Biking and Shoppingggg

Author: Gray
Location: Beijing
Sooo were actually writing this July 1 because we didnt get back into Beijing until today after our looong train ride. But this is the update from yesterday. We awoke in our nice air conditioned hotel rooms and treated ourselves to showers that didnt run out of hot water!! Yaaay. First stop after breakfast was the city wall where we rented bicycles and took a spin around the wall that surrounds the inner city of Xian (9 miles!!). It was definitely an adventure since those walls certainly seemed like they shouldnt have survived hundreds of years. Some people rode tandem bikes as well. Another huge Chinese feast for lunch and then to this beautiful Muslim mosque in the center of the city. There are about 200 000 Muslims living in Xian and they have this amazing sanctuary in the middle of a bustling touristy market. We were even lucky enough to walk in during their prayer time and heard them doing their chants. The shopping was stressful but fun. The Muslim market workers were a bit sketchy at times, but not as aggressive as those at Silk Street. They sold lots of the traditional Chinese goods and some more unique items, like a Mao lighter that started singing a Communist song! Unfortunately the rain starting coming down veryyy hard and the walk to the train station was not enjoyable. Thankfully most of the purchases were saved, but everyone seemed to be drenched down to their very core!! And then began the train ride..

More to come
Gray
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage