01 February 2009

Last night we left the hotel with all of our bags to get the bus to the train station. When we arrived we had to carry our backpacks for around half an hour through the station (the longest we've had to carry them so far - very heavy!) before we got to the waiting area. We paid 5 Yuan each (about 50p) to sit in the waiting area (definately worth it!) and waited for around an hour for our train.

When we got to the train we were surprised as to how small each compartment was. There were 6 to a room, although room is far too generous - more like cabin! - with 3 bunk beds on each side. I took some videos so you can see just how little space we had in there. It was difficult to get the backpacks in as they had to go by the top bunk. Luckily we have some men in our group who could help with that!

Once we were all in one of the women in group starting passing round plates of cheese and crackers which was a lovely snack! Some of the group bought beers from the trolley and everyone sat down together for the first couple of hours of the journey. Around half 10 all the lights were turned off and most of the Chinese people were sleeping. A woman came over to us and told us off for being loud!

Me and Jess were on the 2 top bunks in our cabin. There was hardly any space between the bed and the ceiling so it was really claustrophobic, and also really hard to climb up there! I managed to get quite a bit of sleep but Jess had caught a cold from someone in our group so didn't sleep very well as it was really stuffy. Also during the night one of our backpacks fell down and hit someone in the middle bunk on the way down! The train was pretty rocky and felt like a rollercoaster at some points...

We were very pleased to arrive into Xi'an and get checked into our new hotel. We had a couple of hours to freshen up before heading out on our bus. First stop was lunch at a local familys house. Intrepid support this local family and in return they prepared the lunch for us. While we were here Bruce explained about the one child policy in China which was really interesting as both me and Jess had learnt about it in school.

We then went to see the Terracotta Warriors. There are 3 main pits that have been discovered, and the size of these were amazing. Definately much bigger than we had expected having read the guide book. They are still working on rebuilding the warriors from the pieces and it will take years.

This evening we went out with some of the group for dinner and onto a bar. There were some Chinese singers with guitars and they played wonderwall! Was funny hearing them try and sing in a mancunian accent!

02 February 2009

Today we took a trip out to a charity school which is supported by our travel group intrepid. The school provides care for chinese children with learning difficulities and is a charitable organisation. It was really ncie to see that some of the money we paid towards our trip was going to a good cause(it cost enough). The children were encouraged to be very creative at the school and they had produced lots of paintings and handcrafts for us to have a look at. There were also singing and dancing performances by a boy and girl who were both really talented. After we saw them perform they wanted us to join in. We were all a bit scared as we dont know a word of chinese. In the end their song choice was very good as it seems the okey kokey and the birdie song have universal appeal!Me and Lucy bought some pretty handmade bracelets to take away with us.

In the afternoon we went to see the fountain show which takes place at 12.00 everyday in the square. There were founatins as far as the eye could see and hundreds of people were watching around the outside. Several of the chinese people were attempting to have photos right in the middle of the fountains but didnt seem to care about getting wet. Me and Lucy got in trouble for standing on a bench from some chinese official. Apparently a no no in China! The whole performance was set to music and was pretty impressive.

Later in the afternoon we arrived at the city wall which lines the whole of X'ian. Everyone decided it would be fun to rent bikes to ride the perimeter of the wall which is really cheap anda good way of seeing the city. We were a bit apprehensive but decided to have a go. Thankfully it was all pretty flat and the bikes weren't too bad. We made it all the way round which we were told was about 10km. Not bad for an afternoon work out! Unfortunately now i have a severe case of sore saddle bum so beginning to regret it slightly! In the evening we went back to the hotel to chill out. After a full day of charity work and a marathon bike ride i think we deserved a rest.