Damn trains: The great dumpling masacre of 2011

Damn trains. When we arrived at the waiting room at Beijing West Station I thought I was going to loose my shit. Everytime I think I've never seen so many people crammed into such a small space, China outdoes itself. It was hella intense. But our trip from Beijing to Xi'an was seamless. The deluxe sleeper car was spacious, comfortable and private. It was a bit difficult to sleep due to the train stopping at stations along the way but overall it was a good trip. Unfortunately when we arrived at Xi'an and attempted to buy our next lot of tickets to Shanghai they were completely sold out except for standing room only. 12 hours overnight standing? I think not. So we had to get a later train meaning we're not leaving Xi'am until 10.30 at night and not arriving in Shanghai till after midday. This paniced us so we tried to get tickets for the Shanghai to Hong Kong leg. The problem with China trains is you can only book the tickets from the station you are departing from. Thankfully our hostel was able to sort some tickets out for us. But they are from Shanghai to Shenzhou(?) and then we need to make our way down to Macau afterward, which Jazz assures me is not an issue. (Looks dubious) Neither of the tickets are deluxe sleepers so we will be in with other people and have to use the (gasp!) public toilets. As long as no one starts sniffing my hair while I'm sleeping we should be fine. The big down side is it now means we'll only be in Shanghai for 24 hours. We'll just have to cram it all in.

We've landed in Xi'an a week before the Xi'an International Agricultural Exposition 2011. This means there are people everywhere desperately trying to beautify the city with flowers and plants. Some of it works, some is just odd. We went out to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Bhuddist temple and saw wome moks praying and burning incense and doing monk type things. It was pretty cool. We then hung around awaiting Asias biggest fountain light and music show. Just in front of the Pagoda is a massive fountain - easily as big as a city block of houses. So we sat by it and waited. And waited. And waited. And then heard fireworks from behind us. Apparently the smaller less attractive fountain around the corner is where all the action was at. But hey, at least they had illuminous cherry blossom trees.

Yesterday we visited the Terracotta Warriors. It was amazing. Imagine you're out one day digging in your field and uncover an entire army of  dudes underground. I've told Jazz that this is the kind of monument I want created in my honour when I pass. At what point do you kind of go - you know what, after I die, I'm pretty sure I'll need an inaminate army to protect my tomb - make it so *clap clap*. I don't know how one gets to that point, but I'm hoping that I can at some time in my life.

Last night we took our first paid 'tour'. It was a dinner and dance - true dinks. It was pretty pricey for Chinese standards and we became dubious when we were the only ones going. We could smell a rip off a foot. But how wrong we were!! The 'tour guide' simply dropped us off at the theatre. Upstairs was the dining and downstairs was the show - You didn't think we were the ones that were going to do the dancing did you? Dinner was dumpling heaven. Such a pleasant unexpected surprise. Every single dumpling you could ever imagine was presented to us - duck, sharkfin, fish, mushroom, chicken, spinach, pumpkin, pork, beef, seafood, oyster...... the list goes on and on. And they were shaped like what was in them! Little fishes and ducks and such. And they just kept bringing them and bringing them. If we were dogs we would have eaten ourselves to death. But we only managed a mild coma. Afterward we watched traditional dances, singing and performances from the Tang Dynasty. Think of that dance she does in House of Flying Daggers with the drums and scarves. Yeah that cool. It was a really excellent night. Of course we were home in bed by 9.30 because you know - travelling Jazz and Mandy are pox.

Today we are going to ride bikes around the city walls and tonight we get on the train to Shanghai.