Waking up on a train is weird, because the lights are on and people are milling about but you are waking up and mildly disoriented as to what is going on. I did however enjoy my breakfast of Juzi (tangerines?) and muffins while watching the scenery go by. We were up in the mountains again and there was plenty of fall colors on the mountain side. From the time I woke up it was still a could five hours until we actually arrived in Xian. A bunch of us disappeared into the dinning car, just so we could have some room to stretch our legs. We watched a movie for a bit then went back to the sleeping car for many rounds of cards. We finally arrived in Xian around 12:30pm. It was a little disorienting because we ad to go out of train terminal and down some side street to find our bus, all the while being targeted by tour guides and people wanting us to buy things. We did, however, make it to the hotel safely and took a well deserved shower. After the train ride, I think everyone needed to freshen up and have a moment to relax.
I wandered out with Jesse and Corey, just to explore the area our our hotel. We found the South gate of the wall and just kind of bounced around from there. The area within the city wall is actually quite small so getting lost wouldn’t real be a problem. We found a little street that mostly sold calligraphy things. It was interesting. We came pack to the hotel in time to attend the official lecture on Xian. On the way our friends from Shanghai appeared. Lots of joyful reunions and hugs for everyone. We haven’t seen them since Beijing so it was awesome to see them all settled. Xiao Laoshi will be leading us on this expedition. The lecture was actually pretty standard for one of her classes so it breezed by easily enough. Then it was off to personal hotpot dinner. The food was good, but split among everyone at the table it wasn’t enough. It worked out though because we headed out to a night market, nearby our hotel, where there was plenty of snacks to be had by all.
The night market reminded me of Taiwan’s night markets, except this was one was specifically themed around the Muslim community that lives in Xian. The City was once the end of the Eastern Silk road and as such merchants from all over the world came to the city and some settled. The streets were bustling with shops, people and lights. Noisy and filled with sights it was a really fun time. Jesse and I managed to get separate from everyone and we just wandered around. He was actually having Turkey flashbacks and was nerding out about his experiences abroad. At one point we went out of the Market and found ourselves in an area with musical performances, which was pretty cool. Then Jesse and I wandered back to the hotel. It’s not very late but we both just wanted to sleep, the travel was catching up to us. So off to bed and tomorrow I will be at the Terra-cotta warriors.
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