We are killing some time before we leave on an overnight train to Beijing from Shanghai--this time we have soft sleepers, thank god.  "Soft Sleeper" means we will not have to fight for a hard booth to sleep on where evil cackling train conductors hit your feet to get you to move them out of the cramped aisle!  Instead, a nice bunkbed awaits us--we just have to be sure to claim our spot early, as past experience has shown us that people like to try to take your seat when you're not looking...

This portion of the trip has been the longest amount of time we've stayed in one place.  The Astor House Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Shanghai--it was the first place in Shanghai to have electricity, and was the first place to receive a phonecall in China!  Einstein, Grant, and Bertrand Russell (the English philosopher), Charlie Chaplain, and Zhou Enlai have all stayed here.

We can't wait to see our pooches when we get back--it's been the main theme of conversation for the past few days, what Dharma and Kerouac are doing right now as we speak, how cute they're going to look when we greet them at the door, how fluffy they'll be now that the summer heat has passed, etc. etc. etc. :)  Oh, and we are looking forward to seeing our non-furry friends, as well!  This will probably be our last update before heading back to the Emerald City, so adieu, or as we say in China, Zai Jien!

Just got into Shanghai a couple days ago, and we have to say, it's definitely one of the most cosmopolitan cities either of us has been in.  Dirk says, "Beijing is to Washington, DC as Shanghai is to Manhattan."  The people are heartbreakingly skinny and beautiful and chic.  There go any of my plans to get a fabulous new wardrobe here...

Last night we decided to take a night out on the town, something that we haven't really been able to do, what with the day-long excursions to Tianenmen Square, various temples, and hiking trips we've been on--mostly, we'd get to the hotel and collapse in bed by 8:30.  First, we dolled up.  Dirk was wearing a very handsome blazer and I put on a low-cut black cocktail dress with my sparkly, sparkly Indian flats (thank you, Candyce!).  On the way down to the lobby, we picked up an older Chinese man who could simply not stop staring.  Awkward.

We walked down the Bund, which is the stretch of land right on the Huangpu River with all the crazy skyscrapers I'm sure every one of you has seen, alongside gorgeous classical buildings over a century old.  We decided to take a river cruise, and got onto a ship with two large golden dragons on the bow and lights strung all over it.  For an hour, we drank "Hella" lagers (eliciting stares from the locals, who apparently could not conceive of a girl matching her dinner companion drink for drink) and gazed at the skyline from the water.  One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen..

After getting off the boat, we decided to trek on over to the Peace Hotel, one of the buildings we noticed on our cruise.  The rooftop deck was incredible, with even better views than could be seen on the water.  Our waiters had bowties and cumberbunds!  As much as we loved being in the rural areas, this was definitely a nice change of pace, to be sipping sidecars in China's biggest city among the beautiful elite.

Today we are back in our walking clothes, ready to hit "Old Town", an area where the traditional architecture has been preserved.  Moving away from bowing servants on glittering rooftops, we'll be back on street level with the bickering hawkers and pushy salesmen.  Just where we like to be :)

Yesterday, we've agreed, was definitely the highlight of our tour of China so far.  We woke up early and drove about two hours to one of the five sacred Taoist mountains of China, Hua Shan.  Although an old proverb said that "Since ancient times, there has been only one road to Hua Shan," we got a cable car up to the North peak in about 10 minutes, saving us what would easily have been a day-long hike on steep steps carved into the stone of the mountain.

Once on the north peak, we opted to follow the trail to Cloud Peak, making various stops along the way.  It seemed as though each vantage point was more beautiful than the last as we hiked up the winding path, and so we passed six hours up there..  We got some amazing photographs, especially of a peasant who was carrying his wares up the moutain to sell to hikers, singing at the top of his voice and performing acrobatics inches from the cliffs!  Climbing around for six hours, huffing and puffing and taking numerous rests, we ran into him at least three times--I can't believe he can maneuver around so quickly!

One of the most challenging aspects of the hike was the "ladders" that were constructed on some of the steepest faces of the rock.  There were steps carved into the stone, but they were almost vertical, so you had to pull yourself up by some chains hammered into the mountain.  As Jenny made her way up, we noticed a couple with two babies waiting to make their way down the same ladder--how in the world did they make it up??

The views were incredible, as we've been saying so much already--we can't wait to show everyone the pictures when we get back.  Another amazing sight was the numerous engraved locks and red sashes that people had lashed onto the chains that lined the trails.  Dirk and I got one engraved and locked it at our favorite vantage point--we kept the key and we'll come back in 25 years to see if it's still there!

Today, we saw the Terracotta Warriors, an army of over 8,000 soldiers that an emporer had buried 2,000 years ago alongside his tomb to protect him in the afterlife.  Having seen so many photographs, it was great to see the real thing.  The scale was incredible--not only to see how large they are in person, but also how vast their numbers really are.  This was definitely the most crowded destination we've been to so far..

Tomorrow we board a plane for Shanghai--the 13 hour train ride here from Pingyao was definitely too much to handle, so flying seemed like a better option.  We can't wait to be in another bustling, cosmopolitain megametropolis--the Paris of the East!

Greetings from Xi'an, the home of the famous Terracotta Army, which we have not seen yet, having just arrived this morning off of the train from Pingyao.  A number of interesting events occured, which we will relate in our favorite format: the bulleted kind.

     *  Visited a Taoist temple dating back over a thousand years famous for its statuary.  When we heard "famous statuary" we certainly did not envision carved wooden demons impaling wailing wooden mortals with sharp, pokey things amidst wooden flames and vicious helldogs!  Definitely a highlight of the trip.

     *  The old man who drove us via motorized rickshaw to the temple was adorable, friendly, and... completely unfit to drive.  While we may give him credit for keeping an eye out for potholes in the road, we may take away that credit for his actually going out of his way to drive over them.  Haha.  Funnier in hindsight :)

     *  Our hotel was really great, an old Qing dynasty bank that had been converted into a living quarters for "financiers" such as ourselves.  The service was impeccable--Tony, the concierge, not only walked to the train station to buy us a ticket to Xi'an, but also packed us a little lunch to take with us on the train!  He took us on a rickshaw to the station, waited with us for the train, and even got on to try to negotiate a "sleeper" (a car with beds as opposed to seats) for us.  What a guy!

     *  On the other hand, Dirk and I experienced "audio hell" at this same hotel, as the same 15 minute CD of Chinese elevator music played on a nonstop loop throughout our three days there.  We felt really sorry for the staff, having to listen to the same music day in and day out, but we caught some of them actually rocking out to it.  Wonders never cease..

     *  While Jenny called the elevator music "audio hell", we certainly had to revise the term once we got onto the train.  Think Dante's Inferno, with different layers for the worst sinners.  Something we did in our past lives must have been really, really bad, because we were subjected to not only one of the songs from the elevator music CD, but also the insane cackling of the "Evil Witch Conductor Lady" who constantly yelled at me (Jenny) in Mandarin and made everyone on the train totally miserable with her insane yelling and screeching.  Definitely seventh layer, if not higher.

     *  Wait, it just got higher.  Kenny G. was playing at the station as we got off the train.

Well, we are set to relax after our 13 hour train ride in our hotel..  We've written a bunch of postcards and will be sending them out tomorrow, but they probably won't reach you until after we get back.  Zai Jien!

We've made some interesting discoveries in the last couple of days.  For brevity's sake, here's a bulleted list.

     *  If a cute, self-described "farmer" woman follows you around on the Great Wall and takes a picture for you, she will make you buy a $70 picture book from her as you risk your life trying to run down the steep stone steps to catch the last cable car down the mountain.
     *  One should probably check the ticket for the correct time to board a train rather than blindly trusting the guide book (doh!)
     *  When someone witnesses the key breaking in your bicycle lock next to Tiannemen Square, he will definitely steal it when you leave
     *  Kenny G is fucking EVERYWHERE.  Not in the flesh, thank god, but on the airwaves.  Which is almost worse.  We also heard Sisqo's The Thong Song and some Beyonce at the mall!
     *  PBR exists in China.  Seriously.  In bottled water form.  I'm kicking myself now, we should have taken a picture..
     *  With 8 yuan to a dollar, two people can have a three course meal (with beer!) for under $15 very easily :)
     *  Did we mention that beer is really, really cheap?  And you can drink it in public, like we did in Tiannemen Square.
     *  There is nothing like getting richly buzzed in front of that huge painting of Mao, especially when you're being watched by two plainclothes police officers.

This pretty much sums up our last couple of days.  We leave Beijing tonight (at seven, not eight!)  for Pingyao.  More updates will follow from there!

Yesterday, we rented bicycles and ventured outside of the hotel for our first excursion.  The Forbidden City!  *cue scary music*  Actually, the scariest part of the day was getting to the Forbidden City itself--if you thought Asian traffic looked bad, try pedaling through it!  Quotation of the day, "I think I almost died like, 10 times" -Jenny

We finally made it to Bei Hei park after getting lost, well, several times +_+;  Getting lost was actually a blast, though.  We saw so many cute peking pups (they always look like they're grinning!), squirrels in cages, and crickets chirping from tiny woven baskets.  People-watching was a great pastime, especially if they were people-watching us!  But we digress.  Beihei park, The Forbidden City.  It was so amazing.

The scale of the park is absolutely stunning (especially if you have to walk all the way around it to find your bike when.. surprise.. you get lost again?).  Not only are there countless temples and royal buildings, but in the middle of it is a huge manmade lake that the emporer had built over a thousand years ago.  In the middle of the lake is an island with a huge stone pagoda that overlooks the entire city of Beijing.  Our favorite sighting of the day, actually, was the Holy Kitty we encountered in one of the temples.  In it was a group of statues featuring easily over a hundred Buddhist dieties, as well as Budda himself.  But who greeted us at the door but Holy Kitty, a little orange tabby kitten who meowed even louder than our own dear Gargamel?  I wanted to pet Holy Kitty, but she shied away.  Ah well.  Luckily Dirk was quick enough to get a few photos :)

To reward ourselves for a hard day's work, we decided to get the Mandarin Fish in Shape of Squirrel for dinner, a specialty of the hotel restaurant.  Still smarting over our reluctance to go ahead and try the Deep Fried Southern Rape with Broad Beans (So um.. is Broad Bean slang for??), we were quickly soothed when the dish presented itself.  A deep fried, battered fish head followed by its spiraling, deep fried flesh.  And covered in sweet and sour sauce.  I know it probably sounds gross, but the pictures we'll upload later will amaze you!

We're staying in Beijing until Wednesday night, when we take a train to Pingyao, the best-preserved Han dynasty city, with a complete city wall surrounding it.  Our sightseeing goals for the remainder of our stay in Beijing:

     * Go to a hip discotheque and strut our stuff among Beijing's hippest
     * See Mao in the flesh
     * Go to a circus
     * See the Great Wall
     And finally,
     * Eat some rape (I wanted to write "get raped", but I think some misunderstandings would occur!)

All I really have to say is cheap-ass rice cakes on every corner.  Who cares if I can't drink the water, I'll dehydrate in bliss!  <3<3<3

Well, it's official, my mind has been fucked. Beijing is really amazing. We are staying in a hotel that was originally built in the Qing dynasty for a Generals residence. Today I think Jenny and I are going to go to Tienamman Square and the Forbidden City. I can't wait to see Chairman Mao in the flesh. Our Great Leader has done so much for us. I always know in my heart that the Great Leader will bring us out of poverty and deprivation and into the promise land. He knows the way................Oh my God, creepy. I was starting to believe what I was typing. Well until next time.......Viva La Revolucion!

As a barista, I guess I should be more used to these early hours, but this is TOO FREAKIN' EARLY TO BE GETTING ON A PLANE!  We're leaving for our flight in half an hour and we touch down in Beijing at 3:55 am, Seattle time.  I hope that gives me enough time to crack one Sudoku puzzle.  That's seriously all I'm thinking about this morning.

I can catch Mt. Rainier emerging over downtown Seattle as I write this from the apartment window.  I don't think it's really hit me yet that I'm going to be gone to another world in just a few hours, and for three weeks!  I thought to myself as Dirk and I ate some pasta with cream sauce last night, "This is the last time I'll eat cheese for a while."  Weird to think of small things like that..
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Well, Dirk is now out of the shower and we're going to start loading up the car.  Wish us luck!

Here it is, the cheesy travel blog Dirk and I will be keeping through our three-week trip to China!  We are leaving this Friday, the first, and coming back on the 23rd.  We will be posting our itinerary shortly, though it is a loosely conceived one (we want to be able to stay flexible in case something comes up that we want to detour and see or if something else comes up).  Anyone have any good ideas for any can't-miss sites we should go see?  We'll be in Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, and Wu Tai Shen.

We'll try to get some pictures put up here, too, but you may have to wait until when we get back to watch a slideshow..

Still so much to do!  Dirk and I will check back probably  before we leave.  For those of you who may not use LiveJournal, feel free to leave comments below.  You can leave them even if you are not a LiveJournal member (membership is free, though), but please sign your name at the end of your message so we know who left it!