Day five dawned in Beijing and we were rudely turfed out of our hostel at noon when we had barely managed to get the sleep out of eyes. As we didn't have our overnight train until 9:30 we decided to have a quick peek at the Temple of Heaven way south of Tian'anmen square. The pictures have probably not done it justice but it was wonderful even though Rachelle attracted even more than the usual amount of stares and a few giggly Chinese girls who wanted their photo taken with the blonde dragon, probably auspicious or something. The more attentive observers may have detected the presence of direction mouse in the blog for the first time (a small green mouse that is acting as our spiritual guide for the unititiated). We will try to get DM in at least once per country so keep an eye out for his crazy antics.

OK back to business - the Beijing west train station is massive has four levels and 14 waiting rooms but is surprisingly easy to navigate so without much ceremony we found ourselves on the overnight train to Xi'an with a bunch of nervous looking foreigners like ourselves, the accommodation was pretty good if a little cramped and we were in a room with a couple from Colombia. One sleep later found us pulling into the very damp and cold Xi'an station, how come we can go 1000km+ mostly south and it be 5 degrees colder than Beijing? As a punitive measure we have decided to leave for Chengdu almost immediately (well tomorrow which is the best we can manage) after we have checked out the big attractions in the area, the Terracotta Warriors and the Qin Emperor's Tomb.

Love, A & R