ok, so we are in xian now
muslim bazaar OH MY GOD
more on that later

so the tour is 16 agents, 15 women all from ontario, west, or quebec
the rest of the group is good to be with agents as they all have done a lot of travelling so are better than being with a normal group

beijing is not what i expected
they have bulldozed everything and rebuilt last 30 years
there are no authentic neighbourhoods and no houses, only high rise
some nice architecture, very clean and modern like germany

dont believe what you hear on the bbc
china is very friendly, many speak english
there are no minders following the guides to see what they say
everyone is open to talk how they please

so we started with tiannimen square
it is all fenced and they have airport security to get in
there was a huge line to see chairmen maos tomb
it feels like there are 1 billion people in tiannimen square
for a second i blinked and turned my head and i lost my group, everyone was chinese

next was the forbidden city, the only original part of beijing left
lots of great photos
then we went to a summer palace and tomb
we did some shopping in a pearl factory, jade factory, and silk factory
very interesting silk rugs like iran and turkey
one tapestry of the royal court was $5000!
i didnt think i would get out of the pearl showroom with 15 women!
very nice sculptures in teh jade showroom but prices too expensive, some in the $1000s

went to the beijing zoo to see the pandas
they need a bath as they are muddy brown
the baby got a panda glove puppet

next day we went to the great wall
you get dizzy as you are walking on an incline
also the tombs of the 13 emporers

lots of muslim restaurnats in beijing
you know by the arab writing
it is not part of the tour so no time to go inside
for food i have been eating boiled rice and tofu with vegetables
getting fed up

google xinjiang restaurant beijing
it is famous and has uighar dances doing traditional central asian dances
not part of the tour but i would have loved to go there for the show and halal food

china from the air is very barrren and desert
lots of mountiains, surpirsed how they built beijing and the great wall

so we had a flight to xian today
we had some freetime so i went to the muslim bazaar
you are seeing quite a bit more arab writing in the stores here
the muslim bazaar is just like the old parts of karachi, with the food stalls and richshaws
took lots of pictures and vidoes
ates something like a keema parata / double taco layers with noodles inbetween
lots of naan bread and kebabs but i had to be back at the hotel for the group dinnner

my room in this hotel is the executive suite
i have a living room wiht a 3 piece couch and a flat screen tv
there is a bathroom off the reception with a bar area
the bedroom has its own ensuite with walk in closet and seperate shower
think i will enjoy living like a king while i can

anyway, have to go for now