A bit under the weather...

Hey folks,
I know that I promised pictures. I came to the internet cafe prepared w/ the CD-rom and all but then none of the computers have CD drives. It's mainly a gamer's internet cafe.... Alas, you'll have to wait. I'm currently in Xi'an right now. I'm feeling a bit under the weather. My body has finally said "enough" after 2.5 weeks of traveling. I got the sniffles, coughs... and I have to somehow get rested up on tonight's overnight train to Beijing. I am SO excited about going to Beijing.

From Chengdu we caught the overnight train to Xi'an two nights ago. It was a good overnight train ride except for the occasional cockroach running up and down the walls.... ewwwwwww......

We arrived in Xi'an to see a nice grey sky again. I keep asking why the sky is grey here. I can't remember the last time I saw blue sky... It's weird b/c the sun is a nice red colour and you can look at it b/c it's hidden behind thick haze. Welcome to China..... and apparently, there's not even major industrial plants around this city. So w/ the haze, it sort of makes it pointless to climb any sort of pagoda, or tower to look out at the city, because you can barely see out in front of you.

When we arrived in Xi'an, I took off on my own for a bit. The thing about being on a tour is that there's always people to hang out with and help you take pictures, but it gets tiring after awhile. Those of you who have travelled with me know that I like to get my personal space. And if I don't - I can get cranky. It's doubly worse today b/c I feel sick and I want people to just leave me alone. Anyway, I wandered to the Muslim Quarter yesterday of Xi'an. It was really interesting. B/c I'm so used to seeing a middle eastern face or arabic face when I see the head coverings, etc. (sorry, I don't know the technical term) - but here are all these Chinese people w/ head coverings. I also visited the Great Mosque of Xi'an, which was sort of weird. I mean, I'm walking through a Chinese garden, and when I get to the mosque - it's a big building built in traditional Chinese architecture. But lo and behold, there's arabic writing on the wall and I can see all the mats in the great hall where people pray regularly. It was just a neat experience.

Last night, we went to a Dumpling Banquet which frankly was really really tacky. I mean, it's cool to eat dumplings in the shape of the animal that you're eating. I mean, the duck really did look like duck. And the fish looked like fish. It was wrapped to look like abalone, walnuts, flowers, pumpkins, pigs, etc. Very creative except that it was one of those package dinners with all the big bus coaches outside w/ all the white tourists... You know you're in a tourist trap when you look around and there are no locals. The Tang Dynasty concert afterwards was very cool though. Again, I promise to post pictures as soon as I can.

The highlight today though - TERRACOTA WARRIORS!

Emperor Qin who lived over 2200 years ago, who was known for uniting the seven different states of China at that time, had a bit of a complex to say the least. He was forty when he started building his mausoleum. He wanted to take EVERYTHING into the Netherlands... I mean, netherworld after he died, and so he built himself a replica of everything that he owned, including his army. They've only uncovered 7,000 warriors so far, but they think there are probably 100,000 pieces - cavalary, chariots, infantry, etc. They also think that Emperor Qin built an underground palace as well. Nobody knew that this even existed b/c everyone working on the project was buried along w/ the mausoleum. They only discovered this area in 1976 when a couple of farmers were digging a well. Pretty amazing stuff. It blows my mind. The detail on them is amazing. Each face is different and they're all individuall painted. APparently you can even figure out the age of the horses by looking at the way their teeth were carved.

So that's my update from Xi'an. Next stop: Beijing!

A few other observations -

1) People cover their mouth to pick their teeth here with toothpicks, but they don't cover their nose when they pick that.
2) The spitting and smoking isn't as bad as I thought it would be.
3) People don't ever sit on the ground (who can blame them when everyone's spitting) - so the official Chinese position is squatting, which also makes sense b/c there's squat toilets everywhere.
4) There's a strange fascination with the Happy Birthday song here. The little spinning top toys that they sell on the train, play that song. The street cleaning car played that song as it went by. KFC was blaring it on the speakers as we walked by... I don't really understand....

Personal reflections -

I can't believe it hasn't even been 3 weeks since leaving home. It feels like so much longer than that. I'm not homesick yet. I'm really enjoying China. I have a huge advantage in that I do speak the language, poorly, but still, I'm able to communicate (and bargain). And I don't mind eating Chinese food everyday. Although, I am craving a big ole burger from Red Robin and bottomless steak fries.... mmmmm..... savour with me for a moment... fries.......

*pause*

The other big thing is the absence of American culture on my daily life. I barely catch the headlines. Most hotels don't have the one National channel that is in English. Besides, who wants to watch documentaries on dynasties and Mozart anyway... Apparently, you can't access BBC from the internet in China. But the main headlines are things happening in Asia, as opposed to America. No celebrity gossip, no Bush this or that, no Hollywood - I hear more Chinese music and karaoke. To be honest, it's sort of nice break. No offense to America. That's not what I mean. But it's like - wow - there's billions of people out in the rest of the world who live with a perspective that is not entirely influenced by American media. THey have a different outlook on life and that informs their way of living, politics, etc.

Talking to our tour guide about Chinese politics - just a bit - it's been interesting getting his perspective. I can sort of appreciate where he's coming from. It makes sense. It'd make more sense if I grew up in this culture. And I don't think it's very black and white. Not too many things are, are they?

I'm still getting my dose of home though by listening to music on my MP3 players and it's been great listening to downloaded sermons - (Props to Mars Hill church and Rob Bell). The hour long sermons certainly help on the long bus rides. THat's the other thing - there isn't much of a "Christian" outlet for me. No one to really talk to about things. No church or bible study, etc. So I have my own little CHurch w/ my MP3 player. It's interesting being in a culture again where Christianity is not just a given and in the majority.

Alright, that's it for now. I gotta go take a shower before our overnight train ride tonight...

p.s. for those of you who are curious, NO, I didn't get drunk on my birthday. ;)