went out to our first group dinner.

Here I had the famous Beijing duck and man it was really good. There were so many dishes, but nothing had that same punch like sichuan cuisine. After dinner it was Halloween and some people were planning on going out but I stayed in, hung out with the new people for a while and rested fully for my first full day of sightseeing. I am really glad that I stayed in because I guess the club they went to had a 100 yuan cover ($15) plus a 40 yuan taxi ride one way... and thats not even counting drinks.

Well I am super tired. More on my trip to come. Stay tuned!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

a building at the edge of tiananmen square	a building on tiananmen square look the sky!	a view of the hard sleepers	Genna in our train beds
hutong	shops	shops	shps and sky
some cool graffiti	the mth bridge

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