Springtime in Siberia

We left Ulan Bator on the 26th on an overnight train to Irkutsk, Russia. We where able to share a compartment with our Dutch travel companions from Mongolia, Stephan and Reinier, which made for a fun trip. A few bottles of Mongolian and Chinese beer and a deck of cards helped the first night pass quickly and painlessly. We did stop for about five hours at the Russian border, but since we didn't have to leave our compartment (excpet for it to be searched), it wasn't much of a hassle.

The next morning turned out to be a beautiful. The train was quiet (as most of the other passengers hit the vodka a little harder than we hit the beer and where sleeping in). It was a sunny spring day with bright blue skies, and we
had an incredible view of still frozen Lake Baikal. Add in some birtch forests, picturesque wooden houses with colorful windows, and snow covered mountains, and it was everything romantic I imangined about the Trans-Siberian. You could almost hear some sweeping score from Dr. Zvago in the background.

The obese vodka smelling Russian men who stood continuosly in the passageway (one of whom tried to pick my pocket- either that or he was copping a cheap feel, I'm not sure which is worse) took away from the romance a little bit, but I guess they added character in thier own way. It was a great ride.

We arrived in Irkutsk the following afternoon. Our first European/western style city in five months. I was ready to leave Asia, but I found myself missing it almost immediately once we got here. Wierd. I guess you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Of our three days in Irkutsk, we spent a solid day and a half just trying to buy onward train tickets and get our visa registered. The train tickets where complicated by International Worker's Day on May 1. It is a pretty big deal here- a 4 day weekend and lots of people traveling. So we didn't get the train that we wanted and we had to pay more for it.

The holiday also made it harder for us to get our visa registered. Actually, the whole process is pretty bizzare. For some reason in Russia not only do you have to get a visa, but you have to get it registered within three working days and then every place you stay for more than 3 days. Since we are staying at a flat that doesn't register visas, here is the process: Go to a main hotel and wait for a blond lady named Olga to be at the desk. When she is there (and only if she is there), you can tell here that Jack sent you and give her the card, and she will register your visa (for a fee, of course). No other hotels (that we've found anyway) will register your visa unless you're staying there. Unfortunately Olga is not working over the holiday and all the travel agencies in town (which is 2)are closed for the holiday. So, after two days wasted dealing with all the B.S. we gave up. We'll do it in Moscow and hopefully they'll understand about the holiday. Otherwise you'll get to read and intersting blog on what it's like to be detained at the Russian border.

We also made a trip to Lake Baikal- which had actually melted in the two days since we had seen it on the train due to a spring rain. We had a delicious lunch of smoked fish and walked around. Lake Baikal is a fascinating place. It is the largest body of fresh water in the world (more than all the great lakes combined), and it will supposedly become the next ocean as the techtonic plates divide. It has a host of flora and fauna which are found nowhere else in the world, although we didn't see much of it due to the time of year.

Irkutsk itself is not famous for much. It was a trading post due to its fortuitous position on the southern tip of the lake, and a lot of exiles from the Decembrist Movement where sent there in the 1800s. It also has a lot more of those old wooden houses which are still used. They mostly have wood burning stoves and a well outside due to no internal plumbing. Yikes! Going outside to get water in the middle of winter here does not sound that sweet. And of couse, Irkustk is it's own country on the Risk board.

After an intersting and frustrating few days we are about to go check out of our hotel and get the 87 hour train to Moscow (also likely to be both intersting and frustrating). Due to the holiday it would actually have been cheaper to fly to Moscow. But my husband, who I love more than anything in the world, thinks that it would be giving up. Hmmmm. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think I'll know better when we arrive in Moscow at 4AM four days from now.

Mongolia

Today I'm writing from Ulaan Baatar - supposedly the coldest capital city in the world. Although Nicole had some desire to ride horses in Mongolia, we didn't really have any firm plns upon arrival. Within a couple hours, however, we were signed up to take a five day journey into the middle of the country with two Dutch travelers. Didn't get much of a chance to see the city on our first day since we spent most of it preparing for the trip. Generally speaking, though, the city is fairly dismal. Most of the buildings are run down and the roads are in bad shape. Although there are some people in the city that wear tranditional mongolian clothes, most of the people are noticeably stylish - much more coordinated (in the Western since at least) than we've seen in the rest of Asia. As I said, we didn't spend too much time walking around - especially after we talked to two different people at our guesthouse who had been robbed.The next morning we piled into the van with Stephan, Reinier, Dava (our translator), and our driver (can't remember his name). The van was Russian made, specifically chosen because it breaks down frequently. Well, not exactly. It does break down a lot, but it's easy to fix so they guesthouse prefers the Russian vans over the popular Japanese vans which are 'impossible' to fix. We soon learned first hand about fixing Russian vehicles after the driver pulled over to repair a leaking gasket on the oil sump 50km into the drive. Our driver, 'one of the best mechanics around,' cut a new gasket out of a used innertube and we were back on the road in minutes. I use the word 'road,' loosely. Pavement is used occasionally, but rarely serviced. Actually, driving off of the paved road was a smoother ride most of the time. As a result, the 'road' is wherever the driver decides to go. Which, when you're driving in an old Russian military van, is pretty much anywhere. We were prepared for long days of driving, but the bullride it turned out to be was much more punishing than either of us expected. Average speed for the trip was probably around 15 mph.The first day of driving put us firmly in the middle of nowhere - one of many Mongolian steppes. We arrived at the first homestay, a cluster of three gers, around 8 pm and the family prepared a beef-noodle dinner while we settled into our first night in a ger - Mongolian for yurt. The simple dome structure is a really cozy sleeping area, but the complete lack of electricity and running water wouldn't be very comfortable for long term living. In the middle of all the gers we stayed in was a wood stove for heating and cooking, as well as two support posts. The center of the ger is sacred and should not be crossed - we were asked to always walk around the ger in the clockwise direction. At the center of the roof is a whole for smoke to escape and represents the Sun and Moon. Entrances to the ger always face South and a small Tibetan Buddhist shrine was usually set up in inside on the North wall. To pay respect to the shrine we were told to sleep with our heads towards the shrine and our feet towards the door. Aside from learning about the ger, we also spent a good amount of time star gazing - probably the most stars we've been able to see since being at sea.The second day of driving was even longer and more violent than the first, but we survived. The second nights accomodations were similar to the first, except that the family didn't expect our van so they let us stay in they're ger. Kind of awkward to feel like we were kicking someone out of their own house, but they didn't seem to mind. That day was Stefan's birthday so we threw a ger-party with as many people as we could round up. The party consisted of, at various times, Mongolians, French, Americans, Dutch, Belgians, beer, and vodka. The Mongolian beer we bought came in 2L plastic bottles - looked a like a giant water bottle except brown. Although it looked a little scary it turned out to be the best beer I think we've had in Asia. Adding to the ambiance, we drank out of small bowls since the Mongolian families didn't have any cups. The family avoided the party for the most part, but occasionaly they'd pop in with a big grin on their face and say,"Vodka?" We were more than happy to share.Perhaps needless to say, we slept in the next morning. The weather took a decidely nasty turn for the worse and we were hesitant to ride horses in the morning. By about ten we mustered up the courage to brave the cold, but only after we piled on as many layers as possible. We were loaned some traditional Mongolian dels, but it was still bitterly cold - especially for our hands and feet. The hourse ride was initally a bit of a disspointment. The horses were pretty old and uninterested in moving. In fact, Reinier decided to walk and was actually faster on foot than we were on the horses. From the camp we rode about an hour to White Lake - frozen solid and, it seemed, even colder. It was kind of fun to walk around on the lake, but it was hard to enjoy the moment. Fed up with riding, we convinced the horse guide to let us walk the horses back to the camp. Walking the horses was really more like dragging the horses and after about half an hour the guide convinced us to get back on the horses. He figured out that we were sick of the cold and helped us motivate the horses up to a trot by smacking them in the ass with a thick rope. Trotting was much faster and a more fun, although a jarring, ride. After lunch break hudled around the stove and a short nap it was warm enough to hike out to a nearby volcano. The weather had cleared up enough to enjoy some impressive views of the country.Fortunately the next days drive was relatively short and it was much easier to enjoy the scenery. It's berthing season right now, so we got to see full sized and baby goats, yaks, and horses. That night a Mongolian throat singer gave us a personal performance in our ger. The singer played three different traditional instruments while singing: a morin khurr (horse fiddle), a short harp, and a flute (obviously didn't sing while playing this one). The perfomance was really impressive - the songs were mostly about various animals and Ghengis Khan (a popular guy in this country).Our final day was a short ride back to Ulaan Baatar. Along the way we stopped at a small sand dune ('mini Gobi') and the original capital of Mongolia - now a temple. We've seen a lot of Buddhist temples, but the imagery in this one was much more violent than anything to date. Interesting contrast to the rest of Asia. Today we bought train tickets to Irkutsk for tommorrow afternoon so we'll be in Russia by Friday.

Final Days in China

The last four days in Beijing have been surprisingly full of sight seeing and high-production shows. Distances being a big as they were, walking took up most of our time. It was a nice way to see parts of the city tucked away from the more popular streets. Sounds and sights of construction are everywhere - not just renovation like we've seen before, but also reconstruction projects. The wide streets and sidewalks I mentioned in previous posts were made possible by wide scale demolition of older districts - districts that are now, I imagine due to increasing tourism and the fast approaching Olympics, being totally rebuilt to resemble the old style markets.We learned where the beefy Chinese models that we saw in Tienanmen Square hang out: Acrobatics and Kung Fu theatres. The young men and women flipping around the stage in tights were some of the most coordinated individuals I've ever seen, and they were built like tanks. Spectacular shows and incredible stunts. Nicole was seriously concerned for the safety and well being of the performers and several times gasped in shock with her hand over her mouth. We were both surprised at the high tech production value of the show - the stunts were accompanied by thumping techno music and flashy lights display. Great show. I was really looking forward to the Kung Fu show - not sure if I'm going to be able forgive myself for failing to fit the Shaolin Temple into our travel plans...really wanted to get my ass kicked by a Shaolin Monk - but it was a bit of a disappointment after seeing the acrobatics. There were some impressive moves, but it was relatively slow. The crowd was most excited by two of the monks who couldn't have been more than five or six years old. The crowd exploded into teenage squeals of excitement every time they were on stage.
On Saturday we visited the Summer Palace - noted as one of the most classical gardens in the world. As the name suggests, it's was used by the imperial family as a retreat from life inside the Forbidden City. Three quarters of the 726 acre park is water - a man made lake. Originally constructed in 12th century, it was expanded several times and, due to attacks in the late 19th century. The palace was more of a park than anything else and several families were having picnics among the trees and flowers. Just walking around the lakes and wandering through the gardens was a really pleasant way to spend an afternoon. There was also a lot of great buildings and a small collection of artifacts; mostly from the Qing and Ming dynasties.Today we took a stroll over to The Temple of Heaven. Built in 1420, it's actually bigger than the Forbidden City since, according to Travel China Guide, the Emperors, known as Sons of Heaven, dared not build their own dwelling bigger than a dwelling for heaven. The layout of the complex is full of complimentary circles and square - a common religious theme we've seen throughout Asia that represents the contrast between belief in a square Earth and round Heaven. As with the Summer Palace, it was obvious that many of the visitors were simply taking a break from the bustle of the big city. Music was everywhere - small groups of five or six playing traditional Chinese instruments for crowds or just practising. Cypress trees were everywhere - some reportedly planted more than 500 years ago - as well as hundreds of pink and purple blossoming flowers. Another beautiful Spring day in a beautiful park. It was a nice way to end our stay in Beijing.

This morning we were able to purchase tickets for the train to Ulan-Batar tomorrow. The crowd waiting for tickets was an interesting mix of Russians, Chinese, and Mongolians. We're looking forward to our first leg of the Trans-Mongolian Railway...a solid 29 hours. Hopefully no snoring. By the way, the pictures in this post are all from the internet because one of our memory cards was stolen. Fortunately we've most of the pictures backed up on DVD, but we lost a few.

Beibei Jinjing HuanHuan Yingying Nini

Beijing huan ying ni! Translated: Welcome to Beijing! Get used to seeing Fuwa around; they're the official mascots of the 2008 Olympics and they're everywhere in China. You can learn all about them at the official Olympic website. The rhyming two- syllable names are a traditional way of expressing affection for children and also used for naming China's pandas. My favorite is Huanhuan because, according to the website, he's the big brother, the child of fire, open, inviting, and he excels at ball games.Our first impression of Beijing was basically what we expected: grey, huge, cold, and rainy. Our mood wasn't helped much by our fitful night of sleep on the train, so we decided to take a break by sleeping the morning away. By the time we woke up and finished some lunch the rain had passed over and the day turned decidedly pleasant. It was nice enough that we were able to walk from our hostel to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Fortunately, our first impression turned out to be a bit unfair. The streets and sidewalks are wide and clean and the air is reasonably fresh - I'm sure the recent rain helped that enormously. After the short walk from our hostel we were welcomed into the palace by a giant picture of Mao, made small by the palace gates, hanging above the entrance. I know the panoramas are coming out crooked, but I think it gives a good idea of the size.Although we had seen pictures of the Forbidden City before, there was nothing that could have prepared us for the massive fortress. We were only able to spend a few hours there, but we easily could have spent days wandering through the endless corridors. We took several pictures, but none of them really seemed to capture the overwhelming size and complexity of the grounds. None of them caught the combination of immense size and intricate detail. Every time we tried to show detail all perspective was lost and vice verse. As an example, the staircase shown below is the same one in the background of the picture of me above. Emperors were carried over the dragons, a symbol of their celestial power. Only they were allowed to pass over the top. The ramp and stairs are a single stone carving weighing about 200 tonnes. It was moved using logs in the summer and by pouring water along the way until it froze. It's just one of the components and yet a perfect example of the incredible magnitude of the palace.We were pretty worn out after a couple hours of walking, but fortunately there's a Starbucks right in the middle of the Forbidden City. Phew, that was close. It had been almost an hour since we had seen another Starbucks, but we would've had to pay another entrance fee to get coffee at that one! Juiced up on some fresh mocha latte, we were able to delve back into the maze.Directly South of The Forbidden City lies Tiananmen Square. It is labeled as the heart Beijing and the political center of China. Both of us have early memories of news flashes interrupting Saturday morning cartoons during the student protests and it was another, of many on this trip, surreal experience to be at the epicenter of those events. Consistent with the rest of Beijing, the square is huge. At 880 by 500 meters, Tiananmen is the largest urban square in the world and can accommodate one million people. Several people took advantage of the gusty spring winds by flying elaborate kites while others gazed at Mao's maosoleum. Unfortunately the maosoleum is being refurbished until September so we couldn't see his preserved body. Darn it! Our favorite part of the square were the sculptures. I don't know what they feed Communists, but these are the burliest Chinese men and women I've ever seen! Bruce Lee is really put to shame by these folks.Today we got up early for a trip out to one of the more remote sections of the Great Wall. There are two sections of the wall that are much closer, but all reports we've read suggest that they are too crowded to really enjoy. We were excited to see the weather was absolutely beautiful. The previous days rain had washed away any signs of pollution and were relieved to know we would be hiking the ten kilometers during a wonderfully warm spring day. We had somewhat prepared ourselves for a bit of a let down after reading so many rave reviews, but the wall far and away surpassed our expectations. Our first surprise was the impressive scenery - the mountain views and a complete lack of civilation were enough to justify the hike itself. Additionaly, neither of us were expecting enough visibility to appreciate the size of the wall.Instead, we could see the wall trailing off as far as the eye could see both to the East and West. Perhaps the only dissapointing aspect of the wall was the obvious futility of the project. I don't think it takes a military genius to realize the wall wouldn't stop a serious attack. And, as far as we know, it never did. As a tourist attraction, though, it was wonderful! Parts of the wall were in poor shape and navigating the rubble made the hike both challenging and fun. We spent four hours climing the ruins and enjoying the views. Couldn't ask for a better day. Don't have too much planned for the next few days as we wait until we can buy a train ticket to Mongolia. We'll probably take a trip to the Summer Palace, see an acrobatics show, and, hopefully, see a kung fu exhibition.

Shanghai

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: acquire a Russian visa. Sounds easy enough. Until this point in the trip being an American citizen has been an advantage, but, unfortunately, we're not in good standings with the Russian embassy. Although we were originally planning to go straight to Beijing, we read that the embassy there doesn't issue visas to foreigners. Shanghai, therefore, became our next stop. The train ride was one of our best in terms of luxury, but Nicole's sleep was frequently disrupted by the painfully loud nasal gurgling from the guy below my rack. Some of the finest nose trumpeting I've ever heard.Fortunately for us, we were able to meet up with Allison(right of Nicole in picture above), a friend of mine from Oregon State (thank you Darin for the email address!), while we were there. Being able to hang out with someone who knows the area and speaks the language always makes traveling more fun and this was no exception. Allison has been living in China for four years and working in Shanghai for two, so she was able to give us the inside scoop on some good restaurants and local life. We also met, Helen, one of her good friends from China. We had a great time hanging out with both of them - mostly just hours and hours of talking over dinner! To be honest, though, our favorite night in Shanghai was spent watching Dreamgirls, eating Papa John's pizza, and gorging on popcorn and Trader Joe's dark chocolate covered raisins....mmmmm, so good. It was the capstone to an all-American day: McDonald's for breakfast, Starbucks coffee, and Burger King for lunch. Actually looking at that in print is pretty sickening and I can't believe we ate it all. It wasn't entirely American, though. Oh, yes, there was more food! In between Burger King and Papa John's, we managed to eat some local street food. Allison introduced us to a flat noodle with cilantro and peanut sauce, pineapple and banana pancake(the guy in the picture below is throwing the dough over his head), and an amazing deep fried vegetable cake that tasted a lot like an egg roll.When we weren't eating, we spent our time walking through the city streets and The Bund. We both really enjoyed the Shanghai Museum - definitely the most elaborate and well maintained museum we've seen in Asia and one of Nicole's favorite attractions in China. And, in keeping with every other city in China we've visited, Shanghai is full of construction and restoration projects in preparation for the Olympics. Just walking through the streets and stopping at local food stands made for a fun day. The only downside of the city was dealing with countless street vendors selling "watch-bag-dvd's-gucci-prada-sunglasses-what-you-want?" Mostly, though, they stuck to the whole brevity thing and just offered "watchbags" or "watchbagsDVD." It was funny and annoying at the same time. My favorite was when they just asked,"What you want, we have anything!" to which I would reply,"Do you have any watchbags?" Childish, yes, and it certainly didn't help the situation, but I couldn't help myself.The Russian visa ended up being very straight forward, but only because we've spent countless hours preparing. Mostly we've just read personal accounts and online references, but we also filled out several documents that, ultimately, ended in the garbage. In order to apply for a Russian visa you are required to be 'invited' by a Russian company or hotel. While that sounds ridiculous, it's pretty easy to get online from any number of websites. We were mostly worried because the application form that we downloaded asked the following questions:

1) Do you have any prior military service?
2) Do you have any specialties in nuclear, biological, or chemical activities? If yes, explain.
3) Have you ever been involved in a foreign conflict? If yes, explain.
4) List every foreign country, including the cities you visited and dates involved, that you have visited in the last 10 years.

Along with those questions we were also asked to list all of our educational background and prior employment (including addresses, phone numbers, and supervisors). On top of the absurd paperwork, the embassy only receives applications between 915 and 1215 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. Additionally, the visas can only be picked up on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 1245 and 1315. Finally, since it's one of only three places in all of China that you can get a visa, the lines are long and people start showing up two to three hours before the embassy opens. Good times.

Fortunately, the only trouble we had was a funny look from the guy processing my application. Apparently he thought my clean shaven, military buzz haircut, 22 year old passport mug didn't quite match up with my current pissed off mountain man look. Strange. In the end all our preparation paid off and we picked up our passports, with Russian visa, on Wednesday afternoon! We've both had our doubts about passing through Siberia during the spring, but we were excited to hear from Chellis that we may have a potential connection in Russia. It's not finalized yet, and I'm not sure if I can give out full details, but we're crossing our fingers that we can meet up with this particular Russian during our travels!! Althought I'm sure we'll have plenty of adventures on the Trans-Siberian Railway, it would make it that much more memorable to have a friend on the inside.After meeting with Allison one last time on Wednesday, we caught a night trian to Beijing and arrived this morning. Once again we were treated to the lovely tune of gurgling snot and spats of choking on said snot. Nicole slept through most of it, but this time I was unable to manage the noise. The worst part about listening to someone snoring is the knowledge that each brutal snort keeping you awake is an indication that the offender is solidly sleeping. Trust me, I tried everything. Poked him with a coat hanger at least a dozen times. Even beat him over the head with my pillow. Was finally able to rouse him by tugging on his pillow just hard enough that his head moved a little. The rule of thumb: if I could hear three consecutive snores through the pillows firmly clamped over my ears I gave him a tug. I justified my actions by telling myself I was helping Nicole sleep - which she was doing. It was enough to keep me sane at four in the morning.

Today we visited the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square and tommorrow we head out to The Great Wall. We've good access here so I will put up pictures and stories tommorrow!

Xi'an

Finally had a nice train ride for the first time since our ride from Ho Chi Minh City to Danang. The guys we shared the room with kept to themselves for most of the trip and we all slept pretty much the entire time. We arrived in Xi'an rested and quickly settled at a hostel just inide the Southern gate of the imperial wall. Judging by the room here, I think we're going to be living in relative luxury for the rest of our time in China. The rooms are a bit more expensive, but still less than you would pay for a Motel 6.Took us awhile to get out to town, but eventually we rented some bikes and pedaled out to brave the traffic. Actually, riding bicycles in China is much easier and safer than in the US. As we saw in Kunming, both sides of the road have large barrier protected lanes for bikers and pedestrians as well as bridges for crossing major streets. After a few kilometers of wading through the crowds, we arrived at the Shaanxi History Museum to pick up some background information about the area. One of the more organzined museums we've been and it had some good exhibits. Spent the rest of the day biking through town and we picked up our train tickets to Shanghai. I've discovered that the funniest joke in town is called "Hello, nee hao," but the punch line really only works if you're not Chinese. Simply say the words "nee hao" and watch the waves of laughter spread through the crowd.Today we took a day trip out to see the Terracotta Army. The shear number and size of the monument is impressive, but the detail is what really makes it truly overwhelming. Each life sized warrior, for example, has a different face, carried real weapons, were colorfully painted, and wore custom made leather suits. There are also several chariots and horses in the pit. Several hundred 2,200 years old soldiers are currently visible and it's only partially excavated. Three pits have been found and only Pit 1 is mostly revealed. Along with the buried army, Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb is yet to be unconvered. According to Sima Qian's Historical Records, 700,000 labourers spent 36 years creating an imperial city below ground that included a river of mercury (including machinery to make the liquid flow), automatic crossbow defense mechanisms, and a bronze floor. This guy knew how to party and he kept it secret by having all the workers executed. Smooth.

Exit the Yunnan

Two days ago after completing the beautiful Tiger Leaping Gorge hike, it was sadly time to leave the Yunnan. Andrew has made it more or less a personal mission to take ground transportation all the way to Europe. So, at 8Am on Friday morning we left Lejiang for an 8 hour bus ride to the nearest train station. The bus ride was actually really beautiful; we got some last stunning views of mountains and green valleys. As we moved into the Sichuan province the countryside became gradually flatter and more populated, and it was punctuated more and more frequently with giant coal burning power plants and large (sometimes abandoned) factory buildings. There was also a really cute little Chinese boy on the bus who was fascinated by Andrew and his calculator watch. It was the best you could hope for in a bus ride.

We arrived in the city of Panzihua just in time to catch a taxi from the bus to the train station and get on the next train to Chengdu. Unfortunately, when we got to the front of the line and asked for a sleeper the clerk yelled "No! No! No!"- This is a common occurrence here it seems, and it is a little unnerving at first. Because it could mean any number of things- "you are in the wrong line", "the train doesn't have any more seats", "I don't understand your toneless Chinese and I have better things to do" or who knows what else. In this case it meant that there were no sleeper berths available and no soft seats either. So, we took the only available tickets for hard seats and settled in for the 13 hour ride. Needless to say it was a long night. Andrew kindly gave up his seat for a good portion of the night, though, which allowed me to curl up on our two seats and get some decent sleep. (I think he felt a little guilty for dragging me on his land journey crusade.)We arrived at Chengdu feeling surprisingly good after 24 hours on the road, but still spent most of the day resting. Chengdu is more of what we expected to see in China- a large industrial city with block after block of cookie cutter grey concrete buildings which blend into the grey polluted haze hanging over the city. Yesterday we walked to Wengshu Temple and enjoyed a good vegetarian meal before setting in for the night. This morning we went to visit the Chengdu Research Base of the Giant Panda Breeding. We got to see the pandas eating, sleeping and playing. It is pretty amazing- they are not graceful animals at all, and they are huge. But, somehow they still manage to climb up trees and all over the place. We also learned more than we ever needed to know about Panda mating.

That's about it for the last couple days. In about an hour we will move on by train again (this time in a sleeper car) to Xi'an and the Terracotta Army.