It's been a long 2 weeks since our last post. So much to tell you about, that I'm not sure where to begin. So we'll just get right to it...
October 1st was China's National Day, where this year they celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. October 3rd was Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-autumn festival is one of the two most important occasions in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year) and it is an official holiday. Since they fell in the same week this year, we were given 8 days off from school. More people in China will travel this week than any other time of year. So, we decided to join the crowd.
On Friday October 2nd, we boarded a train to Xi'an (home of the Terracotta Warriors). Now there is something you must know about trains in China. Depending on how much money you are willing to spend, depends on your level of comfort for your journey. We wanted to travel cheap, therefore we took what was called "Hard Seats". So, for the next 22 hours we sat with our American friends, playing games and interacting with the Chinese. There were also many Chinese who had purchased standing tickets, and decided to "stand" right next to us, watching our every move. Now, they have bathrooms on the trains, but the Chinese decided it was too much of a hassle to take their kids to them, so they just decided to use the aisle way for their business. We definitely got the full China experience by taking the Hard Seats.
22 hours later we arrived in Xi'an. The first thing we did was locate our Hostel. It was our first "Hostel" experience. In case you don't know what a Hostel is, it's kind of like a hotel, but you share rooms with strangers. Our room had 3 bunk beds, and everyone shares a bathroom. Hostels are designed for those who are traveling, and it was neat because we met people from all around the world there.
Day 2 in Xi'an - We went to several outdoor markets that had souvenirs & many places to eat. We had a great time bargaining and eating weird food. We found an art shop where the lady would write your favorite scripture in Chinese. Later that day, we visited the famous Drum & Bell Towers, and also went to a water show at the famous Wild Goose Pagoda.
Day 3 in Xi'an - Since deciding to come to China, we have been looking forward to this day. This day was reserved for the Terracotta Warriors. For those of you who don't know the story of the Terracotta Warriors, I strongly suggest that you read about them. It's an amazing story. The one thing that we kept thinking about was that these guys were built 210 years before JC walked the earth, and that they were just found a little over 30 years ago! We spent all day at the museums and visiting the area.
Since we had endured the China experience going to Xi'an, we decided to upgrade our 25 hour return trip home to "Hard Sleepers". While this was much more comfortable, the sanitation was not any better. Instead of aisle ways being used as bathrooms, they used trashcans...which I guess is an upgrade. Since we had beds this time, we thought we would get to sleep, but a Chinese kid with a rat tail decided to scream at us for several hours for no apparent reason. But we endured, and had a great time! - 25 hrs later we arrived home.
Just a few miles from our apartment is the Qiantang River, which is famous for one of the world's largest tidal bores. A tidal bore is a phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave of water that travels up a river against the direction of the current. It's really neat to see because the wave stretches from one side of the river to the other. This is caused by the moon and the large waves only happen a few times each year. On Thursday the 8th, we went to watch this take place, with several thousand other Chinese people. (Check out the pictures and video on Flickr)
There are lots of things that we are looking forward to in the coming weeks. We can't wait to tell you all about them. We love & miss YALL!!! Thanks for all the thoughts!
Thomas & Callie
October 1st was China's National Day, where this year they celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. October 3rd was Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-autumn festival is one of the two most important occasions in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year) and it is an official holiday. Since they fell in the same week this year, we were given 8 days off from school. More people in China will travel this week than any other time of year. So, we decided to join the crowd.
On Friday October 2nd, we boarded a train to Xi'an (home of the Terracotta Warriors). Now there is something you must know about trains in China. Depending on how much money you are willing to spend, depends on your level of comfort for your journey. We wanted to travel cheap, therefore we took what was called "Hard Seats". So, for the next 22 hours we sat with our American friends, playing games and interacting with the Chinese. There were also many Chinese who had purchased standing tickets, and decided to "stand" right next to us, watching our every move. Now, they have bathrooms on the trains, but the Chinese decided it was too much of a hassle to take their kids to them, so they just decided to use the aisle way for their business. We definitely got the full China experience by taking the Hard Seats.
22 hours later we arrived in Xi'an. The first thing we did was locate our Hostel. It was our first "Hostel" experience. In case you don't know what a Hostel is, it's kind of like a hotel, but you share rooms with strangers. Our room had 3 bunk beds, and everyone shares a bathroom. Hostels are designed for those who are traveling, and it was neat because we met people from all around the world there.
Day 2 in Xi'an - We went to several outdoor markets that had souvenirs & many places to eat. We had a great time bargaining and eating weird food. We found an art shop where the lady would write your favorite scripture in Chinese. Later that day, we visited the famous Drum & Bell Towers, and also went to a water show at the famous Wild Goose Pagoda.
Day 3 in Xi'an - Since deciding to come to China, we have been looking forward to this day. This day was reserved for the Terracotta Warriors. For those of you who don't know the story of the Terracotta Warriors, I strongly suggest that you read about them. It's an amazing story. The one thing that we kept thinking about was that these guys were built 210 years before JC walked the earth, and that they were just found a little over 30 years ago! We spent all day at the museums and visiting the area.
Since we had endured the China experience going to Xi'an, we decided to upgrade our 25 hour return trip home to "Hard Sleepers". While this was much more comfortable, the sanitation was not any better. Instead of aisle ways being used as bathrooms, they used trashcans...which I guess is an upgrade. Since we had beds this time, we thought we would get to sleep, but a Chinese kid with a rat tail decided to scream at us for several hours for no apparent reason. But we endured, and had a great time! - 25 hrs later we arrived home.
Just a few miles from our apartment is the Qiantang River, which is famous for one of the world's largest tidal bores. A tidal bore is a phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave of water that travels up a river against the direction of the current. It's really neat to see because the wave stretches from one side of the river to the other. This is caused by the moon and the large waves only happen a few times each year. On Thursday the 8th, we went to watch this take place, with several thousand other Chinese people. (Check out the pictures and video on Flickr)
There are lots of things that we are looking forward to in the coming weeks. We can't wait to tell you all about them. We love & miss YALL!!! Thanks for all the thoughts!
Thomas & Callie
1 comments:
Callie & Thomas, You guys are doing a GREAT job of reporting on your life in China! It sounds like you have gotten into the rhythm of things amazingly fast! I feel like a real wimp after taking a "soft sleeper" from Beijing and whining about it. Wish we were there!! Kris and Jim
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