The moat in the picture below surrounds the entire wall and stands as a barrier to invading soldiers:

Eric and I decided to go back in the evening so we could bike the entire wall. The top of the wall where we began our bike ride looks like this:

Here is the bike I used:

That's Eric in the background:

This picture:

And the wall just keeps on going and going....

Here is an area that actually connects the wall with the other side of the moat:

Here's a shot from one of the sentry points:

This is a shot of the train station that we arrived through and will leave through this afternoon on our way to Beijing:

There are many people that beg for donations by either coming right up to you or, more passively, singing or playing an instrument. We caught this woman singing below near the train station:

These next two pictures show what traffic is like here in Xi'an:

If you look carefully, there is nothing but chaos. It's a battle to cross the street and frequently cars and taxis are passing by you with inches to spare. We have gotten pretty good at stepping in front of busses and cars and hoping they slow down enough to allow us to cross. I've found that more often than not, if the driver makes eye contact with you, you're 'safe'. But if he doesn't, then it's much wiser to wait to step in front of the next vehicle behind him. It's quite maddening to be honest with you but it is also a little fun playing the ultimate game of chicken.

Here is a picture of the small road leading into the area of our hostel as well as a picture from the outside of the hostel itself:

This is a very large hostel with three floors, a restaurant, and a bar. They also have several washing machines that cost 10 Yuan per load which includes soap (about $1.50). They have drying racks but they were all full so I had to hang my clothes on the railings overnight. Traveling by hostel is the most affordable (ok, cheapest) way to travel and the people are usually very friendly and honest. As long as you don't leave things laying around (money and electronics) you're things are safe. That includes my shorts, pants, and undies hanging on the rail all night. Everything was nice and dry this morning!

Yesterday, our four-bed (two bunks) room was filled by a couple from Belgium. She is a research psychologist who was here for a conference in Beijing and then had her boyfriend meet her after it's completion. They had a poor experience on the train from Beijing and so were a little tired last night. They each can't be more than 25 or so. What this Kyle lacks in age he more than compensates with his snoring. I started with ear plugs but that was no match for his accoustical tremors (he literally rattled the bunks and he wasn't even in mine!). So, I had to put my MP3 in to try and counter his noise. My volume maxes out at 20 which is very loud and probably ear-damaging if done so frequently. I finally settled on a setting of 16. I am very tired today but since our trip to Beijing is a little over 12 hours and all at night (we leave here at 6:42 PM), I imagine I will sleep like a rock and arrive in Beijing ready to go. Weather is iffy for Thursday and Friday with rain predicted and highs in the 70's. After this heat, however, I welcome the change.

I'll write more Friday (Thursday to you guys). We will be staying at the same hostel I stayed at when first arriving in China. They were great there and instead of rolling the dice with another hostel, we are going to stay there instead.

Hope all is well. More later....

written by  akstoltzy on June 16, 2010 from Xi'an, China
from the travel blog: China
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The overnight train is the way to go when traveling here. Leaving at night and arriving whether it be in the morning or early afternoon is a great way to avoid wasting days if you are here for a limited schedule/time. This is what I have learned regrading train-travel in China (hard sleeper only):

1. If you are nimble or even in fair shape, the top bunk is the way to go. It's the cheapest and you don't have to worry about anyone stepping on you. The middle bunk isn't bad (medium price) but if you have a person above you that gets up a lot, you will undoubtedly wake up every time they need to do whatever they do in the night. The bottom bunk is the most expensive and unless you are unable to climb a small ladder, I would stay away from it.
2. Bring a good book to read. If you are traveling with a friend/mate/spouse, bring a deck of cards or a small game like Yahtzee. Backgammon even works. These are great time killers. If you are not Chinese, everyone will stop and eye you over. Don't take it personally. Chinese are fascinated at western people, especially if you have blond or red hair (NATURAL, not bottle). The greater the difference between your appearance and their's, the longer and more detailed the look will be. Smiling (important when greeting others here), saying Ni Hao (nee how with the accent on nee), waiting, and if no comment then throwing in a 'hello' usually entices a reply at most and a look elswhere at the least. Bring a booklight as well since the lights turn off at 10:00PM sharp.
3. Find out as much info about your ticket as possible if someone from the hotel/hostel gets it for you. Find out the length of the trip, which bunk you are in, and what type of transportation you will be taking to get to your final destination after arriving in the city. It is sometimes easier to jump on the subway then it is to take a taxi or bus. The subway system is very easy in most metro places and there is usually at least one 'Chinglish' speaker at each station to help you get your ticket
4. This now leads us to the train station. This will be your most interesting experience of the trip. The staging areas are easily identifiable as the have the train letter/number posted on a large board in the front of the station. When you get to your 'area', look to see where the entrance to the platform or door you will go through to get to the platform is located. Get as close to the front of the line as possible BEFORE the train begins boarding. I recommend at least 60 minutes before departure time (boarding begins 30 minutes prior to departure). When boarding is announced, you will know this becuase everyone will stand up and try to get to the front of the line. They will walk through you, around you, and by you if you give an inch. I am not kidding here. There is no such thing as turn-taking here or maintaining an orderly line. You literally fight for every inch you make. The best piece of advice is to get as close to the person in front of you (not to your side as that changes too much) and walking as much in lock-step with them as possible. This is the time where all your valuables better be locked into your most secure bag or place. You will be pushed and bumped and possibly have your feet stepped on but that is how they do it here. If you want to get through the gate, you need to be prepared to do the same. You must have your train ticket in hand as there is a person that will punch a small hole out of it to allow you access to the platform. After you pass this ticket-checker, the line thins a bit but that's only because the area to the platform has enlarged again. Now, you should make your way to the train as fast as possible. Look up at the board and see how the carriages are organized. If you are in carriage 12 or higher, you will usually go the right. Anything lower and you will probably go to the left. But double-check anyway. The carriage numbers are in small numbers (English) on the side of the train but if you are walking fast you may miss them. Find your carriage and be prepared to show the lady your ticket once more in order to make sure you are getting into the right carriage. If you are on a top or middle bunk, make sure you stake your overhead space as soon as you get there. This is what you have been fighting for ever since you arrived at the station! Have your book, board game, water, snacks, TP, and toothbrush easily available from a bag. However, do not have them out yet. Leave them in the bag/suitcase you have and put them up top so you don't lose your precious space. If you are on the bottom bunk, stow what you can underneath your bunk and put the rest up top.
5. Bring your own toilet paper. MOST public places do not provide toilet paper. To go one step farther, carry TP with you in your bag or in your pocket wherever you go since when the need arises, you do not want to be environmental and paperless!
6. Bring a few snacks with you on the train and a quart of water (at least). The running water they have on the train is not drinkable so you must brush your teeth using bottled water. Meals are not necessary since they have a constant flow of vendors going up and down the aisles offering decent meals (rice, beef or chicken, and veggies for 10-20 Yuan ($1'25 - $2.50). You ight want to have your own spoon/fork if you haven't a clue about chopsticks). You can get these easily at Cabellas or any decent sporting goods store.
7. Bring earplugs!
8. If you are asthma sensitive, make sure you have your inhalers packed. Plan on using one each week here as the pollution and smokers here are beyond anything you can imagine (unless you have visited India or Gary, Indiana). If you are really sensitive, bring a mask. You will see many people wearing masks so don't think you'll stick out any more than you already do.

One final word: taking a soft-sleeper is an option but getting tickets are pretty difficult. Ask the person at the desk to inquire when the earliest date you can have a soft-sleeper for your destination. They do not have one 'central' booking center to get reservations. You usually must get the tickets at the city in which you are visiting. For example, if you are traveling from Beijing to Xi'an and then three days later will travel from 'Xi'an to Chongqing, you can only purchase the Beijing to Xi'an ticket. You will have to wait until you get to Xi'an to buy your Xi'an to Chongqing ticket. Go to theses website to find excellent info on train travel in China:
http://www.seat61.com/china
This website is great! It explains all of the different types of trains as well other useful info.
http://www.chinatravelguide.com/ctgwiki/Special:CNTrainSearch?method=1
This site supplies exact train info as well as current cost and length of travel from city-to-city. Note: you MUST include the 'Special:CNTrainSearch?method=1' into the url at the end. I'm not sure why the website here has not highlighted that part as well.

With the soft-sleeper, the advantages are the following:
1. Only four per sleeping unit (basically bunkbeds)
2. You have a door that you can close. This may be an advantage if your asthma is really bad or you have a very sensitive nose.
3. The bed is a bit softer with about a three-inch pad vs the one-inch pad on the hard-sleeper.

The cost difference between hard-sleeper and soft-sleeper is fairly significant so if you are on a more constricted or tight budget, hard-sleeper is the way to go.

The weather here in Beijing is T-storms right now. Hoepfully it will clear overnight. We're going to see Mao tomorrow in his mausoleum as well as a repeat of Tian'amen Square and maybe another site or two. The weather calls for more rain so we'll see if we get to where we want to go. Next week we will hit the Beijing Zoo. I'll be looking up a few other places to go before we leave China on Thursday.

Until then....

written by  akstoltzy on June 17, 2010 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: China
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Today (Friday), we went back to Tian'amen Square. So, we left the hostel and started walking thinking that making two lefts would be easy and therefor, allow us to walk due south and right to the square. That was our first mistake. We stopped at a store:

As we walked, and walked, and walked a bit further, we came across embassy row (this is where we figured out we had to have made three left turns instead of two because we were walking way to the east and north of the square!). We never did find the US Embassy. I'm kicking myself for not taking the Swedish Embassy's picture but we were pretty tired by then since we essentially ened up further away from Mao and Co. then when we were at the hostel. We decided to find the first train that we could since we had walked for more than two hours and on the way, we found these soldiers practicing marching:

On the way back to the hostel (we walked since we thought we had the left-turn problem taken care of; wrong), we passed a Catholic Church:

As I mentioned before we walked for a while. We left at about 11:30 AM, took the train to Tian'amen Square and got off at 1:50 PM, and then proceeded to walk until after 6:00 PM. Conservatively speaking, we walk between 3-4 miles an hour. So that means, for the roughly five hours we were walking, we had to have walked close to 15 miles. We never stopped walking! It was 99 today so I figure we lost any bloating problems as well.

Tomorrow, we go to the Hard Rock Cafe, Hooters, and maybe a nightclub. Should be an adventure in walking again as we refuse to admit defeat to the poorly written maps!

written by  akstoltzy on June 18, 2010 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: China
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We woke up fairly early today. It's another scorcher today (about 97) and so the walking turns out to be a good workout, especially when you get as lost as frequently as we do!

We sat around for a while this morning as we are about traveled out. We left about 2:30 PM and actually got to our target (Hard Rock Cafe) in just under two hours (applause applause applause)! Here is proof we got there:

The food was hugely overpriced as we paid American equivalents for our meal and drinks. The only other Hard Rock I've been to is in Los Angeles (or somewhere in Orange County where my sister used to live). I knew it would be expensive but the shock was a little greater because we have been paying, on average, about $4.00 each meal. This one was over $40 bucks! It was good to go though and of course I bought the t-shirt but not the black one.

We then headed down the street about two Miles with the intent of watching the World Cup at a Sports Bar/Restaurant. However, the place was absolutely packed and there wasn't a seat available outside. As we looked around to see if another place had the first match on, lo and behold there is a Hooters right above us! So we went in and watched the first match. Just like only reading the articles in Playboy, we only watched the soccer match. Honest.

The past two days, we have walked well over 20 Miles. Exactly how much I don't know but I'm sure it is the most I've walked on consecutive days.

Tomorrow is the Beijing Zoo. I'm not a fan of zoos but they do have Pandas.

Until tomorrow....

written by  akstoltzy on June 19, 2010 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: China
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We arrived at the zoo and bought our passes for the aquarium as well. As you walk in, there is a fairly large moat that has many different types of aquatic birds. Here are a few:

We walked around the entire zoo and finally came to the pandas!

We also saw the bad part of the zoo:

Here are some other photos that are better:

Here's one that resembles the aforementioned Jason:

We also went to the aquarium and the dolphin show but that's when the batteries died in my camera. It was a short show. In any case, no one puts on a water mammal show like Sea World. This was the minor leagues compared to Sea World.

We're winding down our stay. These next days will be filled with eating foods that were not meant to be eaten by people (ay least in the west). I am still having major stomach problems so eating insects, arachnids, and God knows what else shouldn't make it any worse. More tomorrow...

written by  akstoltzy on June 20, 2010 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: China
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