More to come....

I have lots of great pictures to post from my trip to Beijing but I am having internet problems so it will be a bit longer. The connections here can be really slow and that can be a problem when your trying to download pictures.

Xi'an Trip

Thursday morning we got on a plane to Xi'an to see the museum of terracotta soldiers. I didn't know much about them but our tour guide gave us some good info. Probably more than I needed to know because I found myself tuning him out. I have a short attention span when it comes to history :) They are very interesting to see in person though. Its crazy how many of them are still intact given how old they are.

Oh this is some mystery food that was given to us for breakfast on the airplane. I have no idea what it all was except for the egg. I really didn't want to eat it to find out. My dad was brave and ate the egg and bean things. What ever happened to peanuts or pretzels?? I guess that's just in the US.

We are stuck!!!!

So I am writing from the first class lounge at the airport in Xian. Apparently our plane is broken so we have to wait a few hours to catch a new flight to Beijing. I do have one complaint about the airport. The bathrooms here are pretty nasty. They arent the normal kind we are used to in the US. I am sure if you have traveled to other countries you might know what I am talking about. They dont even have toilet paper!! Luckily my mom warned me about all of this but I was hoping I didnt have to experience it ;)

We did have a good day today. We came to Xian to see the Museum of Terracotta soldiers. It was pretty cool so once I get someplace where I can post pictures I will. Now we just have to hope we make it out of this city!!

Jade Buddha Temple

This is a picture of part of the outside of the temple. Its pretty big and I was going to get another picture but my dad took off to cross the street. So I wasn't wanting to get left, since the streets are actually very scary to cross here :)




I dont remember what this was called. You are supposed to throw a coin up and try and get it in one of the openings for good luck. My dad and I both tried and missed the first time but got it on the second. So not sure the good luck will come if it takes more than one try ;)




Our visit was cut a little short because it started to rain. You can sort of tell its raining in the last picture. We were also supposed to go see a few more sites after that but the rain didn't stop. Oh well, we will try again another day. I probably wont do any updating for the next couple of days because we are going to Beijing and I am not sure if we are bringing a computer. I should have some good stuff though since we will be seeing things like the Great Wall.

The secret room

I had some interesting experiences today when we were out shopping. We went to this one shopping center filled with many vendors inside. All of them hassle you to buy their stuff which can be annoying after a while. They do not seem to understand what "no" means. They also tell you they will give you a special deal. It usually doesn't turn out to be such a great deal though. It helps having your parents who live here come so they know what a good deal is. One of the things that cracked me up was when you didn't see something you would like they would open some secret back room filled with more stuff. One of the guys just started pushing on the wall and part of it opened....pretty sneaky. I guess they were trying to keep certain name brand things out of sight....even though they are not the real thing.

Don't you want to eat here??

We walked by this restaurant when we were out shopping today. This is one reason why I am cautious of the food I will eat while I am here. You never know what you might be eating. You might have to click on the picture to see what it says.

Pampering

So my first planned event was getting a pedicure :) I know that is probably not the first thing you think of when visiting a country but it was very nice and relaxing. I am thinking I might need another one before I leave with all the walking we will be doing.