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Published: October 15th 2007
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Timeline: September 4th - September 18th
Beijing - Pingyao - Xian - Chengdu
My first overnight train ride was 12 hours from Beijing to Pingyao and was actually quite pleasant and by far the best one that I had in China. I was a little apprehensive about taking trains as I am not the biggest fan of being closed in with a lot of other people. If you ever take a look at a big city train station in China you would see why I was worried. Anyway, it left on time at 5:30pm, I was in the top bunk of 3, a little close to the ceiling for my taste (you cannot sit up in bed), but certainly doable. The lights went out at 10pm and I did manage to sleep a bit. We were then woken up at 4am and got ready to get off the train. Our hostel picked us up and there it was... 1st train trip over.
On the way into Pingyao it looks like an ugly, big polluted Chinese city. However, once inside the old city walls, there are no cars allowed and it is full of old Chinese buildings with the curved
Streets of Pingyao
Looks like the setting for a Kung Fu movie roofs. It looks like a Kung fu movie is about to take place. The town came to prominence in the Ming era (1368-1644) where it was a huge center for banking. It is now home to about one million souvenir shops, but is still a very pleasant place to spend a couple of days. We spent a day wandering and the next day biked out to a temple in nearby Shuanglin Si.
Our hostel here, Yamen, was great and a very chill, friendly environment. We met back up with an Auzzie girl called Heather who we had become friendly with in Beijing. After chatting to her about her plans for a trip to Tibet we quickly decided that we were going too. We left for Xian that night at 1:30am on another 12 hour overnight train. This train wasnt nearly as nice and had dirty beds. The other passengers were very inconsiderate (as big groups of Chinese tend to be). Starting at 6am there was loud talking and shouting and general smashing around making breakfast and smoking and playing music. The train decided it needed a rest and just pulled over in a siding for about 2 hours. But
we got into Xian eventually and found our way to Shuyuan hostel.
The hostel was huge and much more like a big European hostel. Xian was okay and we spent about 4 days there. The highlight was the Terra Cotta warriors although the tour we went on to see them was awful. I highly recommend going to see the warriors without a tour and in the morning. The one we booked through our hostel spent most of the day taking us to various tourist traps and souvenir shops. We finally arrived at the warriors late in the afternoon at the same time that all the other buses arrived and had to hustle through the crowds to glimpse one of China's most famous sights. It is amazing that Emperor Qin (several hundred years BC) created all these clay warriors to protect his tomb and that they were only found in the 1970s. Qin was the first emperor to really unify most of the area that China is today under one ruler. He did exploit the power completely and worked thousands of peasants to death on huge projects such as his Terra Cotta Warriors and the beginning of the Great Wall.
Terra Cotta warriors
Not the best pic, but I was there. The other high point of my stay in Xian was going out on the town with some people from our hostel. I got roaring drunk with some Chinese guys playing a drinking game involving dice. By the time I took my leave from my new found Chinese friends (complete with my bowing to show my respect ... what an arsehole) everyone else had left me and I had to stumble home alone, luckily I picked the right direction. The low point was certainly the next day's hangover. Xian also has a big Muslim population. We spent our last day exploring the mosque and Muslim quarter... we ate lunch down a dodgy side alley and got overcharged for a simple beef noodle dish... (foreshadowing for later events).
The train ride from Xian to Chengdu was supposed to be a nice long 18 hour excursion. It was actually over 20 hours after delays. It may as well have been a lifetime as far as I was concerned as I became very ill. I spent most of the journey either inside one of the two delightful Chinese toilets shared by the 100 people in a carriage, or queuing for one. I
had a nasty fever, pounding headache, and very upset stomach. I realized I was really sick this time and upon arrival in Chengdu, made Derek check us into a decent room with its own toilet. This turned out to be a good idea because he joined me in misery about 5 minutes after checking in. It was an unfortunate way to spend the better part of a week in Chengdu... the spice capital of China. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan and their food is world famous... we were stuck eating rice and veggies.
We did find time to book our travel and permits to go to Tibet. We also made it to see the Giant Panda Breeding Center, which far exceeded my expectations. You can get really close to the Panda cubs and they seem completely unfazed by humans... they were happily play fighting and being bathed by one of the attendants when we were observing. The Wenshu Yuan temple was very nice as well and close to Mix Hostel where we were staying. On the last day in Chengdu we went out to Leshan (about 3 hours away) to see the biggest Buddha in the world. It
is 72m high and is set on the cliffs of a very fast moving river. The monk who planned it had suggested that the debris from the carving would ease the rapids of the river around the Buddha site... he actually blinded himself to bring his point home!
By the end of the week I was feeling a lot better although it would be at least one more week before I was completely okay. I am unfortunately not blessed with the strongest stomach so as careful as I am these kinds of upsets are inevitable while I am traveling. Anyways, it is onto Tibet next and the land of monks, yaks, and Mount Everest.
Some perhaps useful information for fellow travellers: (Currency is yuan/RMB and is about 7.5RMB to 1US dollar)
Train ticket for top bunk of hard sleeper Beijing - Pingyao is 150RMB
Yamen hostel in Pingyao was a great place to stay it was 40RMB for a triple per person with shared facilities.
Train ticket for top bunk of hard sleeper Pingyao - Xian 80RMB
Shuyuan hostel 50RMB for dorms. It was fine but nothing great.
Tour to Warriors
was 160RMB. This does include entrance. To get into the actual exhibit it is 90RMB or half if you have student ID. DONT TAKE THIS TOUR
Train ticket for top bunk of hard sleeper Xian - Chengdu 180RMB
Twin room with en suite b/r in posh hotel across from Mix hostel in Chengdu was 160RMB per night and worth every penny!
Giant Panda Breeding Center 35RMB
Wenshu Yuan temple 5RMB
Getting to Leshan is about 90RMB on buses and getting into see Giant Buddha is 80RMB or half if you have student ID.
Food and drink is the same as about the same everywhere in China. It is much more expensive to drink out in the bars and clubs.
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beth
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So china makes you sick too!
I hope you get outtta there without too much more stomach upsets! I got real bad diarrhea in an indian airport as we boarded a plane, but that was actually a blessing being that the airplane toilets are nice! Keep up the blogging, I'm loving it!