Dinner on our first night in Chengdu was just opposite from our hotel in a resturant whose white linen tablecloths and refined gold decor couldn't have been more different to the night before (yet the food was still dirt cheap!) Us vegies seperated from the pack (shunned) and ordered a bunch of yummy dishes, which wer spun round and round on the circle plate in the center of the table (this is very normal in chinese resturants). Chengdu is renowned for its food...

The markets of Xi'an are much nicer than those in Beijin! In Beijing, the constant, relentless tugging and shouts of "Hey lady! Lady! You want to look here!" can be tiring and overwhelming. The pressue of "What your price?" when you havn't even asked for their price and their attempts of persuasion "Look at my stuff! Very nice, Very cheap!" has the opposite effect. Far from making me want to buy, I want to run! That said, I would alw...

After an orientation walk this morning, as I dragged my feet like a zombie, and a quick nanna-nap, we went to the Terracotta Warriors. They were interesting, from a historical point of view, but not as impressive as I'd imagined. Even so, I was pretty intrigued by the emporers determination to have such an extravagent mausoleum. It took 40 years to build that afterlife army, and the guy wasn't even emporer for that long! It always amuses me how we all try to gua...

So after twelve hours in a carriage of air stale with sweat, noodles and the stench of cigarettes floating in from between the carriages, I could not wait to get off our train to xi'an! John and I had two bottom bunks beside eachother (there were not doors or anything, but "sets" of 6 bunks). On the top of my bunks was a middleaged chinese woman with a funny looking instrument who didnt say a word the whole trip, and in the middle a young girl who giggl...

The rest of the group went out to try some Peking Duck for dinner, so John and I decided to hit the night market again! I tried some friend noodles and veges from a stall that cleverely marketed the fact that they sold vegetarian food, and revelled in this street exploding with noise and potential photos! I got some more caramalised fruit (it was very good) from a man who shouted "I love you! I love you!" and some coconut milk (not so good) which I susp...