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January 10, 2006
update - in Xi'an
wow! Xi'an is a very cool city! We took an overnight sleeper train from Tianjin to Xi'an. It was a long, but very relaxing, ride. Britt and I were able to catch up on some much-needed sleep! In the past few days, we've seen the Drum and Bell Towers, the Muslim Quarters, the Great Mosque, the Terra Cotta Warriors, walked the City Wall and had Hong Kong massages... and we leave tomorrow for Guilin! We were hoping to take the train to Guilin from here, but because of Spring Festival, everyone is traveling right now and the train tix were just as much as flying... might as well save some time if we can't save money. ;) So, we fly out tomorrow and we'll land in an empire of Mother Nature! (something we've missed tremendously since we've been in China!) Looking forward to it...
We've met some really cool people, ate a lot of great food in the Muslim Quarters (lots of lamb kebobs and yam patties!) and walked, and walked, and walked! We're both pretty exhausted, but we're amped from all the excitement of being in a new place. Life is good!
I have to say, the Terra Cotta Warriors were kinda creepy. I mean, it *is* somebody's 2000 year old grave, afterall. But now, it's a tourist attraction for all the world to see. Strange. Even stranger, is that the "Emperor Guy" slave-drove 700,000 people to create all these detailed clay soldiers for his tomb. It's just weird. And being there was creepy. But, we can officially mark that one off our list of Things to See in China. ;)
Tomorrow, we're checking into a hostel called Flowers - what a great name! and the photos are cool! I'm loving the hostel life! It's so cheap! (like $7/per person, per night) and a great way to meet fellow travelers from all over the world. They also have a ton of info about other cities (maps, tour info, travel info, messages, photos, etc.) You could pretty much just spend your life hopping from hostel to hostel and figure it all out as you go. Love it!
Well... I'm going to try to upload a few photos -- I'm having a hard time uploading anything here, so it might not work. We'll see.
I'll post again once we're in Guilin! 
Posted by daiseykat at January 10, 2006 08:25 PM