Tinanmen Square - Beijing Photos

October 1, Labrang

The overnight train from Xian to Lanzhou in Gansu province was quiet - no beer cart or party car. Instead, thanks to Liz's brother John, Jeff and I were entertained with an Ipod and electronic Sudoko game.

We arrived in Lanzhou, which is touted to be the world's most polluted city by the Lonely Planet, at 7 AM. We actually didn't think it was that bad however, the city is near the Yellow River and borded by two mountain ranges so we imagine that at certain times of year it could be worse.

We had an all-you-can eat buffet for 10 yuan (just about $1) right next to the train station for breakfast which was suprisingly good. Normally one would think a cheap meal next to train station would be horrible.

We took a 7-hour bus ride with our own private bus and driver to Labrang (which is the Tibetan name). We actually passed by the old Tibet/Chinese border; however today Tibet occupies a much smaller region. We are now in the Xiahe province. We drove through grasslands and a lot of muslim areas to get here. We are at about 2920 meters. Jeff also used China's nastiest toilet; Liz had fortunately timed it so that she could skip that pit stop. It was pretty bad. Jeff's face kept cortorted for about 30 minutes following. Ha!

Our hotel here is great - very colorful and run by Tibetans. When we arrived young girls, about 4'5" in height started grabbing our packs to carry up to our rooms - two packs on at a time - with lots of smiles on their faces. We were amazed by their strength and warmth. Last night our local guide met us to take us around the Cora (which is walked clockwise) and is a series of large prayer wheels that the Buddhists spin to send prayers up to the heavens. Each wheel was decorated the same and very ornate. There were probably 400 or so, and we walked around in a large square. At each corner there was a massive wheel that they walk around three times.

We then walked around the outside of the Labrang monastery which is one of the 6 most important monasteries for Buddhists. It was founded in 1709 and had nearly 4000 monks, but now closer to 1200. Last night we saw a lot of them, about 100, chanting. It was funny because there were "bad" monks in the back standing doing their prostrations (where they have to lie down and chant) without their top robe on. Today we will tour the inside of the monastery and then travel 3-4 hours to Lagmusi where we will stay at a homestay.

It was a little chilly last night and Jeff and Liz broke out the sleeping bag. We feel prepared for the colder weather ahead. This morning for breakfast we had the famous yak yogurt. Jeff isn't a fan of yogurt to begin with so this was an experience. Jeff nearly yaked watched Liz try it, needless to say, he didn't try it himself.

We need to meet the group soon, so will sign off. Hope all is well with each of you. Love Liz and Jeff

September 29, Xian

After a rowdy 13-hour train ride, we made it to Xian. The night started off with a few beers, vodka shots (some other Brits on the train [not in our group] had just travelled across the Trans-Siberian and picked up some cheap vodka in Russia), and ended with an early morning hangover. Not too bad though. However, with 6 people in a room, triple bunks on either side and Jeff and Liz on the top, it made getting down to use the bathroom difficult. Then once we got there the smell was analogous to smelling salts which quickly killed any leftover buzz we might have had. Actually - here's a little toilet talk - they are Horrid. Supposedly tomorrow we get to look forward to stopping at what our guide calls the worst toilet in all of China as the bus driver will stop there for lunch. Yum! He says, "it's not the smell, but the burning of the eyes."

Our group is really fun, and Vanessa, one of the Australians has the best quotes. We were all talking about office-isms and what different countries use. Most of us - Europeans, Australians, Americans, all use - things like "stepping up", "team player", but Vanessa has a new one I personally like which is, "I hope we are all dancing on the same table." Ha - gives a little insight into her spunky personality.

Xian is where the Terracotta warriors are. We arrived by train around 9 AM yesterday, had breakfast at a youth hostel, and then saw the warriors - about 1 hour drive from town in the afternoon. They were amazing. There are 3 pit areas and guess-timated to be around 8000 warriors and countless horses. Everything is to scale. One of the 4 farmers that discovered the statues in 1974 while digging a well was there to autograph books. Also, a President of some country (we didn't catch which one) was there so we weren't allowed to view certain areas until after he had passed through.

Last night we went to the Muslim quarter for dinner and shopping. We had this neat sort of fondu with different meats and veggies. Unlike American fondu which cooks with oil, this uses boiling water that is flavored with spices. There was also bread with zatar spices on it that reminded Liz of the Latif Bakery in Saudi. After dinner and beers, the rest of the group went out to drink more and ended up a night club (we saw photos and heard stories - and boy are they all hurting). We walked around the Muslim quarter more to begin the bartering process with a few vendors. We went home for an earlier night - still around midnight - so that we could maximize the following day.

Today we had coffee and ended up meeting up with a few of the other group members. It poured rain most of the day, but fortunately we were prepared. We've been feeling extremely unfashionable with our 2 pairs of pants and 2 shirts (not to mention smell a little, but each night we wash laundry in our room), but today in the rain felt quite snazzy and dry. Everyone else soaked. Ha! Actually we've heard that there is snow in Tibet with a temp of 7 celsius. I'm sure we'll start to look even more fashionable as warm and dry become the envy.

Today we did some shopping. Bought two chops (stamps) and a recorder for Kristin (Jeff's sister is a champion player). These recorders are the size of an egg and quite popular. We've both tried to play it, but I think will need lessons from Kristin. :-) Jeff thought it would be cute for Kristin to have a pocket-size recorder so whenever she feels an urge to play, she can entertain. Ha, ha!

This evening we did venture out without our guidebook for dinner and were able to order two dishes that were quite good, probably the best we've had since being here. We also toured the Mosque in the Muslim quarter and Liz was able to get the closest to the inside of mosque as she's ever been as in Saudi/Middle East there are huge boundaries for non-Muslims. The outside looked very similiar to a Chinese padoda, with a little Arabic writing here and there. Today being Friday and the Muslim holy day, there were more people there praying and we did hear the call to prayer. It was neat..

In this city there are two large towers, the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, and surrounded by a large city wall. Usually when it's not raining, tour groups will cycle the 14 km perimeter of the wall inside the old city. With the rain we instead opted to walk and shop. The Bell Tower has a large bell (we didn't go inside as we heard it wasn't that interesting), but the Drum Tower was quite neat. They had this large drum inside that you could bang on for 5 yuan. Jeff videod Liz banging on it. Afterward they put on a show with 5 drummers all playing, tapping their sticks, and dancing. It was very entertaining, also videod.

Tonight we take another overnight train to somewhere and then a bus for another 7 hours through the grasslands. We are going to start getting some altitude with this journey. I'm not sure if we'll have internet there, but do know there is a place in Lhasa Tibet (8 days away). Keep tuned.

We miss you all and think of you often. Love Liz and Jeff

Day 2 Beijing

Hello everyone! This is the start of our on-line diary. To catch up - we flew into Tokyo watched a few hours of Sumo Wrestling on TV while waiting for our connecting flight to Beijing. Met an American who we ended up seeing last night at a Kung Fu show (and Beijing is no small town!). Got into Beijing and amazing found our hotel as after leaving the airport, he pulled over on the side of the freeway to ask us for directions all in Chinese. Scary! Fortunately we had the phone number and he had a cell phone, so after me yelling at him that he did not need to dial the 011-country-city code, but just whatever number of digits they have - he figured it out and we got there.

The next day we walked to Tinnamen Square and observed the people, buildings, culture and tried to learn how to order food. There we saw the count down to the Olympics - about 620 some days! Instead of walking the same way back to the hotel we took what we thought was a parallel street and ended up walking completely off our map - this time without the hotel phone number. Fortunately we did know that our hotel is near a train station so we stopped a tour group to ask their guide how to get back. The 3 hour walk ended in about 5-6.

That evening we met our group which consists of Australians, two Germans, 1 Dutchman, 1 Canadian, one Brit, and us. Our guide, Brett, is American, but currently lives in Tibet. He's fantastic and extremely knowledgeable of the region. Given that the train just went into to Tibet, we all feel that our trip is very timely to see things before too much change happens. After going over logistics, we all went out to eat which was great as Brett ordered. He also said that we should not be afraid to walk into kitchens ourselves and just point at the food. Brett ordered a bunch of great dishes, plus 2 ducks that we never would have ordered but were great (minus the duck).

Yesterday, we woke up early and all bused out to the Great Wall. We went a less touristy section, but can't recall the name now. We walked the countless steps up to the top and then went from tower 1 to tower 20. It was amazing and the day very clear so we got great views and pics. Rather than walk down, we all opted for the metal 1/2 pipe tobaggon which was fun and not that scary as we had some older more nervous tourists riding the brake. It looked like a giant water slide. Later that evening, Jeff and I went out to nice Sichuan spicy-food restaurant. The rest of the group ended up at the same one and felt bad that they were disturbing our romantic evening when in actuality we were starving so went out for dinner at 4. It was spicy - I didn't know you could marinate so many things in chilli. Afterwards we went to a Kung Fu show which was phenonmenol. Not only were the moves amazing, but it told a story of a young Buddhist growing up and learning the art so they had children doing the moves as well. Amazing!

Today we toured the Forbidden City. Then all ate lunch together - again great having a group meal picked out by a local. Afterward we went on a rickshaw tour of the Hutongs (old family parts of the city [families all live together around a courtyard]). We actually got to visit inside a Hutong and meet the head of the household who is a retired engineer that learned rice paper cutting from his mother which he currently does in his free time. He had some amazing cutouts that we have photos off.

Anyways - off to catch the train to Xian. Hope to update the journal with pictures soon. Love Liz and Jeff