Travel by bullet train and the longest run-on sentence of the blog.
We left at 6 a.m. Ate breakfast on the bus, ran into traffic, made it to the station, checked in, fought off the mob, got stepped on, shoved some people out of our space, got to the waiting room, pushed our way into the line and onto the train, worked out how we were going to organize our stuff, sat for four hours, had to reverse our seats, but half of us couldn't because the bags were stuffed behind our seats, sat uncomfortably for the next two hours, got off the train, check out, checked back in, sat in another waiting room for four hours, fought off more mobs, went up and down stairs with the bags (joy), pushed our way onto the train, reversed our seats, jammed our bags behind them, sat uncomfortably for another two hours, ate strange noodles for dinner, then finally got off the train, met with our guide, discovered the escalator was out of order, worked our way up the stairs, finally got onto the bus, got to the hotel, gave them our passports, went up the wonderful elevator, discovered with delight that we were in a 4 star hotel, set all the signs to "do not disturb" and went to bed.
Whirlwind through Xi'an - part 1.
Hello Room,
We like you and your comfortable beds. We like the soft mattresses after the long day on the train. We like the clean and organized. So thank you for being far better than expectations.
Well, we woke up and I actually headed to breakfast for the first time in awhile. They had dumplings. I loved it. They also had rice and spring rolls, which I don't think were actually spring rolls. They were filled with bean paste, I was not a fan. I think those Korean bean paste filled pancakes ruined my interest in all things bean paste.
Then, we got on the bus, drove past the city wall and made our way to the terracotta warrior museum factory. It was really cool to see how they made the warriors in the past and still make the replicas today. They hand craft them in molds, then do more details by hand before putting them in the kiln for 7 days. Next, our museum guide took us inside their shopping area and my gosh could that lady sell. Everyone in our group left after buying something. Even those that hadn't planned on buying anything, bought something. She had me buy stuff I didn't even know I wanted, thankfully, it's all really cool and good stuff.
Then we headed off to a garden/bathing palace. It was very pretty and our guide kept saying something along the lines of some emperor's favorite concubine was fat and he kept her there to take care of her and so that they could live in peace. Something like that. I quite enjoyed it, Josh was crawling around to get pictures of stuff. I had fun watching Josh lean into the water while Ashlin fed the fish so that he could get the picture he wanted.
Finally, it was time for lunch and we ran off to the restaurant. They had dumplings! I love dumplings. There were also noodles and vegetables. I quite enjoyed all of it, but those dumplings trumped all. Then we stopped by the silk museum. They showed us how they make silk, then they showed us their products. They had a very cool pillow that unzipped into a blanket and some really nice clothes. It was kinda weird walking around since someone followed you constantly.
Then we headed off to see the terracotta warriors. That was cool. You don't really get the scale of it unless you see it. There were so many of them and they're all different. It's also fascinating that it took 100 years to build the tomb and they've barely uncovered any of it. Finally, we headed to dinner. It was really good. We went back to the same place, but they had tacos, dumplings and a whole bunch of other awesome foods. I love food. Dumplings are just awesome though. Crystal actually ordered us a second plate of dumplings since we finished off the first plate so quickly.
We like you and your comfortable beds. We like the soft mattresses after the long day on the train. We like the clean and organized. So thank you for being far better than expectations.
Well, we woke up and I actually headed to breakfast for the first time in awhile. They had dumplings. I loved it. They also had rice and spring rolls, which I don't think were actually spring rolls. They were filled with bean paste, I was not a fan. I think those Korean bean paste filled pancakes ruined my interest in all things bean paste.
Then, we got on the bus, drove past the city wall and made our way to the terracotta warrior museum factory. It was really cool to see how they made the warriors in the past and still make the replicas today. They hand craft them in molds, then do more details by hand before putting them in the kiln for 7 days. Next, our museum guide took us inside their shopping area and my gosh could that lady sell. Everyone in our group left after buying something. Even those that hadn't planned on buying anything, bought something. She had me buy stuff I didn't even know I wanted, thankfully, it's all really cool and good stuff.
Then we headed off to a garden/bathing palace. It was very pretty and our guide kept saying something along the lines of some emperor's favorite concubine was fat and he kept her there to take care of her and so that they could live in peace. Something like that. I quite enjoyed it, Josh was crawling around to get pictures of stuff. I had fun watching Josh lean into the water while Ashlin fed the fish so that he could get the picture he wanted.
Finally, it was time for lunch and we ran off to the restaurant. They had dumplings! I love dumplings. There were also noodles and vegetables. I quite enjoyed all of it, but those dumplings trumped all. Then we stopped by the silk museum. They showed us how they make silk, then they showed us their products. They had a very cool pillow that unzipped into a blanket and some really nice clothes. It was kinda weird walking around since someone followed you constantly.
Then we headed off to see the terracotta warriors. That was cool. You don't really get the scale of it unless you see it. There were so many of them and they're all different. It's also fascinating that it took 100 years to build the tomb and they've barely uncovered any of it. Finally, we headed to dinner. It was really good. We went back to the same place, but they had tacos, dumplings and a whole bunch of other awesome foods. I love food. Dumplings are just awesome though. Crystal actually ordered us a second plate of dumplings since we finished off the first plate so quickly.
Whirlwind tour - Part 2.
Today started out with the breakfast buffet being out of dumplings. :( So I had to settle for rice and noodles. After breakfast, we headed to the Xi'an city wall. They had some old catapults which were cool to look at. Then we went through a museum on the wall that was all about Chinese feng shui. We learned about the different types of stone, their different means, what the fung shway animals are used for, etc. Josh bought a jadeite feng shui necklace. It is to stop all bad feng shui towards the wearer because jadeite is the" king of the jade."
Next, we headed back to the bus to drive to the forest of stone tablets. It was really cool looking at all of the tablets and statues they had in this very pretty place. It was like a shrine. I really enjoyed seeing more of the scripts. The scripts are fascinating to me. Maybe I shall pick up calligraphy when I get back.
It was finally lunch time and I was hungry. We went to a hotel buffet. I was quite excited about our first real buffet since we've been on this trip. They had french fries, mashed potatoes and a variety of Chinese dishes. Well after I finished my main meal, I went back for the dumplings. I initially couldn't find them as the first basket was empty. One of the guys pulled them up for me and then I took the whole basket back to the table. The guy looked at me like I was crazy, but I took them back to share with the group. They turned out to be filled with a vanilla custard. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I love dumplings a bit too much, but I'm okay with that.
Then we drove around town and our guide took us to a main shopping street. First she took a group of us to a grocery store so we could get some snacks for the trip. Then, Ashlin saw some stuffed things she wanted for her friends. Josh helped her haggle and this lady came over to help translate. Then she asked if we wanted to buy any art. Well, Ashlin and I said yes and followed her over, found out she was a kindergarten teacher and that this was art made my college students to help them pay for their education. Well, I bought quite a bit while we were there. It was awesome. The quality was amazing and the prices were even better.
After just finishing lunch a few hours before, I was a bit concerned about eating more, but I somehow managed. Crystal had see how quickly we had finished the dumplings previously so she got us two plates of dumplings tonight and we ate them all (well, I ate most of them). Dinner was as awesome as usual. I was quite excited about it. Then we walked a couple miles to the train station, waited about an hour, went up and down stairs, I felt really bad for Josh and Dr. Vartanian and we eventually made it onto the train.
Next, we headed back to the bus to drive to the forest of stone tablets. It was really cool looking at all of the tablets and statues they had in this very pretty place. It was like a shrine. I really enjoyed seeing more of the scripts. The scripts are fascinating to me. Maybe I shall pick up calligraphy when I get back.
It was finally lunch time and I was hungry. We went to a hotel buffet. I was quite excited about our first real buffet since we've been on this trip. They had french fries, mashed potatoes and a variety of Chinese dishes. Well after I finished my main meal, I went back for the dumplings. I initially couldn't find them as the first basket was empty. One of the guys pulled them up for me and then I took the whole basket back to the table. The guy looked at me like I was crazy, but I took them back to share with the group. They turned out to be filled with a vanilla custard. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I love dumplings a bit too much, but I'm okay with that.
Then we drove around town and our guide took us to a main shopping street. First she took a group of us to a grocery store so we could get some snacks for the trip. Then, Ashlin saw some stuffed things she wanted for her friends. Josh helped her haggle and this lady came over to help translate. Then she asked if we wanted to buy any art. Well, Ashlin and I said yes and followed her over, found out she was a kindergarten teacher and that this was art made my college students to help them pay for their education. Well, I bought quite a bit while we were there. It was awesome. The quality was amazing and the prices were even better.
After just finishing lunch a few hours before, I was a bit concerned about eating more, but I somehow managed. Crystal had see how quickly we had finished the dumplings previously so she got us two plates of dumplings tonight and we ate them all (well, I ate most of them). Dinner was as awesome as usual. I was quite excited about it. Then we walked a couple miles to the train station, waited about an hour, went up and down stairs, I felt really bad for Josh and Dr. Vartanian and we eventually made it onto the train.