Oct. 2- Turpan Sites and Bus to Urumqi

This time we got woken up on the train at 7:30 and had to pack our bags and change to get off the train. I was on the top bunk and found it very difficult to get up and down to my bags. We got off in Turpan which is like the Muslim District in Xi'an but a whole city. They call the Muslim population in China, Weegors. The day we arrived in Turpan they had just ended a fast and it was the first day they were allowed to eat. We drove to a local restaurant for breakfast and I would have given my arm for some waffles or pancakes or even cereal. Eating fried rice for breakfast gets a little old after a while. After we ate we headed out on our tour of Turpan tourist sites. The first site we saw was the Gaochang Ancient City. We had to get off the bus and take donkey carts to the inner part of the city which was a lot of fun. Juan was on my cart and dropped his camera case so our driver stopped while he ran to go get it. The donkey behind us however didn't register that we had stopped so it kept coming and practically ran up onto our cart and it's head hit Jess W. in the back. I couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the trip to the inner city.  Our donkey started to drag towards the end and we decided he wasn't used to carrying a bunch of fat Americans. I decided to call him Chapetto :)

The city was extremely well preserved which surprised me because the walls are made from dirt and stone. Our tour guide said the weather doesn't wear it down because they only get 16 millimeters of rain every year, just the wind wears it down. We hung out there for a while and then hopped on the cart again and drove on the bus to the Flaming Mountain. We went through a little museum detailing the old story about the Flaming Mountain and then a few of us hiked out towards the base of the mountain. It took about 15 minutes to walk to a little hill in front of the base of the mountain. Climbing up that hill was a little difficult in flip-flops. I could never get a good foot hold and kept sliding all over but I pressed stubbornly on. Once we got to the top we looked down and you could see for miles. We climbed, I slid, back down the hill and walked back to the bus. My feet were completely red from the dirt so that made me feel even more clean. 

We ate lunch which took longer than expected so we didn't get to see all the sites in the afternoon that we were supposed to. We did go to a local family's home which has a grape valley behind their house. They grow several different kinds of grapes and make homemade raisins. Their family had lived in the same house for 40 years and they sell their grapes to tourists and to local markets. After we sat and ate some of their raisins and honey melons, the best I've ever had by the way, we walked around their house and the grape valley. The view from their roof was beautiful and walking around under the grape ceilings was really cool. We picked grapes from the vines and ate them. The small green ones were sooooo good! The family was very nice and hospitable. After about an hour and a half we got on the bus and began the 3 hour drive to Urumqi. We watched "Transformers" on the way there but I was more focused on the scenery. The mountains and rivers along the road were extremely alluring. All I wanted to do was hop out of the bus with my small bag and walk with no direction or purpose, just get lost for while. I found myself feeling this way more and more as the trip went on.

When we got to our hotel in Urumqi everyone made a beeline for the shower. I don't think I've ever felt so dirty in my life and my feet were absolutely disgusting! Selina and I headed to dinner at a Korean restaurant with 5 of the boys. Halfway through the meal our waitress came by and told us that if we ordered 30 kuai worth of more food they would give us a free bottle of Korean alcohol. Being the responsible people that we are, we ordered 30 kuai worth of more food :) After dinner, and our Korean alcohol, we went to a local bar and sat for about an hour and played the dice game like in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3." I was very good at it too. We came back to the hotel and hung out in Ryan's room for a while and then we went to bed around 1 am. It was a very good and laid back night.

Oct. 1- Go-bi Desert Dunes and Leaving Donghua

We received yet another wake up call at 7:30 and dressed for warm weather. We had fried egg sandwiches for breakfast with strawberry jam and toast. I think it was the best breakfast of the trip. We got on the bus with all our bags and headed for the dunes. When we arrived our tour guide told us to take off our shoes if we wanted to because the sand was cool enough for our feet. It felt so good. It was like a multiple hour massage. We all rode sleds down the dunes on little bamboo sleds as well. It was fun but I only rode it once because I wanted to go climb the dunes and walk along the top. We could either ride a camel or explore on our own and Selina and I decided to explore on our own. On the way up the dunes, it was slow going because our feet kept sinking, we saw Ryan and Bill completely wipe out on their sleds on the next dune over. It was very entertaining. We finally made it to the top and the view of the dunes on the other side was incredible. There were no feet prints, just miles of unmarked sand and the sunrise. We'd been sitting up there for about half an hour when a man came up with a Spurs t-shirt on. We asked him if he was from Texas and he said he was from Austin. We both kind of just sat there in shock and then we told him we were from Austin as well. His and his family live in Shanghai and he's working for Dell. That world keeps shrinking by the minute. After a few more minutes Mitch came trudging up the Dunes with Ben and we walked along the top with them on our way back to the bottom. Once again, some Chinese people on the top of the dunes asked to take their pictures with us. They seemed very excited to see up on top of a dune in the Go-bi Desert.

After the people who rode camels finished their rides we went back to the night market for lunch and then headed over to the Mogao Caves. They weren't underground but were carved out of the side of a mountain. We weren't allowed to bring cameras because the light would ruin the colors and everything inside the caves. They are Buddhist caves originally done by monks over 1,300 years ago in the Tang, Song, and Qing Dynasties. One of the caves housed a Buddha that was 115 ft tall, the 3rd largest sitting Buddha in the world. The largest sitting Buddha was twice that size but it was destroyed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. It amazed me how well preserved each cave was, the murals on the walls and the sculptures still maintained color and shape. It felt strange to be standing there with so much history surrounding you.

After the caves we ate dinner and then got on another train to take us to Turpan. We were all disgustingly dirty from climbing the dunes all day but we couldn't take a shower so we were smelly and gross together. We got on the train at 8 pm and had hard sleepers once again but this time my compartment had all Alliance students. It was only an overnight train so we went to bed right away to get as much rest as possible.

Sept. 30- Great Wall Hike and Donghua Arrival

Once again we had a 7:30 wake up call and we ate breakfast around 8. The food wasn't what I would eat for breakfast, it was more like lunch food so we didn't eat much. We boarded the bus and headed to the Jiayuguan Pass. The weather was chilly in the morning because we were in the desert. The fort was huge and the view of the dessert leading to the mountains was really cool. We climbed the wall and then walked up the steps to the sentry level and walked around the wall. The view was incredible from all angles. They had arrows that you could shoot down to the first level at targets and stuffed models of warriors. Of course, all the boys jumped on this opportunity with gusto. They even had soldier stand ins that walked around the wall in armor. After we walked around the entire upper perimeter we headed back to the first level to sit and wait for the rest of the group to reconvene. While we were sitting there random Chinese people, mostly men, walked up and wanted to take their pictures with me and Jess Fay. They just came up and with each photo more and more of them came around to take one. Jess and I considered charging for the photos. It was like we were the tourist attraction and not the fort. They also took pictures of our entire group when we walked around. It's very strange to be stared at all the time.

After the fort we headed to the Great Wall. We visited the western most part of the wall and it looked like it ended at the point where we were. It was a very long way to the top. Walking up the stairs reminded me of running bleachers in high school except 50 times steeper and with much thinner air. Bill and Kyle B. ran from the bottom to the top and we gladly walked behind them and watched. Once we got to the top we could see for miles and felt a great sense of accomplishment. On the way down we walked down stairs next to the wall and Selina and I were worried our legs would give out from underneath us. They were definitely shaking the whole way down. We went to lunch after the Wall and then began our 5 hour bus ride to Donghua through the Goby Desert. When we got to Donghua we checked into the hotel and went to their famous night  market for dinner. We had a local favorite, a chinese hamburger, which is chopped up pork with peppers and onions in a kind of pancake. It was incredible! I also bought a wood carving and an old Chinese book for souvenirs. After the market we went back to the hotel and went to bed. Climbing around on the fort and the wall wore us out :)

Sept. 29- Arrival in Jiayuguan

Although we were on the train until 5:30 pm I woke up around 9:30 am after yet another night of poor sleep. I woke around 3 am and couldn't go back to sleep for several hours. I read some more of my book and walked around the car and peeked in on some of my fellow students, some were awake but most were not :) Bill and I ate lunch in the dining car and then we both went back to our bunks and read our books until the train arrived in Jiayuguan several hours later. It was different to share an open compartment with 4 people that we didn't know but it just added to the excitement of the trip. The train stopped several times and we got out at every stop to stretch our legs and the we noticed that we could see blue sky for miles and even the sun was out. In Shanghai you can always feel the sun and see its glow but you can never see it or the sky. It was very refreshing not to be breathing in humid polluted air. Along with the air the scenery was incredible. I've discovered that I could work in a city but never live in one. Being around people and noise constantly is not for me. I love Shanghai but I loved being in the country more. I also had my first experience with a traditional Chinese squatter toilet on the train. It's a little difficult when the train is rocking back and forth but otherwise they're not so bad :)

We finally arrived in Jiayuguan around 5:30 pm, went to eat dinner and then checked into our hotel. We had free time that night so 10 of us went wandering the streets. The city was pretty small so we weren't sure what we would find. After walking for a few minutes we heard drums down the street and found several local women dancing to the beat with scarves wrapped around their waists. They walked in synchronized patterns and flapped the scarves around. It was pretty cool to see something local like that. We walked around some more and found a pretty shady bar to spend a few hours in. We hung out there for a while talking about "Are You Afraid of the Dark" and how creepy that show was when we were younger. That conversation led to haunted sites around each of our respective campuses and other horror stories. It was such a random conversation but a good bonding experience. After the bar we headed back to the hotel to sleep in preparation for our next journey.

Sept 28.- Terra-Cotta Soldiers and Leaving Xi'an

Our wake up call came at 7:30 am. The phone was on my side of the room but I thought I was dreaming that it was ringing so Selina had to reach across and answer it. It was funny because the night before she was happy because I was supposed to answer it :) We got out of bed very slowly, got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. We had toast with strawberry jelly and peanut butter, so so so good, with cantelope and watermelon. Overall it was a very western breakfast. After breakfast we boarded the bus to see the Terra-Cotta soldiers and other sites. It was still raining and cold outside so people pulled out their umbrellas when we arrived at our destination. Selina forgot her umbrella so we both squeezed under mine. I was missing our golf umbrellas which I can comfortably fit 4 people under without any special maneuvering.

The walk to pit #1 took about 15 minutes and by the time we got there the legs of my jeans were soaked up to my calves and my shoes were squishing on the inside. The state of my feet were quickly forgotten once I gazed upon the soldiers. There are over 6,000 soldiers, not all unearthed, and none of them are alike. They all have different eyes, hands, clothing detail and body language. It was incredible to see them all standing there knowing they've been underground for centuries. From the soldiers we went outside to pit #2 which hasn't been completely excavated yet and then we went to the bronze sculpture museum. At this point the water mark on my jeans had risen up to my knees and my toes were beginning to numb. We ate lunch at the Terra-Cotta site and then got on the bus to head over to the Muslim District.

Muslim Asians are the smallest minority in China and when you visit the places where they live you shouldn't mention pork in any capacity. They made sure we understood this when they told a story about a man who took a pork rice dish into the Muslim District and they beat him to death for disrespecting their culture. No charges were pressed because everyone in the district understood why it was done. It's safe to say we all got the message. Before they let us wander on our own we went to the Xi'an Great Mosque which was very old and absolutely beautiful. Men were coming in to prey but I didn't see any women. The tour guide said that women are not allowed in that mosque except on certain days. After walking around the mosque area for about half an hour Selina and headed off to shop and find some local food. I bought a really cool painting of a bunch of small birds sitting on a tree limb with the sun setting in the background. It reminded me of the PIXAR cartoon with all the small birds and the big bird on the wire, I know I know, I'm 5 years old. After my purchase Selina and I went to find street food for dinner. We ate one jello/rice thingy on a stick that was rolled in peanuts and some kind of sweet sauce, rice cakes with red bean sauce, and some dumplings. Overall the food was very good. Next we went in search of nuts, she wanted cashews and I wanted peanuts. While walking a man came from behind us on a bike. Apparently I was in his way because he pushed me from the side and yelled something that sounded like "ahhh!" and I almost fell over. After I righted myself I noticed that the man had white chalky stuff in the back of his cart and looked at my arm and sure enough there was a white hand print on my black hoodie. It took a couple days to come off but I viewed it as a battle wound :)

After our adventures in the Muslim district we boarded the bus to head to the Big Goose Pagoda and a water fountain show. The pagoda was huge and there were several rows of fountains in front of it. It if had been during the summer we all would have run through the water when the show began but it's a little too cold for that at this time of year. The water show was pretty cool and it had classical western music playing in the background but we couldn't stay for the whole thing because our train left at 10:46 pm. This time we were in a hard sleeper car which is open to the hallway and has 6 beds in each compartment. I was with Bill and 4 other random Chinese people. I had the middle bunk which is a little hard to maneuver on. This train ride was 19 hours and took us to Jiayuguan.

Sept. 27- Arrival in Xi'an

I woke up the next morning feeling very ill rested. I woke up about every 30 minutes because the train would jerk very hard when it was making stops throughout the night. I was also paranoid about falling off the top bunk but I got a feeling that sleep deprivation would be my constant companion throughout the trip so I very clumsily jumped down from my bunk and went outside the compartment to take in the sites. The window felt very cold and it was raining outside. There was endless grass and small hills to look at for the rest of the ride to Xi'an. I spent much of the day reading my book and falling asleep for short periods of time. Selina pretty much slept the entire train ride and woke up only to eat :)

We arrived in Xi'an around 2:30 and got off the train in a frenzy. We were standing on the platform and Brian was counting to make sure everyone was there and he noticed that Tammy was not among us and he asked where she was and Margaret said she was still getting her stuff on the train. Brian got a sudden look of panic on his face and said "But the train's leaving! Watch my bags!" and he dropped all his stuff and ran after an attendant to make sure that Tammy could get off before the train left for some unknown destination. Luckily she got off and everyone was safely in cold and rainy Xi'an. Everyone was miserable but I, of course, was loving it! We went straight to the Sha'anxi History Museum and were given an hour and a half to explore. The museum was not that big so an hour and a half was a little too much time but by the time we were done looking around everyone was craving a substantial meal. We went to a restaurant with the Beijing Alliance students, they were with us the whole week, and sat down to eat. I think the best way to describe what we looked like while eating our meal is like a pack of wild animals who have been fasting for weeks. It had been almost 24 hours since any of us had real food and we pretty much inhaled everything that they put in front of us. Needless to say we left the restaurant in a very satisfied state :)

We drove to our hotel next which were very nice. There were two people in each room so Selina and I roomed together. It had been about 48 hours since I my last shower so I couldn't wait to take one! After our showers we went out on the town for a few hours and went into several bars on one street. A common theme we noticed was that many of the staff in many of the bars were wearing cowboy hats. All the people from Texas thought it was absolutely ridiculous. We stayed out until about 11:30 and then headed back to the hotel because we had an early wake up call the next morning. It was pretty nice to sleep in a bed that didn't move and jerk for one night :)

Sept. 26- Train to Xi'an

After morning classes we all rushed back to Tonghe to make our final preparations for the trip. Double checking and triple checking with haste we were finally ready to embark on our journey across China. We met downstairs at 4 pm to take a bus over to the Shanghai railroad station. The atmosphere was pure excitement and we couldn't wait to get started. Our train left Shanghai at 5 pm and we had soft sleepers for the first train ride. They were compartments with four beds in each room, two on each side like bunk beds. I was on the top and Selina was underneath me and we shared the compartment with Trish and Jess. Everyone walked around for several hours peeking in and out of others rooms. I played a game of hearts with three of the boys and definitely got stuck with the queen of spades more times than anyone else but it was a good way to pass the time.

We wanted to eat dinner but the dining car was full as soon the train began to move and when we went later it was closed so we all had very unhealthy snacks for dinner. For example, my dinner consisted of peanuts, ritz crackers, and Chinese Whoppers... very well balanced wouldn't you say? The most interesting thing about that train ride was a Chinese man being led around in hard-core chains around each car. Two police officers walked behing him and his chains were really thick around his hands and there was a chain leading down and around his feet. It's safe to say it freaked us out just a bit. They turned the lights off outside the cars at 10:30 so we all retreated to our bunks for some sleep. The train was due to arrive in Xi'an at 2:30 pm so we had plenty of time to sleep. It was my first 20 hour train ride!!!