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We're back in Beijing now, enjoying our last night of our interesting China experience!Since leaving the cushy backpacking town of Yangshou, wejourneyeddown the Yangtze River on a Chinese River cruise (aka: a boat full of hundreds of smoking Chinese people singing quite possibly the world's worst karaoke on extra-high volume).We were two of nine white people on the boat and seemed to be the main attraction!Luckily we met up with two Australian sisters (Kat and Nat) and one of them's Kiwi girlfriend (also Kat) and found that the staring was a bit more tolerable when we were in a group.We managed to have quite a bit of fun, despite the roaches in the toilet, spitting indoors, and less than entertaining "attractions" (aka: what looked like deserted amusement parks minus the rides) that were explained only in Chinese, despite us paying for an English speaking guide.We found that a mild vodka buzz seemed to ease the pain and make it all much more entertaining, and also that for some reason mild buzzes in China lead to terrible hangovers which make it all much more intolerable!Part of the cruise entailed taking a smaller boat through some really amazing, beautiful gorges. After the river cruise we stayed a night in Yichang, a town with far too many stores selling cell phones and camera batteries and no one seemed to speak a word of English (literally).We managed to find one of the only hotels there and awoke in the morning to a phone call from some man who came to the hotel to ask if we had heard of H1N1, had a fever, or were feeling uncomfortable.We flew from Yichang to Xi'an, home of the famous Terra Cotta Warriors.The thousands of life-sized clay warriors, each unique, were handmade by peasants enslaved by one of the dynasty rulers (Tang or Chang or Quing or was it Ting?) thousands of years ago to protect his tomb when he died.They were discovered by some locals digging a well in 1974 and have since become a huge attraction.From there we took a pretty comfortable overnight train (complete with a snoring Chinese man, as they all seem to be, from our experience) after feeling the most threatened of the whole trip while purchasing tickets at the railway station.So here we are, back in the comfy compound of the very-generous Taylors.

We certainly have a new perspective on communism and China and what we, even as well-traveled individuals, seem to take for granted:freedom.Now I can honestly say that I am proud to be an American.