Sunday, Sept 13th, Xi’an

Hello all!

Just over a week in and it’s been a terrific time. Finished up in Beijing at the Summer Palace and a lovely time paddling around the lake, that’s where this photo was taken.

Then it was time for our first of four overnight trains. We’re not on any luxury tour here so it’s the “hard sleeper” compartments for us! Actually the beds are hard regardless but the hard vs soft means we had six bunks in a tiny compartment. The bottom bunk isn’t too bad but the top two you can’t even sit up straight. The picture shows our crew sticking their heads out of some of our compartments. There is zero privacy as they open out in to the general area. So I’m trying to be quite careful with my things but so far I’ve felt very safe and comfortable.

Certainly the least pleasant element of the sleeper trains are the quite…uh…fragrant pit toilets available! Yes, pit toilets on a moving train – the joys of adventure travel! But it’s all part of the cultural experience right?

We arrive in Shanghai around noon and spend the afternoon doing a long walking tour of the city. It’s more modern and cosmopolitan than Beijing and clearly in high growth mode. Skyscrapers cover the landscape and the smaller hutong-type buildings where the locals have lived for centuries are quickly being demolished for highrises.

Admittedly, after almost a week of Chinese food three times a day, I took advantage of our free night to just pick up a tuna sandwich at Subway! J

Friday I met up with Kevin Thalmann, a Newport and Killington friend, who is living in Shanghai on an expat assignment. He was a terrific host, showing me some great little areas where the small dwellings have at least been converted into small shops and cafes rather than just demolished. (Of course that meant a bit of shopping!) At least the few heavy items I was able to leave with Kevin since he’s bringing a container home. Wouldn’t have wanted to lug those around in my pack!

After some wandering it was time to do some dumpling sampling! We went to a well known local place and watched them assembling the dumplings. Hundreds of them! There was a line stretched out behind us for the freshly cooked ones. We got our pack of four that I’m showing in the picture and then Kevin taught me the technique of biting just a small hole in the top and sucking all the succulent juice out before it can drain to the ground. Then you pop the rest in your mouth. Yummmmm. Sadly, the terrific local place is also being torn down soon to make way for more subway lines.

Then it was off to experience a different side of Shanghai having cocktails and of course, more dumplings at the Park Hyatt hotel on the 92nd floor of the newly built Financial center. It was a fabulous view, and delectable drinks and food. And the bathrooms were more modern and sophisticated than anyplace I’ve seen with more controls than my car! Quite a change from the train!

We saw the Shanghai acrobats perfrom that night which was highly entertaining, like a Cirque de Soliel show. Then took a break from traditional Chinese with dinner at a fabulous French bistro, with fabulous typical American prices! To give an idea of the contrast, a full Chinese meal split with my tour mates may cost the equivalent of about $4-5 total per person! Slightly more with a beer. So that one French meal cost more than the rest of the trip meals combined but it was absolutely delectable!

Of course the irony is the following morning was the first that my stomach had any bit of nausea! Guess I should stick to the local Chinese food instead of the fancy tourist food! Admittedly, ordering the steak tartar in China may have not been the best choice! But some meds helped fix me up and there was no way that I was going to miss the next event – riding around Shanghai with Kevin on his new scooter!

Scooters and bicycles are everywhere in China and they zip around the traffic and pedestrians within mere millimeters of collisions at every turn! Of course there are absolutely no helmets anywhere. Well, except for the McDonald’s delivery guys! Got to love the American liability mentality!

So just as I didn’t tell my mother I was bungy jumping until after I had already survived, I figured I wouldn’t mention a Shanghai scooter ride experience until after I had lived to tell the tale, as bungy jumping is probably safer! Kevin has a snazzy new bike and it was such a blast to navigate through the crowds and craziness. Though Kevin is far more polite, safe and easy on the horn than any of the locals!

All in all, Shanghai was just fabulous, though all too short. I’ll be looking forward to seeing Kevin again in Hong Kong and then again for a visit in Cambodia and we’re planning a long weekend to Laos too. Great to have a friend on this side of the world to travel with!

Then it was off to another overnight train (16 hours!) My trivia buddies will be pleased to hear that my little trivial pursuit game on my iTouch has become the key activity of the group and we played for hours on the train. Girls against boys (girls won three out of three games!)

Today unfortunately is raining in Xi’an but we are doing a dumpling dinner (sounds like dim sum) tonight so that is sure to be wonderful! And tomorrow is the Terracotta Warriors. All good times!

Zai jian!

Val