Last Day in Xi'an

  Xi'an, China
Friday, July 18, 2008

Friday July 18th was our last day in Xi'an. In the morning we all gave our presentations that we had been working on with other students. It was fifteen minutes each and we were done by 12. Then I went with some other Chinese students to lunch. We had a great time and talked about when we would see them again in Beijing. In the afternoon, Tim had the great idea of bike riding around Xi'an City Wall. This wall is about 14.5 kilometers (about 6 miles) and was built during the Ming Dynasty.

Ming Dynasty Soldiers

After getting some pictures with men dressed as Ming dynasty soldiers, we climbed the wall and rented our bikes. The nice thing is that it was mostly flat, but bumpy: after 600 years, it is bound to have some serious pothole issues. But the scenery and experience were well worth it. We got to see the sunset over the city, behind the reconstructed historic houses.

Bike Ride on the Wall

After that we went to dinner with Tim, Eliza (another staff member from Poly U) and some other students that had not yet left for either Hong Kong or Beijing. As always, dinner was about a dozen shared courses that were each delicious. And I had my first experience of eating a 100 year old egg. It's not as sour as it sounds. Despite the slight after taste, it was actually very tasty.
By that point we were all wiped. It had, after all, been a packed week in which we had been in class all day, working on a presentation at night, and trying to fit some opportunities to experience Xi'an in between. That completed the academic portion of this trip, and the next day Jaydee, Rachel, and I were about to embark on a completely new adventure. We had decided to take a boat cruise down the Yangtze River through the famous Three Gorges. We had come to find out that the only boat in our price range was one in which no English was spoken, but hey - the guide book said it is a good option for backpackers. The only way we could book tickets was through Yufei and Yi and their very generous help. But I will save that for the next blog, as it has some great stories of its own.