From Beijing to Xian the Adventure Continues (Sunday, August 19th, 2018 )

It's moving day!  But only in a small way.  

We were up at 5:00 this morning and left the hotel before 6:00. Our bags had to be outside the room by 10:30 last night so that they could go through airport security ahead of us. In China there is an intense screening process for luggage, so sending our bags early saved us a lot of time. Two people in our group had their bags pulled out for further search once we got to the airport, one of the bags had a small camera battery in it, the other one, we assume had a lighter. Both had to be removed. 

As we entered the airport, the first 10 people in our group (including Steve and I), were pulled out separately for an explosives spot check. We all passed, so we were able to continue on with the group. Then we got our boarding passes and continued on to the regular security check point. This was also more stringent than we are used to in the U.S. They are very strict about what is in your carry-on bags. We had to completely remove ALL electronics, batteries, umbrellas, liquids and cables. The computers could stay in their cases but had to be out of the bags. We weren’t quite prepared for that big of a search, so it took us a few minutes to get put back together. Once we were through security, the rest was easy. We found our gate and waited for our flight.

It was cloudy in Beijng this moring, so I wasn’t able to get any pictures as we took off, but it was a really nice flight. We weren’t impressed with Hong Kong Airlines coming over from the U.S. The food and the service weren’t very good, and both of our flights were delayed, but today we are flying China Eastern, and everything has been great. We took off on time, and the service has been super friendly. And even though the flight is only and hour and 45 minutes, we were served a nice breakfast of hot cereal, yogurt, bread and pickled vegetables.

As we walked from the airport to our bus, we noticed these alternative fuel shared-user cars.  China is working hard to provide alternative transportation.

And it looks like in Xian we will be riding in a big green bus!  We'll call it "Grasshopper".

Xian, a city in internal China, was the capital city through eleven dynasties due to it's protected location.  It was also a relocation city for many displaced people when the three gorges dam was built  more on this topic later), and contains a lot of ancient archaeological treasures.  

The amount of building that is happening in China is mind-blowing, and Xian is no exception.  There are huge condo complexes everywhere!  Some completed and some still under construction.  Most have been built in the last 10 years or so.  

Look at the size of these buildings, and then imagine 30-40 of them all exactly alike.  That would be one complex, and there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of them in every part of the city.

Steve's reaction to see this was:  "How would you invite a friend over to your home for the first time?  I'm in the third row from the west, nine buildings in, on the 23rd floor in apartment number 392355".

Until you see it, you just can't imagine the magnitude of it!!!

When we landed in Xian we had a very nice lunch in a restaurant we will never know the name of. 



One of the dishes was whole fried chicken (yes, head and all), and it was probably the best fried chicken I have ever eaten. 

Beer was included with every lunch and dinner during our tour in China.  It was actually kind of refreshing after our hot, sweaty days out in the sun.

Look at everyone going after that chicken!  I'm telling you, it was SO good!

Again, we were served more food than we could possibly eat, and everything at this restaurant was really good!

The original city of Xian was surrounded by a city wall for protection, and unlike most of the cities in China this wall is still standing.  The city now extends far beyond the wall, but our hotel was just inside the city wall.

But before heading to our hotel, we had some other sights to see, so stay tuned.