I Haven't Seen the Sun in Three Days!
The pollution in China is simply overwhelming. There arent sunny days in the big cities and the sky is a perpetual shade of gray or white. There's also a constant haze hanging low over the cities, but I've been promised by other traveller's that this will get better once I move south to Yangshuo and Hong Kong. Here's to hoping.
Before I update you on another few days of life in China, I'm going to do something I should have done a while back. During my days on the trans-Siberian I was on a tour with a number of british guys. They have a lot of very unique slang that had never heard of before. The first person to correctly translate all of the following phrases will win absolutely nothing! (but try anyway)
a) bird
b) mingin'
c) sky rocket
d) trouble and strife
The last two are phrases from northern rhyming slang. If anyone gets those, I'll be very impressed.
Back to China... My second day in Beijing saw me feeling much better, so I decided to go out on the town and see what the city had to offer. Since I only had one day in which to see all of Beijing I decided to concentrate on the important parts - Tienamen Square and The Forbidden City (not so forbidden anymore).
Since Chairman Mao's mosoleum is only open in the mornings during the summer I decided to make that my first stop - until I saw the line. The line moves pretty quickly but it must have gone on for a mile (literally). I've been to Disney World twice in my life, and this was still by far the longest line I had ever seen! Once I had that idea scratched I decided to enter the Forbidden City. James Bond tactics be damned - I'll just pay the admission fee ($7).
To get inside, you have to enter under the giant picture of Chairman Mao (at least I know what he looks like without seeing his dead body now). From there it's a lot of little courtyards, gates, and buildings with names clearly showcasing the former Emporer's incredible ego's. If you were to name the front door of your house "the gate of divine heavenly peace" I woudl be a little concerned. Furthermore, if your dining room were to be called "the room of divine military genius" I'd call the nuthouse.
After spending an afternoon in the Fairly-Accesible City I went back to my hostel, got my stuff and caught a cab to the train station for my train to Xi'an. The train was suprisingly comfortable, with 4 people to a cabin and a TV screen at the foot of each bed! I was also expecting to be sharing my cabin with Chinese travellers, but it turned out to be two Canadians and a Mexican student. Oh well.
Around 8 am I arrived in Xi'an and transferred to my hotel. Over Breakfast I met a group of 4 Czech travellers who I go to dinner with tonight. They're travelling all over China for about 2 months and I have to say that I'm jealous. I'm certainly thankful for the trip I'm doing right now, but 1.5 weeks in China is simply not enough to see anywhere near everything this place has to offer.
After Breakfast I showered up and hit the town. And the town hit back with heat and humidity. It's the sort of heat that just sucks the life out of you. Taking it slow I first went for a hike around part of the old city walls. Xi'an is one of the only cities in China with it's ancient walls, and they make for a magnificent way to see the city. All along the way are beautifully restored Guard Towers and other outcroppings. Truly awesome.
Towards the end of my walk I took a break under a bit of shade that I found not too far from where a group of rickshaw drivers were hanging out. When they saw me they invited me over and wanted to know all sorts of things about me, like my name, where I was from, where I was goin in China and on and on! They were all very nice and clamboring to ask me questions. They even asked me to write down my name in their scrapbook along with the name of the city I was from. All in all the Chinese have to be the nicest people I've ever met. They all want to help you all the time, even to the point of overkill.
After visiting with the drivers I walked back to my hostel (took another shower) and signed myself up for a tour of...
Drum Roll Please...........
The Terracotta Warriors!!!
I'm so excited about going to see them tomorrow. I think there are very few more amazing sights in the world and I'm going to see them firsthand!
From Xi'an China,
Andrew
Before I update you on another few days of life in China, I'm going to do something I should have done a while back. During my days on the trans-Siberian I was on a tour with a number of british guys. They have a lot of very unique slang that had never heard of before. The first person to correctly translate all of the following phrases will win absolutely nothing! (but try anyway)
a) bird
b) mingin'
c) sky rocket
d) trouble and strife
The last two are phrases from northern rhyming slang. If anyone gets those, I'll be very impressed.
Back to China... My second day in Beijing saw me feeling much better, so I decided to go out on the town and see what the city had to offer. Since I only had one day in which to see all of Beijing I decided to concentrate on the important parts - Tienamen Square and The Forbidden City (not so forbidden anymore).
Since Chairman Mao's mosoleum is only open in the mornings during the summer I decided to make that my first stop - until I saw the line. The line moves pretty quickly but it must have gone on for a mile (literally). I've been to Disney World twice in my life, and this was still by far the longest line I had ever seen! Once I had that idea scratched I decided to enter the Forbidden City. James Bond tactics be damned - I'll just pay the admission fee ($7).
To get inside, you have to enter under the giant picture of Chairman Mao (at least I know what he looks like without seeing his dead body now). From there it's a lot of little courtyards, gates, and buildings with names clearly showcasing the former Emporer's incredible ego's. If you were to name the front door of your house "the gate of divine heavenly peace" I woudl be a little concerned. Furthermore, if your dining room were to be called "the room of divine military genius" I'd call the nuthouse.
After spending an afternoon in the Fairly-Accesible City I went back to my hostel, got my stuff and caught a cab to the train station for my train to Xi'an. The train was suprisingly comfortable, with 4 people to a cabin and a TV screen at the foot of each bed! I was also expecting to be sharing my cabin with Chinese travellers, but it turned out to be two Canadians and a Mexican student. Oh well.
Around 8 am I arrived in Xi'an and transferred to my hotel. Over Breakfast I met a group of 4 Czech travellers who I go to dinner with tonight. They're travelling all over China for about 2 months and I have to say that I'm jealous. I'm certainly thankful for the trip I'm doing right now, but 1.5 weeks in China is simply not enough to see anywhere near everything this place has to offer.
After Breakfast I showered up and hit the town. And the town hit back with heat and humidity. It's the sort of heat that just sucks the life out of you. Taking it slow I first went for a hike around part of the old city walls. Xi'an is one of the only cities in China with it's ancient walls, and they make for a magnificent way to see the city. All along the way are beautifully restored Guard Towers and other outcroppings. Truly awesome.
Towards the end of my walk I took a break under a bit of shade that I found not too far from where a group of rickshaw drivers were hanging out. When they saw me they invited me over and wanted to know all sorts of things about me, like my name, where I was from, where I was goin in China and on and on! They were all very nice and clamboring to ask me questions. They even asked me to write down my name in their scrapbook along with the name of the city I was from. All in all the Chinese have to be the nicest people I've ever met. They all want to help you all the time, even to the point of overkill.
After visiting with the drivers I walked back to my hostel (took another shower) and signed myself up for a tour of...
Drum Roll Please...........
The Terracotta Warriors!!!
I'm so excited about going to see them tomorrow. I think there are very few more amazing sights in the world and I'm going to see them firsthand!
From Xi'an China,
Andrew
posted by Andrew at
5:55 AM
4 Comments:
Well, you know how excited I am that you're seeing the terracotta warriors. I looked around the web last night, reading about them and seeing pictures. It said they're in a huge airplane hanger. I thought they were where they were found. Or did they just construct a hanger around where they were found?
I'm very glad you're feeling better, too.
By
Mom, at 6:48 AM
Oh, I know what a "bird" is. (I wasn't a fan of the Beatles and "everything British in the 60s" for nothin'.) That's a "chick," or an attractive young woman.
By
Mom, at 10:07 AM
Holy mother - I just went to this site (http://www.aldertons.com/) to check out rhyming slang. Reminds me of Gram who was fluent in Pig Latin.
By
Mom, at 12:21 PM
I had always heard it just as "trouble". Like, me trouble hit me over th' head for staying out so late.
Trouble. Trouble and strife. Me wife!
By
Anonymous, at 11:36 AM
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