china travelogue, xian

china travelogue - welcome to xian, gobtastic!! 11-08-2003 [11:35 LOCAL TIME] - Shuyuan Hostel, Xian

Spent 18 hours on an overnight train from Datong in the hard sleeper section - Hard sleeper means 60 people in a carriage sleeping in 3 tier bunk beds. Uncomfortable doesn't even come close to it. Having arrived in Xian, Corrick and I have found a great hostel and plan to stay about 4 days. Let me just side track a bit to tell you about the Chinese...we were walking down 'Bar Street' tonight and a 15 year old boy came up to us to practise his English. Upon rounding the corner we saw the Bank of China building on fire. We stopped to watch the blaze but the Chinese boy just didn't seem interested, he kept asking us questions.   ...Gobbing!!!!   The Chinese like to spit! and they spit anywhere! It's no wonder China in the SARS capital of the world. The spitting comes in a myriad of different forms: 1. 'the throaty hack up', 2. 'the cover one nostril and blow your nose straight onto the floor', 3. 'the snort of the nose and gob', 4. 'the snort of the nose, the hack of the throat and gob', 5. 'no snort or hack, just spit' - which is mainly favoured by the women. Matt's word of the day - 'GOBTASTIC!'   [back to my story...]   On the train a boy in the opposite compartment had a gyroscope which played the jingle to 'Happy Birthday'...if I heard this once, I heard it a million times! Two days on a train with no sleep and 'Happy Birthday' is enough to drive the calmest person nutty, and boy was i nutty. I wanted to say to his parents - "dow shauw chien? (how much is it?)", just so I could buy it and throw it out of the window...Well, that's my last two days... - Matt.

china travelogue - busted by the police!!! 12-08-2003 [18:10 LOCAL TIME] - Shuyuan Hostel, Xian

Today was a brown trouser day. Corrick and I came out of the Drum Tower shopping mall and lit up a couple of cigarettes only to be set upon by six policemen for illegally smoking outdoors! We were frog marched over to their awaiting police car and had to pay an on the spot fine - 100yuan - £7. Definitely a cycle clip around the trouser leg moment. We are looking to buy a cheap CD player to get some sounds whilst crashing out in the hostel room, no luck yet though. Tonight a waitress and her friend are taking us to a nightclub '1-2-3-8' for a dance party...should be a large night!   - Matt.

china travelogue - the xian twilight zone 13-08-2003 [18:30 LOCAL TIME] - Shuyuan Hostel, Xian

Large night doesn't even come close! The nightclub was amazing and unlike anywhere I've been too before. Budweiser was served in ice-filled buckets and we must have drunk in excess of 30 bottles between us throughout the evening. The music was fantastic and we both strutted out funky western stuff...yet again the only foreigners there and made quite a spectacle. Next came a bizarre 'Twilight Zone' moment...We ended up in this Karaoke Bar which I'm sure was just a cover for a knocking shop. The few Karaoke bars I've seen previously have been open areas where you sing in front of everyone. This place had individual rooms which you pay for, 'by the night'. Anyway, we all had a sing and rolled back to the hostel at 06:00am...   The rain has been torrential today and staying dry was all but impossible. I tried to bargain with an umbrella saleswomen in the pouring rain but that's like trying to bargain with the last iced water salesman in the Sahara!...In the end I settled for her original asking price 80p. China is absolutely amazing and I feel so privileged to be here. I'm looking forward to getting back to Hong Kong on Friday, but it's a shame to be leaving the Chinese mainland. The people are so friendly but the language barrier is such a problem. I think I'll return to China one day, probably in about 30 years when they are the biggest super power in the world, because believe me...they're getting there.   - Matt.

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