China: Beijing and the Great Wall
Beijing was the first stop on our three week trip. We visited the Forbidden City in addition to our day trip to the Great Wall.
Email: Greetings from Beijing
Yesterday we went to the Great Wall. It is a portion of the wall that sees very few visitors. With all the buses and subway, it cost us Y66 or $7 per person. Pulling the whole thing off wasn’t easy though.
China: Luoyang
We left Beijing’s West Train Station at 12:45pm on Wednesday to begin our ten hour journey to Luoyang. We were able to get hard seats (for about $12 each) on a ‘K’ train, which is an express that makes very few stops.
China: Xian – Terracotta Warriors
It was a 5 1/2 hour journey on a double decker express ‘K’ train from Luoyang to Xian. The next morning we went back to the train station to catch the bus to the Army of the Terracotta Warriors. Nothing prepares you for the enormity of seeing the warriors in lines as you first enter.
Email: Adventures in China – Socks and Terracotta Warriors
We arrived in Xian last night. We took a train from Luoyang. The train ride took six hours. During the trip, we had hawkers coming through selling everything from hot food, cold food, books, magazines and socks.
Email: Adventures in China – Xian
We are still in Xian. The other night, Sandy and I took a little walk through the city. If it wasn’t for the diesel fumes and the drum tower at the end of the block, you wouldn’t know you were in China.
Email: Update from China – Luoyang
It is Thursday night and we are in Luoyang, which is southwest of Beijing. We arrived here late last night after a 10 hour train ride in “hard class.” Hard class is not necessarily the seats (they were padded) but it refers to the cheapest seats of travel – one the Chinese use.
China: Chengdu and Dali
After some rough traveling, we first visited the pandas in Chengdu and then relaxed in Dali. Among the highlights there was a visit to a local market.
Email: Adventures in China – The Train
My butt hurts and it’s only one hour into our 17 hour train ride from Xian to Chengdu. We only expected to spend two days in Xian but we had to stay three days because there weren’t any seats available to Chengdu.
Email: China Update from Kunming
We are now in Kunming, which is in the southwest corner of China, very close to the Laos and Vietnam borders.