I can sit for hours here and watch the emerald feathers play

I have some catching up to do, dont I? Days pass by so quickly that I forget what time and day it is.

Great Wall of Fun
Paul and I decided to hike the Great Wall of China. Since we arranged it at the hostel, we also met Eric and Chris who was going as well. It was a 6.2mile hike from jinshanling to simatai. Hike itself was NOT easy. Plenty of unrestored areas with tough sections. Basically climbing up and down the entire way which made for a good workout. Scenry was beautiful with endless perfect green mountains. Really fascinating.

The section we were at was not very touristy at all either. What made the experience a whole lot better was the people I went with. Paul, Eric, and Chris are just funny as hell. Paul brought his mini speakers and played some ACDC on the wall. Truly memorable moment that has changed my image of ACDC forever. Toward the end we kicked back on the wall and bought some beers. To finish it off we took the zip line down from the Great Wall over a river and then onto a boat that took us to the exit. I say this day was one of the best days of my life. Just had to be there.

Saying Bye to Beijing

It was a bit depressing. I’ve been told I get use to it. Being that Beijing was my first destination, I feel as if I have a special connection to it. I’ve also got pretty lucky with the people I met there. I know I’ll miss the people and the places but I’ll always remember them and for some I’ll always keep in touch. Now for a 12 train ride to Xi’an, China.

Xi’an, China

From the train station, I got a free pickup from the hostel. Met Chris from England who was getting picked up as well. Checked in Shuyuan Hostel and I’m pretty impressed. Chill place. Has a full lounge/bar in the basement and a restaurant in the main lobby. It’s very popular hostel in Xi’an and for only 20rmb a night, you can’t go wrong.

Touring

For my first day I just walked around  just observing and taking in my surroundings. Decided to check out a random museum I passed by called Forest of Tablets. I’m not much of a museum person so I got bored pretty quickly. Interesting nonetheless. Xi’an is the old capital of China dating back thousands of years of history. The Forest of Tablets had writings from hundreds of years ago that were carved into stones. I have much more respect for the Chinese writing now. Just wondering around, a local Chinese kid walks up to me and says “Hi, can I practice my English with you?”. Immediately I thought SCAM but I figured I would go along with it and see where it went. I’ve been approached dozens of times for scams so I can usually catch them pretty quick and always know when to walk away. He asks some basic questions like where I’m from and what I’m doing. He then asked me if I wanted to go a free museum he knew about. I said sure and so we went. He was for real! The free museum was fantastic! Much much better then the Forest of Tablets I had to actually pay for. The museum was Shaanxi Province Museum and had many of the old China relics. Best part though wasn’t the mesuem but a local chinese showing me around town and talking to me about their culture was the best. I learned so much from him. Thank you if you’re reading this!

Terracotta Warriors was pretty neat. Unbelievable what they did back then. The amount of warriors that were made was incredible. Since the site was found in the late 70s, they seem to still be digging up the remains and uncovering more of the story of the Terracotta Warriors. Not sure if I’d call it the “8th Wonder of the World” but it was still unbelievable.

Food in Xi’an, China

The Muslim quarters in Xi’an was probably one of my favorite things about Xi’an. It’s a small street PACKED with street vendors selling food, clothes, and random items. I went here twice during the week I was in Xi’an and both times I just picked up random foods along the way eating everything in site. Cheap delicious food. No idea what I was eating but everything I had was wonderful (most of it which was spicey). One of the best dishes Xi’an has is Yang Rou Pao Mo which is shredded bread soaked in mutton soup. Overall though Xi’an has some incredible foods.

Huashan Mountain in Xi’an, China

Chris and I decided to check out from the hostel and hike up Huashan Mountain which is one of the holiest mountains in China. This was quite the mission though. First we had to buy our train ticket to Chengdu for the next day when we get back from our hike (we got the wrong train ticket last time and had to buy another.. bah). Then I found that my credit card stopped working and wouldn’t dispense any money from the money making machine (lol). I still had some cash on me and Chris lent me some money till I can get it resolved (which is now thanks to skype!). First was getting on a small local muggy bus that took us 2 hours to get there. Once we got there we had no idea what to do next (we never prepare for anything lol). Somehow we end up in a taxi that took us to the entrance of the mountain. By the way, it’s POURING out. Really raining heavy and were about to hike up for miles. Taxi driver was complete dick and claimed he said 10Yuan when we agreed to 2Yuan. It was a crazy short ride and there was no reason it should be 10Yuan. After some argument in all sign language, we got fuck it and paid the 10Yuan to that stupid bastard. Moving on we took the cable car up halfway the mountain since most of the mountain was closed and the rain didn’t make it easy. The hike up was ridicules with the rain. Thousands of half ass stairs with chains that normally required you to hold on or else you’re done. While the rain did suck since it was pretty cloudy out, it did make for a nice rain forest feel to the mountain top. The birds, waterfalls, cliffs, and just overall feel of the out doors was a great feeling. Our plan was to stay in a hostel on the top peak but we couldn’t find the hostel so we decided to check into a hotel near the top. Think of the movie “The Shining” and that’s basically where we were at. No one in sight in the middle of nowhere. Shittest yet humorous bed room. Long and tiring day for the both of us yet at the end of the day, we felt very well accomplished. Next day we head back down (after nearly killing myself on the way down lol) and everything was perfect. Got back to Xi’an train station in double time on our way to Chengdu.

Friends

Been traveling with Chris the past few days and the guy is funny as hell. I’m at Mix Hostel now in Chengdu after 16hour train ride. I hope to update the blog more often and keep up with my other sites.

For more pictures and videos, go to my facebook page!