Great Wall, Olympic Green, Terracotta Warriors, Oh My!

Hello from Xian! Our overnight train from Beijing arrived here this morning around 9:30 AM. We weren’t able to blog last night because there wasn’t any internet on the train, but don’t worry, we’ll get you up to speed with this post. A summary of yesterday’s and today’s events:

Yesterday we left Xuanhua early in the morning, and went to the Great Wall on our way back to Beijing. We climbed the Wall at Juyongguan Pass, a relatively challenging section that catches tourists off-guard with its twisting passages and steep inclines. The steps are uneven, and some are slanted downward, making the trip back down the Wall a rather terrifying experience. Most of our group made it all the way to the top, passing through all seven towers and sweating profusely. (Don’t worry, we all made sure to wear deodorant.) Interestingly, the Wall was probably one of the more diverse experiences we’ve had so far in China. The people climbing with us spoke several different languages: Spanish, Arabic, English, French, and Italian. We took pictures with a young couple from Israel, and talked to a woman from Australia.

After the Wall, we boarded back onto the bus and drove to Beijing for the day. We spent the afternoon walking around the Olympic Green. Unfortunately, the swimming at the Water Cube was closed, but half of our group toured the Bird’s Nest while the other half walked to the Olympic Park. Now we can say that we climbed the Great Wall and took a lap around the Bird’s Nest in the same day!

We ended our day trip to Beijing with an excursion to one of their supermarkets. We all stocked up on food for the train ride (Ken Kisch had the guts to buy the blueberry potato chips.) But perhaps the highlight of our evening was dinner at McDonald’s. Thankfully, the Chinese version of the fast food chain has improved dramatically, and the chicken nuggets and hamburgers were decent. Grease and fat have never tasted so good.

When we first boarded the overnight train to Xian we wondered how four of us could all fit in a room! The compartments were tidy and clean, but once we put all of our luggage inside, everything suddenly appeared to be much smaller. Regardless, we all had a fantastic time on the train. The parents spent some time together in their own room (bai jiu, anyone?) and the rest of us caught up on our journals or sat and talked.

Our first day in Xian was spent unpacking and resting in the morning. In the afternoon, we visited the Terracotta Warriors. There are three separate pits at the Terracotta Warriors museum, and we visited all of them, as well as the exhibit of the bronze chariots. It was also very cool to watch the 360° IMAX video about the origin and discovery of the Terracotta Warriors. Some of us were even able to meet one of the farmers who had discovered the Terracotta Warriors!

Thanks for reading! We’ll blog again tomorrow.

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