Wow! What a trip! Dad, I'm a little explorer. Can you believe it? I only kind of can. Part of me still can't believe that that's what I came home from doing.
We left September 30th for Xi'an (she-yawn). This time we were smart enough to get a sleeper train. It would have been death on a train if we had attempted to do that thirty hour train ride in a hard seat. Before we left we were under the impression it was only a 24 hour train ride, but the last six hours were do-able, so it wasn't so bad. It was so nice to have my own space. I read my scriptures, listened to my audiobook of Edgar Sawtelle, talked with the girls, got food from some nice Chinese people and actually slept when it was time. Quite luxurious if you ask me. Toward the end, Lauren and I were getting super bored so we started having a little rave. Who says you need disco lights and music that everyone can hear? It was hilarious. (photo number one and video)
The video is of us listening to this song called Sandstorm. You'd probably just roll your eyes, Dad. Once we pulled into the train station we worked our way out to the street and no taxi would pick us up! It was so frustrating. We were already going to be arriving to our hostel later than our hostel wanted to and I was just super nervous. I almost teared up I was so frustrated. Turns out the reason why they weren't picking us up was because that time is a shift change and people were going home. Finally, we did get three taxis and made it to our hostel with almost no problem. The taxi I was in dropped us off on the opposite corner. Good thing we ran into a Chinese man who not only spoke English but who knew where all the hostels in the area were.
That night I was pretty exhausted, but Tina convinced me to go walk around some. Out of the entire week of holiday that night was the actual holiday. Down the street from our hostel we saw some people with paper lanterns that they'd light something in and then they'd float off into the sky. So cute! Tina's exhaustion caught up with mine and we went and showered the train grime off of us and hit our beds. We had to be fully rested for the day that was awaiting us!
The terra-cotta warriors gave us a wake up call. They were a little late. We were supposed to be out of the hostel by 8:30, but I think most of the girls missed their thunderings through the hall. We didn't realize, either, that it would take us an hour on the bus to get out there. But, oh boy, am I grateful that we've figured out public transportation. The bus ride cost us seven yuan, a little more than a dollar, where a taxi would have cost us upwards of 130 yuan. It was so cool to get there and see something I've only studied in a textbook! There were so many of them.
It was while there that we discovered that we can't sit down for an extended period of time without getting mobbed by Chinese people and their cameras. Muslim Quarters were then calling our names away from the herd of Chinese paparazzi. One of the coolest places in China I've been. Alleys packed with people selling awesome things and funky food. On our way there my flip flop broke. So annoying! My nice volcom ones, too. So I bought myself some cheap Chinese slippers.
We then headed to our hostel because it was dumpling party night!! We got to make dumplings! The meat ones were quite good, but the leek ones weren't so much. It was fun making them too. I really want to learn how to make the dough and the filling though. All I did was put the filling in and close it up. While we were eating our dumplings we had some interesting conversations with an English and Scottish guy. They asked about the church and such. That's the only time we're allowed to even mention the gospel. After a long convo, we went to a dance club in Xi'an. It was pretty fun, but not really my cup of tea. You know me, Dad. I enjoy dancing and goofing off, but really only with my best friends back home and not in a place that is bogged down by clouds of smoke. Emily, Katrina and I left early. Fun, but not worth making myself super exhausted for the next day.
And the next day was so fun! We biked the city wall. It's more ancient than the Great Wall. What a bumpy ride! It took us a little more than an hour and was so fun. I whipped out my iPod and was listening to my music while riding a bike in China! The plan was then to go to the museum, but once we made it there we found a line that would take us 3 hours to get through and we had a train to catch that night, so we opted for the Wild Goose Pagoda instead. Not a bad plan B if you ask me.
The pagoda and it's surroundings were so pretty. We loved Xi'an because it felt more like ancient China with it's architecture and sites like this. Fuqing is definitely more of the modern China. But the pagoda was huge! We didn't go up in it, but all of the little rooms of worship around it were so captivating. It was there that I first saw people actually praying to statues. Kind of weird and foreign to me. First thing I thought was how personal I feel God is to me compared to a statue that they can actually touch and see. I may not be able to touch and see Heavenly Father, but I know he's there and that he loves me. I just got a really strong feeling of how lucky I am that I know my God knows and loves me individually and separate from any of his other children.
We then had to book it back to the hostel after getting snacks at Walmart for the train. Rendezvous happened as planned and we were on our way to the capital of China.
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