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We left beijing on Wednesday on an overnight train to Shanghai. The train itself was similar to those in Vietnam but we didn't have separate cabins, there was segregation but no doors. There were also 6 bunks rather than 4. We entertained ourselves in what seems to be pretty standard for me now on trains, a bottle of wine and then off to bed. On this train we also had an enforced curfew at 10pm when the lights were turned off so we really had to be quiet after that.
Thursday morning and we arrived into Shanghai. It was a bit of a lazy morning as the train didn't arrive until 10.30 so by the time we checked in at the hotel and sorted ourselves it was lunch time. We dropped off laundry and then had a lazy Susan lunch. Shanghai is quite a different feel to Beijing and wasn't quite what I expected but all good. After lunch we walked along the main shopping street (near our hotel) and onto the shanghai museum which had displays of all sorts of Chinese art and artefacts.
Thursday evening and we had booked to go and see the Chinese acrobatic show so we got a quick dinner and headed to the theatre. The show was incredible. Hoop jumping, contortionists, hat juggling, people juggling, air stunts, stunts on bicycles and the Finale of the ball of death - five motorbikes inside a large metal sphere. Absolutely amazing. We had a few drinks at the hotel before heading to bed.
Friday morning and unfortunately it was
raining but we didn't let that put us off and went for a city walk anyway. We walked the opposite direction to Thursday and headed to the river and the Bund area. The view wasn't what it should have been though. We then walked on to the old part of Shanghai and the Yu gardens. We looked around these gardens for a while and also the Market area for more shopping should anyone want to. We then had a traditional dumpling lunch which was lovely.
After lunch I headed back to the hotel and had a cheeky nap and then got ready to meet for dinner later. I had arranged to meet a Tesco friend on Friday evening so after dinner the whole group came with me to try out a couple of bars. We had a few drinks in the French concession area, including some strawberry flavoured rum, then we headed to the Pudong district to have a drink at the top of one of the towers.
The views were great but it didn't work out quite how we planned so we headed back to the hotel and had a few more drinks there before eventually heading to bed. We were leaving Shanghai on Saturday on our second overnight train but not until the afternoon so I took the chance for a bit of a lie in. I then collected my laundry and packed my bag before walking back to see the Bund area in the sunshine.
We all met at the hotel at 2pm to head to the train station for our 4pm train. This would be our longest train journey of 16 hours! We boarded the train which was slightly different to the first one. This one didn't even really have segregation but more of an open corridor but the people on it were much more friendly and wanted to practice their English with us. We all congregated into one area and the good old iPad came out again for a team game of trivial pursuits. We then chatted, had a few drinks and some dinner before the curfew and bed time.
The train was a bit late so we eventually got to Xi'an at about 9.30. We made it to our bus and transferred to the hotel. The rooms weren't quite ready so we had time for breakfast or some cheeky fb action. Facebook is banned in China but there are certain proxy sites which sometimes allow you to get access, phew!!
Once we had our rooms we went through the same process of sorting ourselves out and then met up for a walk and some lunch. We walked to the bell tower in the city and then managed to find (eventually) the famous dumpling restaurant for food. After lunch we walked to the drum tower, the Muslim quarter and the great mosque. We also made a trip to the supermarket (Walmart!!!) for some supplies.
Sunday evening's entertainment was karaoke!! We walked to the place Partyworld which was quite near the hotel and got set up in the private booth. There was a great selection of familiar songs and we all had great fun singing some old favourites including some of the dance moves too! Hilarious! We headed back to the hotel and then whiled away some more of the evening over some wine before heading to sleep.
Monday and we were visiting the Terracotta warriors. These are an army of 7000 life size Terracotta soldiers that were buried by the first Qin emperor over 2200 years ago. They were only discovered in 1974 and only 2000 have been unearthed so far but they are a fascinating sight to see. We visited the museum and dig sights there and had some lunch before getting back on the bus back to our hotel.
After a quick turn around, we then headed back out to go cycling. Xi'an is a walled city and is the best example of a city wall still intact in China. You can hire bikes on top of it and then cycle all the way around the city, about 14km so that was what we did. After that, we headed back to the hotel for showers and relaxing (Skype) time. We met for dinner and went to a local street that had a lot of restaurants on it. We lucked out as we had probably the best Chinese meal I have had since I have been here. Lovely food.
After dinner we decided to venture out and try and find the bar area of Xi'an. We found a street with a number of bars on it so tried the first one. They didn't have anything other than beer so we moved onto another bar that was furnished like you would expect a house in the 1930's to be. A bit strange but we managed to order the 'cocktail' gintonic so I was happy. Was all a bit strange though as it was 10pm and there was a JCB digging up the road outside the bar. After a couple of drinks we called it a night as we had an early start today.
This morning we were picked up by bus to go to Xi'an airport where we have flown to Chengdu. Tomorrow I go to see the pandas and I can't wait. Watch this space for the photos!!
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