Missing me yet? I don't suppose it has been that long really but it feels like an age for me. Seven days ago I set off from the airport and what an adventure it has been since then. I've spent three days in Beijing exploring the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, the Olympic stadium and above all exploring the food! I am in complete food heaven.
The Great Wall is incredible. We went to Sumatai, the much less touristy section. Of course this is with good reason, it is tough walking over steep terrain, up and down dips. A lot of these bits were broken stairs and of varying heights so it really put muscles and blanace to the test. A gluton for punishment I got up alone at three the next morning to climb in the pitch black with my wind up torch to catch the sunrise. Of course I didn't realise what terrible surface and slippery bits I had managed until the way donw. I think I would rather never have known.
I then had my first experience of an overnight train. A small compartment with 6 beds two bunkbeds), they were narrow and not the most comofretable things ever but fun. We were all so tired we got the giggles and it went on for ages.
Xi'an is less pretty than Beijing, so far. I've walked the city walls and I am struck by the poverty of the houses in the inside of the walls compared to the more opulant high rises on the outside.
But what has remained constant is the stares. There are very few white people to be seen anywhere and people are taking photos of us to show their familes.
For those interested sites like facebook, twitter and photobucket are well and truly blocked here! I'll be back tomorrow after the Terracotta Warriors with photos and a much more detailed up date.
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