kalliereann

My train ride to Xi'an was rather uneventful, other than my sitting in the wrong cable car. Darn Chinese train tickets. The Beijing West Railway Station was nice and clean, but very big. There were many, many people. I watched children run around, and I went looking for little doo-dads. There was nothing interesting enough to consider purchasing, except for Lychee-flavored water (yes, as good as it sounds). The train was normal, seats were like older airplane seats. There were many little farm villages on the way to Xi'an. For the first time in China, I saw arable land being used specifically to grow crops for nearby villages. The majority of the crops were rice and mustard flowers. The train ride was about 4 1/2 hours, and then my cab ride was around 40 minutes. He ... read more

It's 1:42 AM and I'm writing a blog. My hotel's power just cut out. Boo. Yesterday was amazing. My first Great Wall tour guides didn't work out. They said they decided my hotel was too far for the sections of the wall I wanted to see. So I contacted Miles Meng (recommended by Lonely Planet) and organized my driver less than 24 hours before he met me at my hotel. Glad it worked out. He picked me up just before 8 AM and we drove quite a bit to get to Mutianyu. We drove through many small towns. We kept passing small dim sum places and I wanted to stop so badly. I just completed coursework at PSU for Food Politics and Immigration/Citizenship issues. While driving around, I saw so much degradation of their lands. Lack ... read more

Hello all! Various persons have asked me why in the world I'm going to China, and the answer is: Because I am. I was planning on flying "home" to Vegas/Henderson to visit my parents and brother, but it's Spring Break. Tickets would've cost me over $600 because of timing (all the frat boys and sorority girls will flood the area, as well), and we probably would've driven to San Diego anyway. I originally wanted to go to Thailand, but plane tickets doubled in price just during one day. That'll be for another trip at another time. So I started looking at other places I've always wanted to visit for one reason or another (history, nature, culture, etc). Tickets to China were the same price as Vegas! Hotels are cheap, food is cheap, transportation is cheap, and ... read more