We wake up to an alarm. This is the first time in days that we’ve had to be up at a certain time so we can get to Xi'an (Western Peace). Our interpreter, Melody, arrives at our apartment on time. We take a taxi to the Luoyang Lanzhou-Shanghai rail line station. The building is expansive, modern and bright. It’s also COLD. Nobody believes in central heat around here including the train station. After locating our gate and track, we head to the toilet for a pit stop. Although it’s Eastern-style, the facility is spotless. I haven’t seen anything this clean since we arrived or for that matter in the U.S. Heading down to the train platform, everyone is ordered by arrows glued onto the ground predicting where the train cars will stop. The train pulls up
... read more