travel by train

True to the title of my blog, I am now officially a China traveller.

I left my two-month home in Beijing on the 11th of August, backpack strapped on and ready to go. Along with our good friend and my roommate Xizi, John Speed and I boarded a bus to downtown Beijing, beginning the first leg of our journey south to Shanghai.

After a week of finding anything we could to occupy our time at Yuxiang Gardens, yet still under China Care's contract, I was ready to say goodbye to the children and staff I'd spent my seven weeks with and move along. Thus, leaving wasn't as hard on my heart as I thought it would be. Especially since I'll be on my way back to China Care to pick up a suitcase and say a final goodbye to my dear Beijing on August 26th.

Shanghai welcomed us in a wave of unbelievable heavy heat and crowds like I've never seen before. After our first real experience on a Chinese train with three lovely women as cabinmates, we arrived at the Shanghai station late the next morning. Starving, we managed to push our way onto a subway car (with our massive packs) amidst anxious travellers convinced they could all fit on the harder they shoved. I think I saw a little boy get stepped on. What an introduction to a city so teeming with people! We made it to our hostel right on the Bund, Shanghai's famous old port and checked in. Our roommates from England gave us a warm hello and we became fast friends, exchanging travel stories over dinner that night. Shanghai is so huge and overwhelming that 4 days is barely enough time to scratch the surface. On that note, I feel like my opinion of it is far from well-rounded, and would love to give it another chance one day. We took a night cruise on the Bund to see the buildings across the river light up the sky, toured Sun Yat-Sen's former residence, and visited the French Concession (all that remains with any hint of French is the architecture and a few French-named restaurants).

John Speed and I parted ways on Friday when he headed to the airport to meet his study-away group. I spent an extra night and followed him to Hangzhou on Saturday, in hopes of meeting him at his dorm 2 hours after my train pulled in. Luckily I'd made a friend in Shanghai who was also heading to Hangzhou. A really nice guy named Yone, from Tokyo, Japan. After a two-hour epic search (a story in itself), I found John Speed in the foreign students' dorm at Zhejiang University and gladly joined him for dinner.

My hopes for getting out of the city were pretty high before arriving further south to Hangzhou, which I pictured to be quaint and closer to the countryside. Just south-west of West Lake (Hangzhou's main attraction and the lake whose beauty inspired many a Chinese poet) are rolling hills and tea plantations. Not like the limestone cliffs of South China but close enough for this time around. West Lake is quite stunning and absolutely vast. An entire day of walking or cycling can't get you around the whole thing. I took a boat cruise out onto the lake, visited one of the pavilions, then landed on another shore before walking back to my hostel. The following day I took a trip south-west to Lingyin temple which houses an impressive 20-foot high golden statue of Buddha. It was nice to get away from buildings for a little bit.

I arrived in Xi'an just a couple hours ago with a friend I met at the hostel in Hangzhou after the longest, most cramped train ride I've taken so far. Following about 21 hours of sleeping on the top bunk in a tiny compartment I was glad to step outside. Arriving at train stations is usually the most hectic part of the journey because hawkers will come up offering taxi rides, taxi drivers don't always regard your hail, and most of the time, you just want to take off your bag and hop in the shower. haha. That's how it's been for me anyway. I'm checked into my hostel, thanks to a recommendation from my friends Anna and Joan who spent a weekend here back when they were in Baoji. It's fabulous. Tucked away on a side street with very clean rooms. Tomorrow and the day after, I plan on visiting the Terracotta Warriors and climbing Mt. Huashan.

After 2 nights and 3 days here I'll head to Pingyao for 2-3 days, my last destination before heading back to Beijing.

I'm nice and tanned, excited for home-cooked food (STILL) and will be very excited to land in Montreal and sleep in my own bed.

Until then, I'm drinking it all in. Love you all very much, and hope you continue to have wonderful sun-filled summers.

much love,
lb.