Sunday, June 19, 2011

China: Tuesday

This was our second, and last, day in Xi'an so we looked for all the other tourist attractions.
Scott was a huge hit with the locals and LOVED it. Numerous times daily he was asked in take pictures with Chinese kids; and if he wasn't asked he decided to jump in anyway. Even though I was always with him they didn't really care for my picture, only Scott. It was super funny and Scott felt like a celebrity. I'm just afraid that now when I tell him to do something he'll remind me of how much Chinese people loved him and that I should treat him with equal respect. Oh brother!

So Monday night we saw the water/music show in front of the Big Goose Pagoda and Tuesday we took a tour.

(I'd love to tell you all about the Pagoda and it's significance but I seriously have no idea what it was for. The sights in China all blended together and we never got a tour guide until Beijing so I'll just leave you as clueless as I was.)
I thought this was a very ornate elephant.

Scott loved all the Buddah's. His favorite was an enormous one in Beijing.



After the Pagoda we packed up and found a taxi to go back to the train station. Quite a few taxis rejected us before we finally got a ride. I guess it was a long trip and I don't think they liked dealing with people who didn't speak Chinese. It was harder than we thought to catch a taxi. At the train station it took us a while to communicate that we wanted to leave our luggage at a storage place so we could look around for the afternoon. The luggage ladies were really confused but we finally pulled out some money and convinced them we'd be back to pick it up. We should have listened to Mandarin for Dummies more closely...
After abandoning our luggage we caught a bus in the direction of the city wall. It turned off just before so we had to walk back quite a ways, We really mastered the art of taking the slowest way possible anywhere. Once at the wall we rented bikes on the top to ride around. It was super fun except the fact that we forgot sunblock.

We got a tandem bike and Scott rode in front. He pedaled hard and I pedaled. We tried to switch places once but his legs were too long to fit in the back so he stayed in front. This ride made me really want a tandem bike, it was so fun.

We got a tandem bike and Scott rode in front. He pedaled hard and I pedaled. We tried to switch places once but his legs were too long to fit in the back so he stayed in front. This ride made me really want a tandem bike, it was so fun.

After returning our bikes we walked to the Bell Tower in the middle of the city. Each city seems to have a Bell and Drum Tower and since I don't know the significance I'll again leave us both wondering about it. (We really should have either done more research about stuff or gone with a tour group...)

Scott's awesome burn about an hour after the wall. As we tried to sleep that night we could feel heat radiating off our bodies.

Scott climbing the wall.

Cecilie climbing the wall.

A delicious spaghetti soup dinner. Scott just wanted some noodles and sauce but it somehow always turned into a soup.

On the Sat/Sun post I alluded to an awful ride back and this was it. We bought tickets down to Xi'an before leaving for China but we couldn't buy tickets back until 10 days before departure. A lady from Scott's Dad's work was helping us and didn't know if the tickets would arrive in time so we decided to wait. After getting to the hotel in Xi'an we asked if they could help us get train tickets. Their English was spotty but we finally communicated our request and they had a bell hop help us. He looked like the bell hop manager so I was expecting quality help. At the ticket counter he said there were no sleeper spaces available, proceeded to buy his own ticket for the weekend and then got out of line. I think he thought we'd just stay in Xi'an longer but we wanted to leave Tuesday night. We convinced him to buy us seats, thinking they'd be sort of like what Amtrak has, and we got back in line. They were NOT like Amtrak, it was basically a dining car with over 120 people. Luckily we got the 2-seater bench, I would not have wanted a 3-seater and shared it. Leading up to this Scott and I both anticipated semi-desirable conditions but we had no clue it would be so bad. Before the train pulled out Scott suggested we should get off a buy plane tickets back. No, no I was going to be a good trooper so we stayed. It was miserable. They played Chinese sitcoms until very late, had Chinese music also playing, and people talked so loud. To top it off, this train stopped along the way so we had an additional hour. I feel like my description is mild compared to the misery of that night. We tried to sleep but the seats were at a 90 degree angle and so uncomfortable and cramped. It was rough.

This is the little boy across the dining table, he wouldn't talk to us but liked watching us.
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