So here I am waiting until FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING to catch my train to Xining, cash in hand and fingers crossed.
I love Xi'an. What a lovely city! Nicely balanced between the insanity of Shanghai and the lifelessness of Beijing (historical and cultural stuff apart), Xi'an has a great feel to it and lots of food! The muslim quarter is fantastic. The streets are China but the clothes, the stalls, the food and smells are something else. My first pick of the day was lamb skewers (yangrou) fired on charcoal and put into a table tennis bat shaped muslim bread thingy. Next was an "8 treasure rose puddling (SIC)", which was a coconutty turkish delight effort smeared with sweet goo and baked in a cute little wooden pot. Fantastic stuff. There's plenty I didn't do here, like visit the Big Goose Pagoda or ride around the city walls but I do feel I "get" what Xi'an's about and I'll miss it. This will be my last posting at anywhere near sea-level for a while! Xining is at 2500m and from there it just goes up and up and up! Now where did I put that oxygen tank?
