(no subject)
It is 4:00 p.m. Friday afternoon and I am in Xi'an. Today is the first day since we arrived here on Wednesday that the temperature has gone below 100 degrees...I'm a little tan and a lot proud.
Beijing was everything I thought it would be. Bold, modern, and stuck up. My favorite section of Beijing was this little bar district called Houhai which was like a little tiny Venice complete with arched bridges, outside bars, wandering musicians and boaters drunkenly meandering through the lake. We flew into Beijing on Saturday and at sunset walked over to Tiananmen Square where I learned an interesting lesson and began a contest. While walking around the ginormous square pavillion, I was approached by a couple who spoke some Chinese and motioned towards their camera. Naturally, I assumed they were asking if I minded taking their picture which I of course assented to, but no...this was not the case. They were asking me to be in their picture. This was the first of many such occurences. I was a friggin tourist attraction onto myself. Standing in front of the Forbidden City (Jesse, the movie makes it look much prettier than it actually is. Additionally, I scrutinized the gate door looking for remnants of mouse guts and found none.), and Mao's monument and the People's Museum, people apparently found the red-headed pale-skinned American girl much more interesting. Sunday we went to the Great Wall. We lucked out majorly and went on this kind of overcast, rainy, cool day which was all ooohaaahhoooh-like. I took many many pictures and teared up a bit. Also, while climbing the wall, I made friends with a ladybug who chose to reside on the crotch of my jeans. I'm taking this as very good luck. Upon entering the Great Wall, I was accosted by an entire tourist group wearing camo and toting red flags and banners. One asked to take a picture with me and before I could turn around, I was in group pictures with flags above my head and everything. I have a sinking feeling that someday this picture will surface to haunt me when I'm like running for President or something. Someone will hand me a manila envelope and there I'll be grinning from a photograph surrounded by Communist rebels or something.
Monday Bai Di decided to try and exhaust us during the day so that we wouldn't go out and party too much at night so went to the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of the Lamas, the Summer Palace, a silk factory and I'm sure more that I just can't recall right now. We went out drinking anyway...Jesse and Addy, we are definitely always keeping a stock of Triple Sec on hand.
Tuesday we took a train from Beijing to Xi'an. It was a sleeper train which was a very memorable experience complete with me kicking everyone's ass in Texas Hold 'Em (first time I ever played this too), triple-decker bunk beds, and the discovery that I can drink Chinese liquor straight better than the boys.
While in Xi'an we have seen the Terra Cotta Warriors, a Banpomen museum (early early matriarchal clan), and gone to the temple of the Yellow Emperor. He was neither yellow nor an emperor, but he is the supposed father of all Chinese people. Really more of a legend than an actual figure, but it's kind of like a mecca that all Chinese people are supposed to go and pay homage to their ancestry. There was a 5000 year old tree there. At the time I was just too fucking hot to really appreciate that fact, but now sitting in an air conditioned wang ba the idea of my touching a tree that can surpass Jesus' legacy is really pretty awe-inspiring.
Last night a group of us went to a local night market where peddlers yell their wares and little kids scurry around begging. Well, after a little time spent there, we realized one of these little kids pickpocketed Laibond. His wallet gone. All his money, his China and Hong Kong IDs, his credit cards and debit cards. Everything. Gone. Very very long story and long night later, after he and I had been to two shady-ass police stations and walked everywhere, we return home to the hotel, planning to go to this Foreigners Visa issuing place this morning. Laibond would need some visa from them or he would not be allowed to leave China for Hong Kong. Anyway, luckiest fucking son of a bitch that he is...and I am so very glad for his luck...he goes to the visa place this morning, walks into the room, and sees all his cards and wallet laid out on a table. The 400 kuai were gone but everything else had been returned. Fucking weird and random as hell. We've decided that this was all just a practical joke his ancestors were playing on him since he had gone and visited them just a few hours earlier.
It is now 4:30 and I have to run back to our hotel because we are catching a bus to the train station and a 17-hour train ride will bring us to Shanghai. I will be in Shanghai until Monday morning when I will fly from Shanghai to Beijing and Beijing to New York.
That's all folks. Expect no more updates until I am stateside. Then expect many visits all around as well as gifts and hugs. Also, please bring me chocolate chip pancakes.
All my love,
Chelsea
Beijing was everything I thought it would be. Bold, modern, and stuck up. My favorite section of Beijing was this little bar district called Houhai which was like a little tiny Venice complete with arched bridges, outside bars, wandering musicians and boaters drunkenly meandering through the lake. We flew into Beijing on Saturday and at sunset walked over to Tiananmen Square where I learned an interesting lesson and began a contest. While walking around the ginormous square pavillion, I was approached by a couple who spoke some Chinese and motioned towards their camera. Naturally, I assumed they were asking if I minded taking their picture which I of course assented to, but no...this was not the case. They were asking me to be in their picture. This was the first of many such occurences. I was a friggin tourist attraction onto myself. Standing in front of the Forbidden City (Jesse, the movie makes it look much prettier than it actually is. Additionally, I scrutinized the gate door looking for remnants of mouse guts and found none.), and Mao's monument and the People's Museum, people apparently found the red-headed pale-skinned American girl much more interesting. Sunday we went to the Great Wall. We lucked out majorly and went on this kind of overcast, rainy, cool day which was all ooohaaahhoooh-like. I took many many pictures and teared up a bit. Also, while climbing the wall, I made friends with a ladybug who chose to reside on the crotch of my jeans. I'm taking this as very good luck. Upon entering the Great Wall, I was accosted by an entire tourist group wearing camo and toting red flags and banners. One asked to take a picture with me and before I could turn around, I was in group pictures with flags above my head and everything. I have a sinking feeling that someday this picture will surface to haunt me when I'm like running for President or something. Someone will hand me a manila envelope and there I'll be grinning from a photograph surrounded by Communist rebels or something.
Monday Bai Di decided to try and exhaust us during the day so that we wouldn't go out and party too much at night so went to the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of the Lamas, the Summer Palace, a silk factory and I'm sure more that I just can't recall right now. We went out drinking anyway...Jesse and Addy, we are definitely always keeping a stock of Triple Sec on hand.
Tuesday we took a train from Beijing to Xi'an. It was a sleeper train which was a very memorable experience complete with me kicking everyone's ass in Texas Hold 'Em (first time I ever played this too), triple-decker bunk beds, and the discovery that I can drink Chinese liquor straight better than the boys.
While in Xi'an we have seen the Terra Cotta Warriors, a Banpomen museum (early early matriarchal clan), and gone to the temple of the Yellow Emperor. He was neither yellow nor an emperor, but he is the supposed father of all Chinese people. Really more of a legend than an actual figure, but it's kind of like a mecca that all Chinese people are supposed to go and pay homage to their ancestry. There was a 5000 year old tree there. At the time I was just too fucking hot to really appreciate that fact, but now sitting in an air conditioned wang ba the idea of my touching a tree that can surpass Jesus' legacy is really pretty awe-inspiring.
Last night a group of us went to a local night market where peddlers yell their wares and little kids scurry around begging. Well, after a little time spent there, we realized one of these little kids pickpocketed Laibond. His wallet gone. All his money, his China and Hong Kong IDs, his credit cards and debit cards. Everything. Gone. Very very long story and long night later, after he and I had been to two shady-ass police stations and walked everywhere, we return home to the hotel, planning to go to this Foreigners Visa issuing place this morning. Laibond would need some visa from them or he would not be allowed to leave China for Hong Kong. Anyway, luckiest fucking son of a bitch that he is...and I am so very glad for his luck...he goes to the visa place this morning, walks into the room, and sees all his cards and wallet laid out on a table. The 400 kuai were gone but everything else had been returned. Fucking weird and random as hell. We've decided that this was all just a practical joke his ancestors were playing on him since he had gone and visited them just a few hours earlier.
It is now 4:30 and I have to run back to our hotel because we are catching a bus to the train station and a 17-hour train ride will bring us to Shanghai. I will be in Shanghai until Monday morning when I will fly from Shanghai to Beijing and Beijing to New York.
That's all folks. Expect no more updates until I am stateside. Then expect many visits all around as well as gifts and hugs. Also, please bring me chocolate chip pancakes.
All my love,
Chelsea