The Train Ride
Our 13 hr. overnight train ride ended up being much better than we thought it would be. The bathrooms weren't nearly as terrible as we were expecting and it was really fun. The berths were set up with three beds stacked on either side. The bunks were small, complete with the typical hard Chinese 2" mattresses. We played Euchre and took silly pictures before turning in for the night. Suprisingly, I slept pretty well on the way there. (The train ride back wasn't quite as smooth, but I made it just fine). We slept in our regular clothes - since there wasn't really any room to change. By the time we woke up, it was time to quickly gather our things and hop off. 
Train Station
Our berth...
Playing the "Surprise" game... someone says a word right before the picture is taken and our faces have to exhibit our emotions associated with the word/phrase. Definitely fun times. I don't remember what the word was for this one... but they were some fun faces.
Terra-Cotta Warriors
Apparently, the emperor of the Qin dynasty believed in the afterlife. He had over 7,000 Terra-cotta warriors made to be buried with him in his tomb - that way he would be protected in the afterlife. (He sounded a little narcissistic to me...) The Terra-Cotta warriors were constructed around 200 BC (I think... don't remember for sure). Later on, the tomb was invaded and several of the warriors were destroyed (as you'll see in the pictures). The warriors were not re-discovered until the 1970s/1980s... about 2,000 years later.
Beautiful scenery in the park...
Terra Cotta warriors...
Sporting our Bethel pride...
The broken warriors
Xian at Night
Our evening in Xian was wonderful. We did some shopping in the market and met some kids selling roses. We ended up having dinner with them at McDonalds and had some great conversations. I learned a lot about Chinese culture through our time in Xian. I look forward to sharing many stories when I get home...
Xian City Wall
Thursday morning, we rode tandem bikes on the Xian wall (different from the Great Wall). It was so much fun! The Xian wall surrounds the city... we biked for a good hour at least. Although our bike chain fell off twice, Katie and I managed just fine and had a lovely time together.
Group photo
Forest of the Stone Tablets
The Forest of the Stone Tablets contained several historical documents etched in stone. While we were there, we found some interesting tablets concerning the religious history of China. The tablets are displayed in a beautiful garden.... as you can see.
Chinese calligraphy is so beautiful... I wish I could read it. Maybe someday...
1 comment:
Holly~
I'm so glad you got to see those tablets. I heard about them when I got back and I really wanted to see them. Maybe some day...
Anyways, did you go first class? Second class is a bit different, but really unique because it is all open and there are 3 beds on either side and you often can become friends with a lot more people. I had to ride one of those on my own. I had some really cool bunk mates. One was a college student who spoke some English and he insisted I take the bottom bunk. :) It was kinda scarry but a lot of fun. Hope you are doing well.
Naomi
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