Leaving Xi'an

I'm on the train. It just now is leaving the station. We are in a hard sleeper. It does not mean the beds are hard, although the mattresses are somewhat thin. The bunks go three high and two wide, meaning six people in a compartment. The soft sleepers hold four people. I can seee two of my comrades wrting in their journals.
We are leaving Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Warriors and 12 million people. It was the first capital of China when Emperor "Chin" united China for the first time from 29 fiefdoms. It was Emperor Qui Shi Huangdu (259-210B.C.) that built the warriors and the Great Wall. He also standardized written Chinese calligraphics. Xi'an served as the imperial seat for 12 dynasties over 2,000 years.
Today Xi'an is abuzz with construction of large buildings. Five Starbucks are being opened. Western fashion jeans and T-shirts with silly English phrases are in abundance.
A wall around the city protects the inner city, the Forbidden City. The wall has a flat surface on the top that is easily wide enough for six horse riders. We spent a pleasant time walking around and stopped for a rest and a soft drink. A family was also sitting there. They were quite curious about us and we began to talk. Well, I should not say talk. But we did attempt to communicate. The man and his son were quite determined and asked us questions. We pulled out a Mandarin phrase book and started to work on phrases. We would prounounce the phonetic version and then show them the book for them to repeat the words in Chinese.
It was tedious for both sides. But we established that they were from somewhere else, a place with an unpronouncable name. They were indeed grandma, son, father. We were writing postcards showing the warriors. The family also visited the warriors. We explained that two of the postcards were for birthday greetings. I sang "Happy Birthday" and they knew the song and sang it in Chinese. We looked up the words for Happy Birthday which really turns out to be Birthday Happy. Then we had him write the Chinese characters for birthday happy on the post cards. In the end we gave them our extra postcards and said good-bye.
Then the lights came on at an enormous stage on top of the wall. It was the dress rehearsal for some forum of friendship between Xi'an and Hong Kong. The chorous had 200 people, the orchestra 100. Then about 80 little girls dressed in yellow silk dresses did a dance and recited from books. Another 200 people were waiting to perform. The sound was awesome.
We went to dinner in the Muslim quarter. Xi'an is at the eastern end of the historical Silk Road. Traders from Muslim countries came and settled in Xi'an and are now known as Hui. We had three large kettles boiling away on propane tanks. We selected skewers with vegetables, tofu and a specialty bread. One side of the kettle was tasty; the other was spicy. The kettle sits down in the table with a propane burner at your feet. The beef comes in skewers, lamb on a bone and the fish on a metal plate. We also had a thin bread, nan, with various herbs. The spicy side was very spicy. A piece of lettuce or bok choy that is dripping with boiling sauce is difficult to eat when it is skewered on a stick. It's almost impossible to cut lamb with chop sticks. Some of the mushrooms were unusual: one had slender mid-sections stretching about 8 inches. On one end was a bulb; on the other something that looked like a flower. It was white. It had an unusual taste, not bad.
The two noodle shops we tried were very tasty with good servie. It's after 11 now on the train; they wuill turn off the lights soon. They awake us at 7 a.m. We will be in Xiahe. From there we take a six hour ride by bus to Labrang. The monastery there is regarded by Buddhists as the most important outside of Tibet proper (it's on the Tibetan Plain). Good night.

Yuan

Yuan
Originally uploaded by patrickdowd.

About 7 yuan (after exchange fees) equals 1 U.S. dollar.
100 taxi from airport to downtown
25 usual admission fee
18-380 performance of acrobats, KungFu or Beijing opera for individuals at tourist price
5 soft drink
60-100 dinner for two with tea
160 lunch for two at tourist restaurant above ceramics factory
70 2 coffees at Starbucks
1 one minute of Internet at hotel
5 one hour of Internet up the corner on the second floor where no one speaks English and the signs are all in Chines
3 subway fare
400 all day tour with guide and driver excludding lunch, tolls, admission and tips
3,000 one week in deluxe hotel room

The Great Wall

Tower
Originally uploaded by patrickdowd.

The Chinese word for "great" in Great Wall focuses on "long." It is very long, thousands of miles. Until you see it, you really can't imagine how long it is. We climbed to a watch tower at Badaling; it's a Chinese stairmaster.

Acrobats

We went to see the acrobats at the Beijing Workers Club. The troupe is the Sichuan Grand Circus. A very diverse set of acrobatic feats were performed by male, female and male and female teams. However, the mysterious 'Change Face' stole the show. I don't have a clue how her face abuptly changes masks.

Buddhist Lama Temple

Buddhist Temple
Originally uploaded by patrickdowd.

Five halls and three gates along a north-south axis. Among many large Buddha statues is one certified by the Guiness Book of Records. It is 75 feet tall and carved from a single piece of sandalwood.

English

English
Originally uploaded by patrickdowd.

As English-speaking foreigners, we seem somewhat in demand. Our first day, we met two students wile we were walking on the Avenue of Eternal Peace (Dongchanglan Jie), the street that divides the city into north and south. They wanted to practice their English. We had a pleasant time walking together to the Forbidden City and Tinanmen Square. When we said good-bye, I opened my knapsack and pulled out my notepad. A crowd of about a dozen people stopped to watch. I wrote down their names, Kara and Maggie and shook their hands. They were quite suprised about the handshake; it was her first time shaking hands.
Yesterday, a gentleman asked me to pose for a photo. He asked me to put my arm around his girlfriend while the Red Guard marched behind us. Since then, I've been asked to pose several times. Chinese have only been able to travel for about five years. They visit from the provinces and take my photo home to show their friends that they met a foreigner.
Later in the day, we met another couple that invited us to tea, so they could practice their English. We had a reservation for the Beijing Opera and declined. Our guide says it is a frequent scam. They take me to a cafe and when it is time to pay the bill, I receive some outrageous charge. I would be unable to report it to the police and would be forced to pay.

4 star

4 star
Originally uploaded by patrickdowd.

The Chinese apparently like feedback. When we got our passports checked in immigration to China, the agent was working below a huge sign that exorts him to enforce every law and reminds him he serves the passenger. There is an electronic push button with four choices: very satisfied, satisfied, unsatisfied and very unsatisfied. I pushed very satisfied.
At the bank, the teller had the same system. She also had electronic stars. She was a one-star teller but her neighbor had three stars. I pushed very satisfied and she beamed.
There are many public toilets throughout Beijing. Some are very dirty. Others are "Four Star." They are clean, well-serviced and pleasant. Employees in white lab coats service them.

Golden

The post office is China Post. The sign above the post office reads:
Ontime mail is Golden.

Photo Gear

Given my change in travel focus (from fishing and automobile travel to fast-moving basic tourism), I shifted my photographic expectations. (Had a reason to buy more camera gear).
In the past, I paid little attention to weight or bulk in choosing lenses and equipment. When I travelled to Patagonia, I tipped the scales at 22 pounds. My favorite lens (70-200 f4.5) weighs over 3 pounds.
I turned to Nikonians.org discussion forum for assistance from fellog photographers. Points made:
-need to travel light
-tripods and flash are too conspicuous and other prohibited or require special fees
-all choices require compromises
Given my focus on landscape, buildings and people, I ultimately packed about 11 pounds of photo gear including my protective knapsack:
-Nikon D200, 8GB in flash cards, 2 LiIon batteries
-18-200mm f3.5-5.6 lens, for most everything
-12-24mm f4.0, for wide buildings and landscapes
-50mm f1.4, for low light conditions
-tabletop tripod (Bogen and Really Right Stuff)
-charges, electrical and battery
-filters- 4 including circular polarizer
-remote control wireless
-chamber and sensor cleaning brush, blower
The hard disk drives have worked well for me in the past. After a double back-up, I reformat my CF card for the next ust. On some days, I take 2GB of photos (RAW + JPEG, about 16MB for each photo). The Himalayas present a special situation in that hard drives are warranted to work up to 10,000 feet in altitude and are designed to spin on a cushion of air. Although positive results have been reported at higher altitudes, my backups may be unpredictable. The manufacturer, Wolverine, has asked me to report my experience at 15,000 feet.
One additional concern is electricity or the lack thereof. Both my camera and the HDDs need to be charged. I expect days without electricity. I assume I will have access to AA batteries and have a special camera grip and external HDD charger to accomodate this.
The 18-200mm and 12-24mm are each about 1 pound.

No Internet access until Lhasa on the 27th

I am leaving Xi'an for the countryside and won't have Internet access for at least a week.
Note, I post with great difficult. Internet Explorer includer Blogger and Flickr are in Chinese characters. I am using photos from my point and shoot camera because it can create very small file sizes that are easier to upload. Actually, most of these photos are taken by Dawn. My real photos will have to wait until I return.
I usually cannot access my own website. It is only based on feedback (thank you) that I know it's still there. I will keep a journal and bring you up to date as I can....

Friday the 20th Update

We are in Xi'an. Tonight we go by night (sleeper??) train to Xiahe. From there we take a six hour bus ride to Labrang. At that point we will be on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau; the people speak a dialect of Tibetan. We will visit a monastery, apparently the most important one outside of Lhasa. The altitude will be about 3500 meters or about 10,000 feet (like Loveland Pass, Colorado).
We saw the Terracota warriors yesterday; amazing what they did 2,000 years ago.

Goodbye, Beijing

I left Beijing by night train to Xi'an, about a twelve hour ride. I liked Beijing a lot. I saw lots of tourist attractions including:
-Great Wall (twice)
-Forbidden City (twice)
-Tianamen Square
-Temple of Heaven
-Drum and Bell Towers
-Jingshan Park
-Summer Palace
-Lama Temple
-Acrobatics
-Beijing Opera
-Hutons or old neighborhoods
-Mao's underground tunnel system (protection against Soviets)
I also ate Peking duck, very good. Also, a rabbit hot pot. The food and service everywhere was good. I would go back and recommend it.

gear: it takes a lot to pack a little

My check-in bag weighed 23 pounds. I have another 16 pounds of carry-on. This includes 11 pounds of camera gear . Grand Total--just under 40 pounds. My backpack weighs 8 pounds.
By contrast, when I went to Patagonia, I had 75 pounds. But that was a different trip. Because it was a fishing adventure, I had fishing gear and intended to travel by automobile. This Asia trip is different. No fishing and lots of movement on public transportation. Typically, we will be moving every couple of days.
Although I don't anticipate much rain, temperatures will vary from Delhi at over 100 degrees F to Everest at below freezing. Our accomodations will be between basic and very basic, including sleeping on trains, family homes, and monasteries.
Gear includes:
-- down jacket and sleeping bag, bed sheets, backpacker towel
--compass, whistle, collapsible water bottle, matches, needle and thread
--toilitries and prescriptions, sunblock
--2 long-sleeve shirts, 2 pair of pants, 1 pair shoes, 3 underwear, socks and T-shirts
--long johns, Thermax shirt, rain jacket
--hats, gloves, sun-hat
At 8 pounds, the backpack is heavy. I spent 3 pounds for the use of wheels.
All clothes are synthetic, quick dry material. Hat, shirts and pants are minimum SPF30 sun protection.
I splurged and got a Tilley hat.
My one pair of shoes are brown oxfords with Vibram soles and Gore-Tex XTC uppers.
My underwear are advertised as 17 countries, 3 weeks, 1 pair of underwear. I splurged and brought 3.

Expectations

During my travels to Asia, I hope to have a travel experience that feels foreign. Beyond that, here are my top ten anticipated highlights:

--Beijing: Forbidden City, Great Wall
--Xian: Terracota Warriors
--staying with rural Tibetan family on Yellow River
--seeing Lhasa, gaining insight into its history during the past 100 years, seeing the Potala Palace
--seeing Everest
--(trying to) sleep at Rongphu Monastery at 15,000 feet altitude
--gaining insight into spiritual understanding of Tibetans
--visiting the headwaters of the Ganges River
--trekking in the Himalalyan high country in India
--#10, meeting some different people I can think of as new friends

Olympics

Olympics
Originally uploaded by patrickdowd.

Beijing is getting ready for the Olympics. Construction and renovation are everywhere. Unfortunately that means the Memorial for Mao is closed as well as the China Museum. Everything is very clean; the people are friendly and patient. The only irritation are the aggresive drivers: be careful walking in the streets.

made it, Beijing

We made it to Beijing. This computer setup is different. Everything is in Chinese except Internet Explorer which is in Spanish!!!
The flight was very long, about 11 hours. We left Monday morning at our house at about 5 a.m., a fifteen dollar cab ride to the airport (including tip). We arrived at our hotel about 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, a fifteen dollar cab ride from the airport (no tip--apparently they don't believe in tipping here). This was the first flight I've been on where they not only announced the time when we landed, but also the day. The flight was delayed an hour, but otherwise uneventful.
Beijing is about 50 degrees latitude, roughly the same as New York City. It's cool, about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Some trees are starting to bloom. People are friendly. The hotel is clean and nice, the Harmony Hotel.

Hello, Himalayas!

My next adventure takes me from Beijing to Delhi with travels throughout China (including Tibet), Nepal and India. Assuming I can get to an Internet cafe, I will be blogging live. I will also upload photos as software and bandwidth permit. I will be traveling for two months, from April into June. I fly to Beijing Monday morning, April 9 at 6 a.m. and arrive in Beijing Tuesday afternoon!