Xi'an

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03/02

Connor and I got up early (7am) to go to Mao's mausoleum. Lined up for around ten minutes at what we thought was the entrace only to find we were on the opposite side. Got sheperded by some extremely stern and scary looking guards to the line, where we had to wait around twenty minutes in temperatures at least 8 below zero. Not pleasant... There were far too many people up so early to see Mao! Made it to the entrace and got pushed through security scanners, had to turn out our pockets to prove we had no cameras, and then showed our passport to the guards to get in. Everyone was buying Mao flowers from little talls set up just beyond the entrace, so we copied the masses and forked over 2 kwai for a white rose. There was no speaking and no loitering allowed inside the mausoleum, so we popped down the flower next to literally about two thousand others (which we suspected were being recycled and sold again), then walked past Mao and were out in the space of about two minutes. He looked mor like a wax figurine than a preserved dead person, but who am I to say? ( I don't suppose watching Six Feet Under counts as genuine experience of what preserved bodies should look like...) He certainly had a comfy looking coffin.

The Chinese government obviously made up for the free admission to the mausoleum with all the Mao-themed souvenirs shoved in your face as soon as you exit the building. Most were very cheap (presumably of dubious quality) but some were quite expensive (A Mao watch could have set you back around two hundred AUD), so Connor and I just bought some amusing necklaces. (Later Connor bought a Mao bag from a street vendor, which has brought us a few laughs and comments such as "hey, you are a party supporter!" from the locals.)

All in all we were done in about 45 mins, so we headed off next to the Temple of Heaven, which isn't really a temple at all but more of an emperor's residence. This "temple" was set in an expansive, beautiful walled park (lovely even in the winter), in the middle of a bustling shopping district. The buildings inside were really wonderful. The architecture was all genuine, but a lot of the paint work was the result of a recent restoration. The translatations of the buildings were all rather amusing, places such as "Hall for praying for a bumper crop" and "Hall of music office", best of all was the Hall of Abstinence, where the emperors would go before any rituals or ceremonies where he wasn't allowed to be gluttonous or spend any time with his wife or any of his concubines. This particular hall was set inside its own walls, and even had a dry moat. Most surprisingly, the moat was home to a few cats! One of the temple workers was lowering down food and water while we were walking through. We saw one pregnant ginger cat, and a black cat down in the moat. The black cat was either fast asleep or dead though, we weren't sure. 😞

I have to say Connor and I probably enjoyed the Temple of Heaven much more than the forbidden city. It was much more low key, there were no where near as many tourists, and in general the place was quite a bit prettier. It's very hard to describe what the place looked like though, as it was rather higgledy piggledy, so we'll upload pictures when we get a chance and hopefully that will help!

Went to a nice book-cafe full of wanky expats for a late lunch (expensive but tasty), then went home! We were hoping to buy a few books for our upcoming train trip, but prices were almost the same as back in Melbourne (outrageously expensive for China), so we left empty handed.

From here our day went drastically downhill. We had booked tickets a few days before on an overnight sleeper train to Xi'an, and the girl at the hostel had told us the train was leaving from Beijing South station (where we had been before), we were relying on her to tell us the right place because the ticket was in Chinese characters. So we headed off to the station, aiming to get there about an hour early. As we wandered around the station looking at departure screens, it dawned on us that there were no trains the same class as ours leaving from the station at all. We started to panic. Ran around frantically looking for an information booth, and ended up at a ticket window where the woman told us that no, our train did not depart from Beijing South, but from Beijing West. We thought maybe that we could make it there anyway, but a station official who had wandered over while we were at the ticket window told us it would take at least an hour to get there, so we had no chance. I started to cry at this point, which was mortifying... However this man was very kind and spoke reasonable English, so he told us to head upstairs to window 41 to rebook tickets for the next day. We were expecting to have to pay for the tickets (which were rather expensive), but the transfer ended up being free! Unfortunately I was still unconsolable and a bit irrational at this point, so poor Connor had to deal with choosing the train himself. We ended up with one leaving at quarter to five the next day and arriving in Xi'an at 6am on the 5th. Not the best time! And our beds weren't even together!

Wen't back to the hostel in a huff, and had to pay for another night (got the same room though which was nice), and though the staff were apologetic, they didn't offer us anything to help the situation (a free night or breakfast would have been nice considering it was really their fault). We left a note under Maddy's door asking her to have breakfast with us the next morning, and then drowned our sorrows with cheap, strong cocktails from the hostel bar before collapsing into bed.

04/02

Spent morning with Maddy, then wandered around the Beijing Hutong (laneways) looking in little shops. Bought a few presents for friends and family back home. (Still a lot more to buy!) Made our way to the train station super early, as our train was at four. Beijing West Train station is ABSOLUTELY HUGE! We copied the masses and bought ourselves noodle bowls and snacks for the trip. Waited about an hour standing up in this cavernous waiting room, where there was not one other causasian, so Connor and I stood out like sore thumbs and received many a stare. Boarded the train about 20 mins before it left, I was in a room with three men, and Connor with a family. I felt rather uncomfortable, but luckily we managed to get one of them to swap with Connor and he ended up with the bunk above me. The train trips wasn't very scenic as it was night time. We read for a few hours, enjoyed our noodle bowls (along with everyone else on the train!!), read again, then went to bed. The beds were hard and narrow, and the blankets too thick, so both of us slept terribly. Woke up at five thirty on the 5th just before we pulled into Xi'an. It was pitch black and we were exhausted!

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