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Hello once more.
Well those keen readers amongst you may recall that in our last entry we dared to state that the fabled Chinese smog was a myth - we would now like to retract that statement. Our final day in Beijing and our last two days in Xi'an have witnessed a lovely yellow / orange fog layer that has hovered over the landscape, turning vistas into blurs and the moon a totally tropical colour (a bit like Lilt). Even for Pete (who's accustomed to the Middlesbrough air) it's a little much.
The smog may in part be to blame to the sound track that has been accompanying us since we entered China. It's pretty hard to put into words but basically the sound is: haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrkkkkkkkkkkk. Yes the familiar sound of grown men - and women! - flemming up a mouthful of spittle before depositing it anywhere they can - the nearest bin, on the grass, out the car window, on the floor next to my feet ….the usual places. The sound is haunting us and is really quite vial, the way we've got around it - is to rather childishly - say something like "ooh good one" or "nice work" "only 7 out of 10" each time we hear the dreaded sound. It's not going to change the habits of a nation but it makes us feel better.
So we digress. We left Beijing after many great days to get an overnight train to Xi'an (home of the Terracotta Warriors). Being the seasoned travellers that we now 'think' we are, we opted for the cheaper and tempting travel option of "Hard seat" up to now we've been travelling "soft sleeper". Well I'll tell you now it was an error. Like Ronseal was exactly what it said - a hard seat. Polly was lucky enough to get a window seat, but poor Pete was propped up in the middle of two people one of which (not Polly) decided to fall asleep on his shoulder, before her head slipped down into his lap - eeekk. Although our Chinese is developing we have yet to learn 'excuse me young lady your head is in my crotch'. A firm shove and then pretending that he was waking up would have to suffice. The comfort of the journey was further disrupted by the dazzlingly bright strip lights that were on throughout the night burn holes through our eyelids. And the incessant radio that no one thought to turn off. Every day is a school day though and we learn that the Chinese listen to two kinds of music: 'Roxette' and songs that extol the glory of the Beijing Olympics. As a result for the next few days we've had the strange combination of "Beijing Beijing" and "It must have been love" rolling round our heads.
Whilst we're on the subject of the Olympics, it's still everywhere. It would be cruel but someone really should tell China that the show is over!!! We've packed up and gone home "time to move on people". However there is clearly a huge degree of pride there so we don't quite have the heart (give it two more weeks and we'll start composing a letter: Dear China…) Anyway Xi'an was great (except the Smog). The Terracotta Warriors absolutely blew us away (almost to the point where we wished we'd gone and seen them at the British Museum earlier this year!) and Pete spent a happy afternoon flying a kite.
We're now in Chengdu, weighing up the options of an animal park or another Buddhist temple (a panda or a Lama you might say). Tomorrow we're going off on a 3 day hike up Mt. Emi if this is disappointing we'll be having words with Amy, Simon, Chris and Dave as we're going on your recommendation! We'll let you know next time… Anyway best go now because the man sat next to me has just made that noise…
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