Confucious Say young girl in foreign country will love and hate many things...

Xi'an (pronounced shee-ann), China

Thursday 19th October

I feel like my body is shutting down after many weeks of abuse. My eye is infected, my teeth are sore, my stomach is in a constant state of upheaval (either too full or too empty), I think I will soon be able to sleep standing up because waiting in queues is the only snooze time I get, yet I am having an absolute wonderful time.

China is really interesting. I love it yet will be happy to leave soon. It is the strangest thing.
Bad: Everyone stares at you, the toliets here - don't get me started - women are just not meant to squat, it is camel country (watch out they spit - even young girls spit on the floor inside on marble floors!!), I can't take noodles and rice for breakfast - yet it is that or McDonalds which as a group we fell on the first one we found here like kids on birthday cake, I have seen blue skies only once since I've been here - usually just a brown haze covers everything and I am finding it tough eating at all hours or nothing at all.
Good: People are really friendly - always smiling when they serve you, there are so many amazing things to do here - I can't give them the justice they deserve but just list them and use insipid words like wonderful and magnificent to describe them, the culture is really interesting, my tour group is absolutely fantastic - we all get along REALLY well and plan to spend more time in Hong Kong together when the tour ends as we all have at least two spare days there (although the only other single girl is leaving the group today but her friend Justin is staying and we get along well (he is also super cute so it won't be a hardship) and the massages here defy belief. The two girls that gave me a traditional Chinese massage flipped my body parts around like they were spaghetti and one girl climbed up on my back and used her knees (and all her body weight) to rub my spine. It was painful but so cool. I walked out more sore than when I walked in but what an experience! My tour leader has massage contacts in Yangshou (where we fly to tonight) which will be more subtle. I am grateful because I am sure if the two girls had pushed from the tenth floor, my body would have felt the same.

So, to keep you updated - I have been to the Great Wall (sunday) and it was amazing. We got up really early but were the first tour group on the wall which was nice. The climg was seriously steep. So steep that yoy think having your legs fall off would be preferable to the pain. It was worth it though. And no, the wall was not built to keep out the rabbits. My tour group of 13 has all but 4 of us are Australians, so we get each others jokes which is great (2 are from UK and 2 from US). That night we ate good chinese (or just dinner over here) and as a girl from the UK is vegetarian too we get looked after. The garlic broccoli is to die for. I can only take small florrets usually but done like that - give me a few bunches! The next day was the Forbidden City and can you guess mum and dad - lots was covered with scaffolding! I understand that a lot is going on for the Beijing Games but it would have been better to come in 2009 with everything fresh and new. The palace is in Tiannamen Square and I was dissappointed when our tour leader said he would not talk about any 'sensitive issues' (aka everything I wanted to get a Chinese persons perspective on) but as he works for the government I can hardly blame him as he said you never know who is listening. Very 007 but here I can well believe it.
That night we travelled via sleeper train (in an open cabin with other chinese people which was cool) and which would have been an insight into Australian culture as we all talked loud, had 2 rounds of beer and went to bed late. I didn't get much sleep (no surprises there) and we arrived in Xian early. I didn't go to a temple but went shopping with another girl instead. We had fun together in the markets and Muslim quarter. That afternoon we went cycling around the wall of the old city. The wall was about 8 metres wide (cobbled stones so the arms got a jittery massage) and was built to protect the city and palace as all but the last 2 dynasties had their homes here. The Forbidden City was built for the Ming Dynasty and the capital moved to there. It was great fun! That night we had a dumpling dinner (famous in Xian) and watched a show of cultural dance and music. We were all tired (and it was a bit boring, especially after the Kung Fu show) and so weren't too impressed.
The next day was the Terracotta Warriors. It was amazing. It didn't have as many as I'd imagined but the scale of the whole project was awesome. It took something like 30 years to complete and the makers were buried alive in the pits to keep it a secret. Gee, it doesn't pay to work for royalty does it, first Egyptian slaves and now Chinese craftsman. Despite the first emporers precautions only a small bit remains as some were found and destroyed. I had a sleep that afternoon whcih made me feel a million times better and we all went out for tea for one of the girls' birthday. We played Jenga and Chinese Checkers while waiting for our delicious pizzas (and everyone elses multiple beers - honestly! Australians are going to get such a reputation and topple the tourism industry, especially when they tell the UK and US people about snakes and swooping magpies and stingers in Summer). We got a few mini cakes from a supermarket and had a great night.
We have free time this morning (which I used to buy some cutie shoes and dare I confess it, have McDonalds for breakfast) before flying to our next destination at about 3pm. Yangshou region is meant to be touristy but beautiful. Supposedly you can have mud baths while climbing through water caves there and I am keen to find out more. I don't think we have any planned activites (which is good for relaxing but hard on the hip pocket as lots of things are 'optional' which need to be paid for) so will read a bit, write in my journal which is sadly out of date as we have been so busy and maybe sleep a bit.

Rest assured I am having an absolute ball and will be saving for more travel as soon as I get home (after I've paid off this one though). I think of you all often and hope life is treating you well. Please accept the hug I am sending out to you. Thanks for reading and staying in touch!

I will write again from Yangshou or Guilin.

Love Kym