XIAN While in Beijing, I got on a plane to Xian to go see the Teracotta warriors. This was a silly route in a way, since I was backtracking, but I was determined to see them no matter what! I only stayed one night in Xian, but had a fantastic experience. I definitely wish I had more time to spend there. I arrived and went to a beautiful hostel, which was really big, and ancient looking. I met some great people right away, and since it was quite late, had dinner ...

BEIJING Well on the last leg of my journey, I spent a few days in Beijing. Everyone here was busy preparing for the Olympics. I have mixed reactions about this city. First off, I do not think they are ready to host the Olympics. The most shocking and disappointing part of my trip were the taxi drivers. On my way back from Xian, I walked around the city for over an hour, carrying three heavy bags! You cannot imagine the frustration I felt seeing hundreds of cabs ...

MACAO or MACAU(Portuguese spelling, and also more common) Macau is located a short 21/2 bus ride away from Guangzhou, so a colleague of mine and I decided to head there for the weekend.Well we left after work (around 4pm) and due to traffic, didn't get to the border until quite late. The border was extremely busy, as many Chinese people were heading over to Macau for the weekend. We waited almost one hour in line, then from there, walked across the border from C...

For the long weekend in April, I decided to go visit Shanghai. I didn't really know much about it before going, but it seemed like an interesting city to visit. It was my first time traveling alone, so I was a bit nervous. Luckily, everything went smoothly. I arrived after safe after a delay in the flight. The line up for a taxi was really really long. Right away I saw a lot of foreigners! After about a half hour waiting for a taxi, I got to the hostel. (Cab dri...

The Temples in Qingyuan I finally found the time to do spend a day sightseeing. Unfortuantely, it happened to be raining heavily ALL day! And it was also very cold. Despite the weather, it was a wonderful trip. It is an experience I would definitely like to have again in another part of China. The day began at 7am. It was myself and six other teachers. We took a taxi to the main bus station in Guangzhou, and then got onto a coach bus to Qinyyuan (proncounced &q...