The past 36 hours have been some of the most exciting, yet exhausting I've experienced thus far on my trip. I awoke at 5am on the 29th to leave Xi'an. I took the bus to the airport which only took about and hour but due to my early hour I still had quite a while until my flight in which I could dwell on the safety of the airline having heard that some airlines over here use fake airline parts. But my flight was to be without incident and I arrived in Shenzhen, near the Hong Kong border. Met Christian, German [View Full Entry]

---

---

Trekking all over central China in search of the Emperor's Terracotta Army had our group quite hungry and longing for some western food. And since nothing says western like a McDonalds that was our first stop back in Xi'an. Now I know you might be saying, "Kevin, you're in China, you're supposed to be eating dumplings and fried rice" but I was still able to choose from beyond the typical McD's fare. In China the McDonalds has some interesting selections such as the Brazil Burger, which is basically a spicy Big Mac, or instead of apple pie, they have sweetened soybean [View Full Entry]

---

---

Leaving Beijing was a bit of a relief after jumping train the night before. The sleeper that I booked was much more agreeable than the hard seat and the train car filled with 150 Chinese. Arrived in Pingyao, the center of ancient Chinese banking, at around 7am and was greeted by a rep from the hostel who had arranged transportation for myself and two others. As cars are not allowed in Pingyao city center, the taxi drivers use open air three-wheeled golf carts to dart in and out of the narrow alleyways crowded with souvenir stalls and local pedestrians. Unfortunately the [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am sitting at a table in a restaurant off of one of Beijing's many 'hutongs', or back alleys that are typically filled with a colorful collection of shops, street vendors and restaurants. This particular restaurant has been my mainstay for the past few days as it is one my way to and from the main drag up to Tiananmen Square. Additionally the mother, daughter and grandmother who run this place are very welcoming and recognize me as I walk down the street and I can't help but give in to their requests that I stay and get something to eat; [View Full Entry]

---

---

Following my climb of the Great Wall I had expected to be exhausted when I woke up yesterday morning. But surprisingly I was up before the rest of my roommates who dozed until later that day in the dank, nearly steamy room. I was unable to resist the temptations of an American style breakfast which the hostel restaurant prepares for only $2. Afterwards I was off to the Forbidden City, former home of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Hailed a cab and had surprising difficulty in relating where I wanted to go; I even had the attraction's name [View Full Entry]

---

---

After losing my travel alarm clock in Tokyo I was worried my watch alarm would not be enough to wake me up this morning so I spent a restless night periodically checking the time. The reason I needed to be up in time was to catch the bus to the Great Wall. The transportation to and from the hostel was only $9 and I opted for a trip to the unreconstructed section with a great deal of sharp grades and crumbling walkways that were to make for a difficult trek. After the four and a half hour bus ride we [View Full Entry]

---

---

My last full day in Japan was marked by a visit to Mt. Fuji, perhaps othe most iconic image of the nation. Kari and I had hoped to visit the fish market before leaving for Fuji, which is a 2 hour bus ride to the west, but an impromptu email check as we were leaving the hostel required her attention before we set out. The ride to Mt. Fuji gave us a glimpse of life ouside the crwoded city streets of Toyko. The mountains came up almost immediately outside the city, emphasizing that a nation with an already high population concentration [View Full Entry]

---

---

500 Yen will get you far here in Japan. Today was dominated by a cross-city bike ride which I termed "venturing thru an urban Asian jungle". Instead of going to the fish market this morning which opens at 5am we decided to sleep in. Waking up at 8:30 I was showered and ready for the day by 9 and woke Kari up hoping to hit the town right away. But since Kari lives in the real world where people have deadlines and responsibilities she had to spend a few hours getting some work off to Debo, her boss, before we headed [View Full Entry]

---

---

Kari and I made the move to a new hostel last night as our old one was out of room for the night and Kari wasn't too keen on sleeping on the street for some reason. Still suffering from jet lag, we decided to take a twenty min nap which turned into five hours, waking up at 11pm, too late to get anywhere and back because the metro shuts down at midnight. With no other options we hung out in the hostel with the Maori (New Zealand) musicians and some Brits. Within ten mins we were down the street at the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our first full day here isn't even over but I've had so much sensory overload that it could last a week. Due to the jet lag I was awake at 5:30am (or 4:30 pm East Coast time) to find that Kari had been up since 3am working hard on an audit...way to go. After running to the 7Eleven for to get some noodle bowls for breakfast we joined up with Chad and Ryan, two guys here at the hostel to see 'Electric City' one of the places to go for all things electric. Surprisingly prices aren't all that much different from [View Full Entry]

---

---