I couldn�t sleep the night before. I got up at around 7AM and went to Mark�s Door. Apparently he was in the shower because he didn�t answer the door.
I got everything together. It was raining outside. Not wanting to walk several blocks with suitcases to the bus stop in the rain, we took a cab. The bus stop was actually a hotel which had a bus that left every few minutes to Pudong Airport. We got on and waited an hour until we left.
We got to the airport and I waited in line to check my luggage. I said good bye to Mark.
The flight to San Francisco was uneventful. I watched a Nicholas Cage movie on the way back. We made it back several minutes early.
I got lost in San Francisco�s airport, walking a long way out of my way. I met up with the American couple that had been with me on the flight going over. We exchanged stories of our experiences in China.
It was about 9AM (10PM Shanghai time) and I wanted a Pizza. I had to wait a bit at the Pizza hut for a personal pan.
Next on to Chicago. Nothing much happened on the way there. I sat next to a United Stewardess. She told me some stories of her experiences. I also got a 7up from Thailand when they served me drinks.
The flight from Chicago to Nashville was delayed by an hour. When I got off the plane, I was wearing my Chinese soccer uniform and my hat I got in Zhou Zhaung. My family didn�t recognize me.
I enjoyed my trip very much and am planning another trip in a few years.

This was my last full day in Shanghai. I had planned on getting the rest of my shopping done and participate in a few activities unique to China.
I slept okay on the floor of Mark�s room. I did have a bedspread to sleep on and a rolled up sleeping bag as a pillow. I woke up at about 6AM. Mark was still tired from going camping the past few days.
I decided to try to get on the internet while Mark slept. Mark had been using a pay per use card. But somehow his original card had stopped working when I arrived. Recently Mark had gotten another card. Success! I was able to logon to the internet. I did some emailing and some chatting via Instant Messenger. It was about 6PM at home, so some people were already online.
After a while Mark finally woke up. He said he needed to do laundry. I was anxious to get out and do some shopping. But Mark seemed to think that his laundry couldn�t wait an extra day.
We finally left at about 10:30AM. I mailed my postcards that I had written on the train to Xian. The mailbox was an ordinary green box in front of the school.
We decided to do lunch at Pizza Hut in People�s Square. We caught a bus there. Surprisingly there was not any wait when we got there. We must have gotten there just in time because by the time we left, the line stretched all the way out the door and into the street.
We got a pitcher of Pepsi and a medium sized meat lovers pizza. It was very filling.
Our waitress seemed to be hovering right behind my shoulder. I guess it was a good place to stand to watch if people need anything. I got Mark to make my picture with the waitress.
Afterwards we did some shopping in People�s Square. I also exchanged $60 at a Bank of China. Since you cannot change Yuan back to Dollars, I would need to spend all my money today.
We were trying to make our way to Yu Yuan Garden. We were meeting Ruth there at 1PM. Not being able to find the bus station, we decided to get a taxi.
Traffic was terrible! We were stuck in traffic for quite a while. We finally made it to Yu Yuan Garden. It was wall-to-wall people. At times I could not movie do to the massive amount of people around me. I held on to my wallet pretty tightly.
We waited around at the entrance to Yu Yuan Garden for Ruth. She was a few minutes late due to the crowds.
I decided I was sick of the crowds and decided we needed to leave Yu Yuan Garden. I did stop to buy a fan on the way out.
On the way out I also stopped at one of the booths to get my friend�s name written in decorative letters. The calligrapher came down quite a bit on the original asking price of 5 Yuan per letter. I think it ended up being 20 Yuan plus 20 Yuan for a frame. I tried to get a nice watercolor of a painting of People�s Square, but the sellers would not come down enough.
We decided to get away from the crowds. I suggested Nanjing Road. We took a cab over there. I did a bit of shopping there, picking up 3 more teapots for friends.
Ruth had mentioned she had tickets to a Tulip festival. It was in the PuDong part of Shanghai (on the other side of the river). We decided to make our way to the Bund. On the way, we stopped at a drink stand. Mark and Ruth got Ice Cream. I got a Fanta. The first Fanta was not cold, so I had to ask for another one.
We made some pictures on the Bund and then tried looking for a boat or underground train to the PuDong. While we were walking, I noticed a large statue. Ruth said it was a statue of the first mayor of Shanghai.
We rote a tourist underground train to PuDong. There were flashing lights in the tunnel. It appeared to be something out of Disney World.
We got out and headed toward the Tulip Show. On the way there, I got a Chinese flag for 1 Yuan.
At the entrance there was a large clock made out of Tulips. Throughout the riverside park, there were plenty of Tulips and other flowers. At the park, you could rent a 2 or 3 seater bicycle and ride with friends. At one part of the park, there was a playground area.
After a while at the park, we decided to head back to eat at the Hard Rock Caf�. We took a subway back. At one point in the ride, the subway became packed. It was wall to wall people again. At one point in the ride I asked Mark �Aren�t you glad you used Dial? Don�t you wish everyone else did?� It was our next stop we had to make our way to the door.
After we got out we headed to Nanjing Road for a bit more shopping. I decided to get my portrait drawn. The artist asked 40 Yuan for it. As he was drawing, a crowd of Chinese people gathered. Everyone seemed to be interested in a westerner getting his portrait drawn. The artists did a good job on it. The crowd didn�t leave until I had paid my money. I thought they would leave after the artist was finished drawing.
We did a bit more shopping until it got dark. We caught a cab to the Hard Rock. The HR is located next door to the most expensive hotel in Shanghai. At the resturant we were seating in the no smoking section. The table had some very comfortable chairs. I had a couch all to myself.
I got a cheeseburger. Mark got some ribs, and Ruth got a hamburger. Ruth had never eaten at HR before. She said the food was good and much better than McDonald�s.
Unfortunately this Hard Rock, like all other Chinese restaurants, did not have unlimited refills. Somehow this is an American phenomenon. The total cost of the meal was 393 Yuan (about $40).
We caught a cab back to the school. I had wanted to get a blind man massage while in China. This type of thing is very popular in China. Mark said there was a massage place near the school. He told our cab driver to keep driving around until he saw it.
We finally found it. We went inside. The massage was 50 Yuan for one hour. I paid for Mark and Ruth to get a massage too. I changed into some pajamas.
The masseuse massaged my face first, then had me lie down on my stomach so that my back could be massaged. After he got done, I was very relaxed. It was excellent.
We walked back to school. I stopped to get some cokes and magazines at a store.
We got to the school�s gate. I said goodbye to Ruth and went on our way.
I got a room at the guesthouse. I packed in Mark�s room.

We slept in a little later than before. Paul and I left the room at about 7AM. We caught a taxi and made our way to some tourist attractions. Our taxi driver was a woman. This was the first female taxi driver I had rode with.
We passed by a museum but found that it was closed. So we made our way to a nearby site, the Wild Goose Pagoda. This Pagoda is a large 7-story building. The Pagoda wasn�t opened yet. We decided to make some pictures. On the outside of the gates of the Pagoda, there is a large open square with a statue of a monk. Paul decided to get some breakfast at a nearby restaurant. He got dumplings to go.
By the time we got back from breakfast, the pagoda was open and we went inside the gates.
All around the pagoda there are buildings (temples?), which house Buddhas. There are knee pillows for people who bend down and pay homage to the Buddha. There were also intricate carvings of the Buddha stories on the walls of the temple. Sometimes these carvings were made of jade, other times it was of wood.
Monks were all around the area. They were dressed in grey clothing and wore a special kind of shoes. They were also shaven bald. I asked a couple of them if I could have my picture made with them, but they refused.
We decided to go to the very top of the pagoda. You had to pay extra to enter the pagoda. Paul was required to check his backpack in, but I was allowed to keep my camera.
As we got inside I noticed a miniature model of the pagoda. There was also a gift shop, of course. We climbed the 7 flights of stairs to the top. The orange stairs were narrow at times and there were people coming down it at the same time you were going up.
We got to the top of the pagoda. I took pictures at all 4 sides of it. The view seemed to be obscured by the smog of Xian.
We climbed down and visited other parts of the complex. As we were going out I noticed a short monk. Paul asked if I could have my picture made with him. He said yes.
We were planning on walking to our next site, which was several blocks down the road. However we decided to catch a cab there. As we pulled in, the driver almost hit a lady and her small child.
As we entered the complex, I noticed we were in a small alleyway. Paul said this place is where they film Chinese movies. It was supposed to represent ancient China.
We came to an area with a bunch of statues facing each other along a wide path to a building. I made several pictures.
Inside the building you could put on some traditional Chinese wardrobe and get your picture made.
As we walked through the building, we went to a walk through exhibit with animatronic statues. It was like something out of a bad Disneyland ride. Paul later pointed out that each exhibit was supposed to represent a story in a Chinese folklore book. We entered a room, which Paul described as �Heaven.� People were having their picture made with the exhibits. Next we entered �Hell� which showed people being sawed in half. Finally we got through the entire exhibit. It was pretty sad.
Afterwards we went out to another area for more pictures. We left the place.
We had hoped to find a cab on the outside, but none showed up. We ended up walking to almost back to the Wild Goose Pagoda and catching a cab there.
Our next stop was the Great Mosque. Since Xian is so far west, it has a Muslim influence. We walked through the merchant stands while on the way to the Great Mosque. I bought a few items including a green military hat. We also stopped at a place that engraves stamps with a person�s name. Placed an order for a friend of mine who was in the hospital. Paul got some stamps for his family and himself. The engraving was going to take a little time, so we decided to go to the Great Mosque.
As we entered the Great Mosque, I noticed that it seemed to appear just like any other Chinese temple. Occasionally you would see something written in Arabic. There were men around who were wearing while caps. These were the Muslim caretakers of the temple. There was one area which was restricted which was for ceremonial cleansing. A black curtain was hung over the entrance to this room.
The Mosque consisted of several different building with different exhibits setup in each.
Afterwards we left the mosque and made our way back to the main road. We were having trouble finding the booth that was engraving our stamps. Finally we found them and paid for our stamps. We were talked into buying more stamp pads. This is how it works in China. You seemly get a good deal on a product, but afterwards you find out it is extra for additional accessories such as the stamp pad.
We caught a taxi back to the Hotel. My flight was leaving at 4:30PM. I said I needed to be at the airport by 3:30PM. I had no idea if the tickets had arrived yet. Paul had taken care of everything. He had given the money to the hotel staff. I was just hoping that the tickets arrived by now.
We stopped in front of the KFC near the hotel so that I could get some lunch. I got it to go and Paul and I walked back to the Hotel.
I ate lunch in the hotel room while watching ESPN. The Mariners and the Red Sox were playing baseball. Paul later entered with the plane tickets. He had planned to stay and extra day in Xian, spending the night with his friend at his university.
Paul recommended we leave at around 12:30 since the airport was so far away from the city. After finishing lunch I packed my bags. We got on a taxi which would presumably take us to a bus to take us to the airport. However on the way there Paul noticed that the ride to the airport via taxi was just as expensive as going to the airport via bus. So we stayed in the taxi the entire way there.
We got on a highway and rode for several minutes. Along the way, I noticed a man had stopped along the side of the highway and was peeing in public. I guess when you�ve got to go, you�ve got to go.
We finally arrived at the airport. Since it was so early the airport reps had not begun serving the flight back to Shanghai. Paul and I sat down near a gift shop counter. We were discussing the events of the day. At one point I put on my military hat. The store keeper noticed it and said that he wanted to sing a song about it.
I asked Paul if I could buy him lunch. We went to a nearby restaurant and Paul got some hot noodles.
Finally it was time to get in line for the ticket counter. There was an American family in front of us. As I got to the ticket counter, I handed the lady my ticket. Then a rude American came up and was in panic mode. He was very concerned that his travel group had left without him. Somehow he had gotten separated from his group and wasn�t sure what flight they were one. After going through the list of ticket holders, they found the passenger�s name and send him on his way. I later told Paul that this guy was being rude.
I had to by a 50 Yuan tax levied on all domestic flights. Paul went as far as he could with me. I said goodbye and went on my way to the gate.
As I found the gate, I noticed the American family, which was in front of me. An American asked me if the flight was already boarding. I said I didn�t know. I asked the lady at the ticket counter. She directed me to the doors. I walked outside and boarded the plane.
I sat beside some Chinese people. A large group of gay Americans boarded the plane also. The flight to Shanghai lasted about an hour and a half. I had a Pepsi and a ham sandwich on the plane.
After we arrived I heard something in Chinese being said as we were taxi-ing to our gate. I thought they said, it was time to deplane. But obviously it wasn�t since we hadn�t stopped yet. Others must have thought the same thing because lots of people were grabbing their bags and things.
Finally we arrived and deplaned. I asked an American if this was the tram to the gate. He said yes. He said he was waiting for the rest of his party and to let him know if I needed help getting a taxi. I told him thanks.
As I left the airport I noticed there were quite a few lines for taxis. As I was leaving I was harassed by people wanting to give me rides for 100 Yuan. I told them �no� since Mark had said it would be about 40 Yuan. By the time I got in the right line for the cab, I was so sick of being harassed every time someone said 100 Yuan, I just told them they were crazy.
I got in line for the cabs and was told to go to the short-term cabs (yellow). I got in line for them. I tried not to look too concerned as I left. A lady in front of me got in a cab. She later was shouting to the cab driver and left. The cab driver then told me to get in.
I watched him like a hawk the entire time. When the meter did not initially come on, I pointed at it. He said it would come on after a certain amount of time, which it did. When he made what I thought was a wrong turn, away from the landmark skyscrapers away from the school, I pointed the other direction. He said he was making a U turn. After we made it to the school, he charged me a fair price and I thanked him profusely.
I walked back to the guesthouse and up to Mark�s room. He was back. He seemed a bit tired. He had been camping on an island somewhere near Shanghai. I was going to have to sleep on the floor of his room since all the rooms were taken up by May Day visitors. I got on the internet and emailed home.

As soon as I woke up, it was time to leave. I got a shower and afterwards ate a banana and had some OJ for breakfast. The bananas were just about over-ripe and had to be thrown out after today.
Paul and I took a taxi to the train station. We were lost in the crowd of people. Paul called his friend on his cell phone. He said we were underneath a certain sign. After a few minutes, he met us. Along with him were 2 Chinese girls. They were students in Beijing. We then got on a bus going to the Terracotta Warriors museum. The girls and I got on the bus and got some seats. Paul and his friend went to get some breakfast to go. The bus started moving and I was a bit apprehensive that I might be stuck on this bus going to the Terracotta Museum without Paul as my guide. But the bus stopped in time to pick up Paul and his friend. Paul brought me back a couple of cokes. I really wasn�t interested in drinking them, since it was about 7AM in the morning. But I decided to go ahead and drink one since it might be the only think I eat or drink all day.
The Terracotta Warriors museum is located in a town about 30 minutes outside of Xian. We got on a highway to get there. Paul said that this highway was built especially for President Clinton�s visit.
Along the way, there were plenty of billboards and other things advertising the Terracotta Warriors. You could even buy a life-sized warrior to take back with you.
The bus dropped us off at the end of a road to the way to the Terracotta Museum. Along the way, there were plenty of merchants selling various trinkets. I saw a life sized setup of the Terracottas and asked Paul to take my picture by them. The owner of the warriors wanted payment in order to have your picture made by them. I politely refused.
We made it to the ticket counter of the museum. Paul and his friends were able to get discounted tickets because they were students. I paid 65 Yuan (a little over $7 for my ticket). The ticket was a small card, much like the type used on subways. On the back was an advertisement for Brother sewing machines.
As we tried to enter, the guards at the gate said we�d have to check out bags in at the gate for safe keeping. I also checked in my camera. This was not a big disappointment to me since I had heard that they do not allow photographing of the Warriors.
As we made it into the museum, there was a small model of the entire site. We got a guide to talk about the entire site. Unfortunately our guide only knew Chinese. Frequently during the tour she would give long translations of the exhibit. After the whole spiel, I would look at Paul for a translation. He would say something very brief such as �This is very important to Chinese history.� I didn�t get too much from the tour. Paul noticed an English tour going on and suggested I go with them. I decided to hang with my Chinese friends, not knowing if I�d get separated from them if I went with the English tour.
The Terracotta Warriors display was just like out of National Geographic. They were standing up in rows next to large mounds.
Plenty of people were taking photos of the warriors. This surprised me. As stated before I had been warned by travel sites not to take pictures of the warriors. However those making photos weren�t be harassed in any way. Paul said that we could get my camera out later on.
The entire building had been built over the pits where the Terracotta Warriors were discovered. A farmer discovered them in the 1970s when he was digging a hole for a well. Each of the heads of the Warriors are unique, as if built to resemble a living person.
During the tour we were escorted into a gift shop. A lady gave a demonstration of what real jade is supposed to resemble. She rubbed fake jade onto a piece of glass. It scratched it. However the real jade did not scratch. She gave a long spiel hoping we�d buy the jade bracelets. However I was uninterested in jewelry at this time.
There were plenty of miniature Terracotta Warriors for sale. However they were a bit expensive. I decided to wait to buy them on the street outside of the museum since it was a lot cheaper. You could even buy a head or a life sized warrior. By the life-sized warrior, there was a FedEx sign implying that they�d ship it back to your home country for you. Could you imagine having a life sized Terracotta Warrior in your living room?
We went on to another one of the pits where the Warriors were being extracted. The archeologists were being careful at this pit. They had extracted the original pit haphazardly and had damaged the warriors in the process. The warriors had originally been painted, but the paint had been worn off due to the light and picture taking. They weren�t about to make the same mistakes twice.
We did get back our camera and headed out to the original pit to take more pictures. By that time the crowds had really started to appear. It was May Day holiday and the entire nation of China had the day off. The result was literally wall-to-wall people at times. The exhibit was so crowded you had to wait to walk up and take pictures. Again, plenty of pictures were being taken, but none of the officials said anything.
We got outside of the museum and retrieved our bags. I decided to get 4 boxes of the miniature warriors. At 5 Yuan (about 60 cents) apiece, it was very inexpensive. The seller double bagged mine, however I noticed the bag was ripping. I motioned for the seller to give me another bag, but she wanted 1 Yuan for it. I refused and decided to take my chances with a half ripped bag.
I also negotiated with a seller for a couple of t-shirts and a Kung Fu outfit. The Kung Fu outfit was silk and had a couple of yellow dragons on the front. One of the shirts, which had a Terracotta Warrior on it, was for my brother-in-law. The other shirt had a read star with �China� in Chinese written on it. I�m not sure how much the seller ended up giving us for the 2 shirts and the Kung Fu outfit, but I know it was about 125 Yuan (about 13 dollars). I later found out the shirts were somewhat low quality and would not need to be machine dried in order to keep the picture on the shirt from being damaged.
After making our purchases we negotiated with a van driver to take us elsewhere. I�m sure where exactly we were going.
All 5 of us piled into a small van, which was even smaller than a Volkswagen van. We got on this gravel road with a lot of bumps. My head hit the ceiling of the van once when we hit a large bump.
After several minutes we reached our destination. It was some big mountain, which the Nationalists and the Communists signed an agreement to mutually fight against the Japanese. We were planning on hiking up the whole mountain. As we started off there were steps along the way. Signs in Chinese told of the historical significance of the mountain.
We reached a part of the mountain, which had a restaurant on there. Paul asked if I was hungry. I was hungry, but not for Chinese food. I decided I could wait until tonight when we got back for the KFC near our hotel. Paul and his friends ordered bowls of noodles. As we dinned I noticed there was a horse with people getting their picture made on it. I think there was some significance to the horse, but I wasn�t sure.
I was growing tired as we made it up the hill. The hill was getting steeper. Pretty soon it was just dirt. I noticed some of the men were hiking in suits. I guess they didn�t have any other type of clothing to wear. Or maybe wearing a suit all the time, even on recreational hikes, seemed to make them seem more important. Who knows�
We got to the top of the hill. There was some type of weird building at the top. It was beginning to sprinkle rain. We got out our umbrellas. I told Paul that I thought we needed to get down of the mountain. He said no problem. I was anxious to get down since I didn�t want to be hiking in the mud with the rain.
As we walked down, the light rain subsided. I guess it was only raining because we were so high.
We took a sky ride back down the mountain. We got a beautiful view of the city. However the view was obscured due to the haze over the city. It must have been pollution.
At the bottom of the mountain we went to Hua Qing Hot Springs. This was an area in which in Chinese folklore, their first lady or queen had risen out of a lake. There was a large crowd around the lake. In the lake there was a statue of a woman. Lots of people were getting their picture made by it.
Around the lake there were buildings set aside which had empty chambers where the hot springs were. Near the lake there was a stage set aside where dancers were performing.
Later on it got to be suppertime. Paul was able to find an American style fast food place for me. This was in the middle of nowhere. Paul knew I hadn�t eaten all day and needed something. This fast food place was a McDonald�s ripoff. It was called �Clam� but obviously they meant �Clown� since there were lot of pictures of clowns around and no sign of clams. Also posted on the wall were Christmas decorations such as Santa and reindeer. It was a bit surreal eating my cheeseburger, fries, and coke with these Christmas decorations around in the middle of Spring. The cheeseburger was obviously not made with beef. I am guessing the meat was either chicken or fish. The patty was light brown.
Paul and the rest of the group were across the street at a traditional Chinese restaurant. After I finished, I went next door. I had a conversation with one of the girls. She was studying Spanish at a university in Beijing. Her English was limited. I noticed that whenever I asked her a question, sometimes she was answer �si� instead of �yes.�
I did make a run to the bathroom. The restaurant workers didn�t understand �bathroom.� I asked Paul for the correct word for bathroom. He told me but said just to say �WC� for bathroom. The bathroom was filthy. I have seen bad bathrooms in gas stations before, but this one took the cake. And in a restaurant!
Afterwards we took a bus back to Xian. There were no empty seats on the bus, so we had to stand the entire time.
We got off the bus and waited to determine what was going to happen tomorrow. I had assumed that Paul�s friend and the girls were going to accompany us tomorrow.
Afterwards Paul and I got in a taxi. This particular Taxi driver didn�t know where he was going so we got another one. This new taxi driver seemed to know where he was going. Paul and the taxi driver talked for the entire time. He took Paul and me to the entrance of the wall. There is an ancient wall, which encircles the old part of Xian.
As we were getting out of the taxi, Paul was continuing to talk to the taxi driver. He later said that the taxi driver was very helpful. He suggested a cheaper hotel for us to stay at. He also gave Paul his beeper number for assistance.
The absolute best part of my entire trip to China was the walk on the Xian wall. It was nighttime � perhaps about 8PM. It was very peaceful. Throughout the whole day, I had to deal with the massive May Day crowds at the tourist places. Now it was just peaceful. The wall seemed to be deserted. We walked around the wall. There were a few merchants selling trinkets. We bought a couple of sets of postcards and miniature Terracotta Warriors. At the edge of the wall, you could see the busy streets highlighted with the lights of the traffic below.
At one part of the wall, a banquet was being held. Obviously it was for a foreign company. The waitresses were wearing traditional Chinese costumes. It got out my digital camera and took several pictures.
We walked to a deserted part of the wall. Paul asked a man nearby where the place to get down off the wall was. He said it was another 6 km down the wall and that it could be a bit dangerous for non-Xianians. We decided to go back from where we came.
We returned to our hotel room. Surprisingly there was an English channel on TV. I remember watching the news in English. Also ESPN was on afterwards.

Since it was going to be a long train ride, I was hoping to sleep as long as possible. Not on this train. By 7AM everyone seemed to be making noise, making it impossible to sleep. At about 8AM I decided to get up. I was still wearing the same clothes I had been wearing all day yesterday. Of course there were no showers on board the train. The bathroom (squatter toilet) left much to be desired. There were sinks available.
In the area where we were at, there was a Chinese family � 2 couples and a 1 year old child. At first I thought if it were appropriate, I might like to have the child in my lap. However I noticed that there was a huge slit in the child�s pants right around the crotch and butt area. Every time the child lifted up his leg, he mooned everyone on the train. I later found out that this is pretty normal. Most Chinese folks do not use diapers on their children. Instead the babies have huge slits in their pants, which let the child do their thing whenever they want to.
My traveling buddy, Paul, always an extrovert, had struck up a conversation with the family traveling with us. In front of the window of the train, there was a couple of fold down chairs and a very small table. Eventually I got up and sat in one of those chairs.
From the window on the train, you could see the Chinese countryside. Just like out of National Geographic, you could see miles of rice fields. Rice was growing on every farmable piece of land.
In the rice fields there were people out picking rice. I imagined these people probably would not leave their own town ever in their lifetime. They had probably never come in contact with a westerner. They probably didn�t know that it was May Day holiday since they were still laboring in the field.
Just looking at these people I soon was reminded about how blessed I am. I have had great opportunities in my life to better myself � to go to college, to get a good job, and to visit China. Now on the other side of this train window, I could see what life could have been for me if I had been born on in a rural Chinese village.
The train ride took forever. I was under the impression that the ride was going to be 18 hours, probably arriving at mid-afternoon in Xian. Paul later told me that it was going to be 24 hours. The reason why it took so long is because we stopped at almost every po-dunk town on the way there. Each time we stopped, people would get off the train and others would get on. We would stay at these train stations for at least 15 minutes.
At around 11AM I decided to eat my Subway Sandwich I had gotten last night in Shanghai. Surprisingly it was still cool. I had not gotten mayonnaise on it, which made it more pate able.
Throughout the train ride vendors or stewardesses would come through selling noodles and various distractions like VCDs. Stewardesses would also mop the floors. At one point in the train ride a large amount of water came rolling down the way. Only my shoes were down on the floor, so it was not a big deal to me if they got slightly wet on the bottom.
People would always ask Paul where I was from. I picked up on the Chinese word for America, so I usually knew when it was being asked. When I got out a Time Magazine to read, an elderly gentleman seemed very interested in it and was reading it over my shoulders.
As we got closer to Xian, Paul pointed out that we were seeing wheat growing in the fields since the soil was so rocky. I also noticed the soil had a yellowish tinge to it.
Finally after about 24 hours we arrived in Xian at 10PM. We were met by Paul�s friend (I still don�t know his name). At the train station I noticed a huge open area and a large electronic Fiji Film sign. In order to get to the hotel, we tried one taxi, but the taxi driver was going to charge us more since I was a foreigner. The 2nd taxi we tried was fair about it, and took us to our hotel.
As we entered the hotel, I noticed a Santa Claus sign, which said �Merry Christmas� backwards. There were also a few Christmas trees around it. As we were going up the stairs to our room, I noticed a bar with KTV on the door. �KTV� stands for Karaoke, which is popular in many Asian countries. We got room 417. Each time we needed to get into the room, we had to ask the lady at the main desk on our floor to unlock the door.
Thankfully there was a western style toilet in the room. However the bathroom door had no doorknob.
Paul suggested we go to KFC down the street to get some food. Coincidentally, I believe this may have been the only western style outlet in town. I didn�t see any other KFC�s McDonald�s while I was there. We got there at 11:45PM and found that they were closed (at 11:30PM). On our way back I noticed someone peeing on the wall in a public street.
We settled down to get some rest. We were going to be leaving at about 6AM the next day.

Mark had 2 classes today. During his first class, there was a very outspoken student who called himself �Cigar.� He said it was because his skin tone and physical appearance looked like a cigar.
When I introduced myself to the class, �Cigar� immediately asked me if I should be called, Mr. Jeff, Mr. Whittle, Mr. Jeff Whittle, or Jeff. I said Jeff was fine. He think asked me who I voted for in the presidential election. Knowing that answering this question could make for many arguments, I opted to discuss the election itself. I also talked about how Americans are not only concerned with foreign policy, but more concerned with domestic issues like taxes and other things.
After class Mark and I walked down to the Friendship Store to exchange money. The Friendship Store were westernized stores originally opened up in the 1970s to encourage tourism. Mark said they were pretty expensive and not to buy from them. Still, there was a band inside so we exchanged money there.
After getting more Yuan, I said to Mark, we should go to lunch. Gino Caf� was nearby, so we went there. I got lasagna. It was okay. There was very little cheese and even less tomato sauce. I joked with Mark and said next time I will bring a can of tomato sauce and tell them to use this. Mark had some type of noodles. He said he hadn�t had a good meal like that in a while. I paid with my credit card. Mark said that it was safe to do this.
After lunch we decided to go to the post office to get some stamps for my postcards. I was planning on writing the postcards on the train to Xian tomorrow. But I wanted to get the stamps on them so that I could just drop them in a mailbox when I got back to Shanghai. Mark recommended that I mail them from Shanghai instead of Xian. He said Shanghai was a more international city with lots of connections overseas. There would probably be less steps involved in getting the postcards overseas.
We got to the post office and bought the stamps. I think it ended up being about 50 Yuan to mail the 13 postcards overseas. Surprisingly, they do not have adhesive stamps in China. We had to take glue and paste the stamps to the postcards. There was a large bowl of paste nearby. We took a brush and glued the stamps to the postcards.
Mark was in a big hurry to get back to school. He was supposed to meet someone at 12:30PM. What I have found is that sometimes he had way too many responsibilities at school and has a difficult time saying �no.�
Mark, Bund, Ruth, and I visited with Grant, a former student of Mark’s, to a middle school. Grant was a English teacher at the school. He was having trouble getting the class’ attention.
Mark introduced us to the class. He also had all the students get up and introduce themselves in English. At the end, he taught the class the “I’m a little teapot” song.
As I was sitting with Ruth in the classroom, I noticed there was a cup of water with small tadpoles in it. I found this to be very unusual.
Afterwards Mark, Ruth, and I decided to try to make an effort to find a Chinese soccer uniform. Some students in Mark�s class had said to get it at the soccer stadium. Mark had consulted a map as to how to get to the stadium. We rode a bus to catch another bus. It was in the middle of rush hour and we had a long ride to go. Finally, after what seemed to be forever, we reached our stop. We got off and walked in front of the stadium. At the first store we came to we asked about it. Success! We were able to get a soccer uniform here. I decided to get the blue Shanghai team jersey and the red and white Chinese national team jersey. They also ironed on the number �5� on them. Ruth said that number 5 belonged to a good player who went to play for an English team eventually. I also got a Shanghai team scarf. The storeowner gave me a Shanghai key ring, saying because I was a foreigner.
We decided to go to the Subway restaurant on Nanjing Road to eat and to get a Subway to go for my train ride. As we were walking to Subway, a man approached us with coupons for Subway. He was wanting us to go there. Subway is on a side street in Nanjing. It is at an awkward location. Inside, I decided to get a �Cold Cut Trio� similar to a Cold Cut Combo here in the US. I also got a couple of bags of barbeque chips (much like 3-d Doritos) and a Fanta. I had a full card of Subway stamps from the US. They accepted my Subway card. The food was good, but not exactly the same as an American Subway. Inside there were mostly Americans in the mostly empty dinning area. It seems that Subway was having a tough time finding its nitch in Shanghai. We took pictures of the store and left.
I got back to the room and started packing for my trip to Xian. I was supposed to leave at 8PM for the train station. I soon found that my backpack wasn�t going to be big enough. After some persuasion Mark let me borrow his large backpack. This should provide a lot of room for souvenirs.
Paul arrived promptly at 8PM. Mark escorted us to the bus stop. We caught the bus to the train station. At the train station our bags were x-rayed as we entered. Inside of the train station there were specific areas as to where you could sit according to when your train left. The whole waiting area was dimly lit. There was a large crowd of people gathered. Many people were traveling home for the May Day holiday.
Paul and I sat down and waited. I told Paul of the expression �Hurry Up and Wait.� He seemed to get the joke.
Sometime they called for our train. There was a huge mob of people. We were guaranteed a �Soft sleeper� which meant we had a bed for the entire trip. We got on the train and I immediately got into bed. Sheets and a pillow were provided. I was on the very top (3rd) bunk, just a few feet from the ceiling of the train. They didn�t immediately cut off the lights. Mark said that he always sleeps well on the train, but I found it difficult to sleep. Someone nearby was snoring.

Today we planned to visit Zhou Zhaung. This small town was considered a Chinese Venice in that it had a large number of canals running through it. It was located about an hour outside of Shanghai.
Mark, Eva, and myself met in Mark�s room. After getting our stuff together, we rode a bus to meet another friend, Ruth, at a hotel near the stadium.
After meeting Ruth, we got our bus tickets at the long distance bus station. We immediately got on the bus for our hour long ride to Zhou Zhaung. During the bus ride we saw lots of scenery. Mark pointed out that this is not like America. There seemed to be industrial complexes built near farms.
We arrived in Zhou Zhaung. Our bus parked in a gated parking lot. Near the gate of the parking lot, several Chinese people were scrambling to sell us maps of the place. They were anxious to get our money. I was somewhat tired of being harassed. Nevertheless Mark got a map.
We walked up a street where people were asking if we would like a ride in their bicycle cart. Mark said that last time he was here with his parents, they got dupped into getting a ride. The ride was so short they could have walked it. We opted not to make the same mistake this time and walked the way to the canal portion of the city.
As we entered Zhou Zhaung there were a bunch of sellers who had setup their tables with various trinkets. There were quite a few paintings and watercolors of the canals which I planned on buying later.
We saw a bridge going over the water. Eva and Ruth pointed out that this bridge was very important to the town, but didn�t elaborate in what way. This proved to be an ongoing issue with my trip. I always heard of something being significant or important to Chinese history without exactly knowing specifically why it was important.
Some older ladies had come out and were sitting on the bridge singing a song. I wish I had my video camera to tape their singing. It was very Chinese sounding.
I took several pictures of the canals and boats. As we were walking along, I noticed the sellers had live turtles for sale. I assumed these were for consumption.
We went to several of the ancient houses. Each time we entered a house, the attendant would take a holepuncher and stamp off our ticket.
After touring several of the houses we decided to have lunch. We went up to the 2nd floor of a restaurant. We ordered the famous pork leg that we had seen displayed at almost any food place in Zhou Zhaung. It looked almost barbeque. This food is what Zhou Zhaung is famous for. There was a lot of fat and grizzle on the leg. I found out that the Chinese prefer this type if meat. Eva really enjoyed her part of the fat. Mark and I opted for some good lean pork which tasted good.
I decided to get a picture of our dinner party. As I got up the man next to our table said that he would help take the picture. After taking the picture he started asking what we thought of Bush selling arms to Taiwan. We said that it was a complicated issue and wouldn�t discuss it any further.
After lunch we decided on a boat ride through the canal. At one of the boat stations we saw that there were 2 Chinese guys who were looking for a larger party to share a boat with. Together we made 6 which was enough for a boat. Our rower was a woman. I later noticed that most all the boat rowers were women. We rode up the canal for a leisurely boat ride.
Throughout the day we bought souvenirs. I decided I would like to have a rice picking hat. At the first place we stopped at, we asked how much for the hat. They said 5 Yuan. We noticed the price tag said 3 Yuan. The seller said that we were being charged extra because we were foreigners. Later on we did find an honest seller to buy the hats from. I wore mine for most of the day. The Chinese tended to think it was strange to see a westerner wear a traditional Chinese hat.
We got off the boat and were walking through town. We decided to go up to this large pagoda. I wanted to get my picture made beside it, but it didn�t appear that there was a good angle.
We climbed to the top for a view of the town. There seemed to be haze across the city. I am not sure if it was due to the weather or smog, but probably the latter.
On our way out I checked on prices of Mao�s Red Book. The seller wanted 120 Yuan for it. Eva, who was tired of foreigners being ripped off looked inside and pointed out to the seller that it cost 40 Jiao to print. Jiao are smaller units of Yuan. Needless to say I didn’t buy it.
After a while we decided to go back to Shanghai. I had already bought a large number of souvenirs including a few pictures and a dragon statue.
After we arrived back at Shanghai we decided to go shopping at some of Shanghai�s department stores. We decided to walk the long way to the stores. Along the way I spotted a McDonald�s and suggested we eat there for lunch. I was still looking for the elusive soccer uniform. After going up through several escalators we were still unable to find it. I also looked for some Star Wars figures for a friend, but was unable to find them either.

In China, when a holiday is scheduled, such as May Day, you have to make up for the time missed during the holiday. Due to the May Day holiday, Saturday was a regular work day. Mark had 4 classes. He had arranged for me to speak to them. I told them about life in America; my impressions of China; and let them ask questions. They seemed fairly interested in what I had to say.
We rode a bus to People�s Square. Mark and I ate lunch at a KFC in People�s Square. We went with Mark�s friend Ruth, and another friend of Ruth�s. The portions of Chicken are very small. However it seemed to fill me up. We decided to go shopping along Nanjing Road. After a while Mark and I lost contact with Ruth and her friend. They seemed to be more interested in looking at clothing. I got a few neckties and teapots at about a $1 each.
Mark and I decided to go to the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower. We took a subway to the Pudong part of Shanghai where the tower is located. We decided to go to the second section of tower. It cost 50 Yuan. I paid for Mark�s part. After we got into the tower we had to go through security. They told us to lay our bags on the x-ray machine. Mark tried to explain that the teapots in the bag were delicate, but the security personnel didn�t seem to listen. After he set the bag containing the teapots on the x-ray machine, we heard a loud thud as they were coming out. We later found that one of the teapots had been cracked when it landed on the table where the x-ray machine was. Why there was so much security for the Pearl Tower, I�ll never know.
We rode the elevator up to the 2nd level. The tour guide gave her spiel in Chinese and in English. The Chinese version seemed much longer and much more detailed than the English version.
At the top of the tower you could get a good view of Shanghai. The view was a bit obscured by the smog of Shanghai. It seems environmentalism has not yet hit China yet. We walked around and looked at the view. If there had not been smog, you could have seen all of Shanghai.
I purchased some postcards at the gift shop. Mark said that postcards were difficult to find in Shanghai.
There was an area which you could actually go outside and look at the view. We walked around for a few minutes before going down the elevator again.
I purchased some AA batteries for my digital camera at a store at the base of the tower. We then went to Nanjing Road for a bit more shopping. We got caught up in a massive rainstorm. Everyone was waiting outside of the stores waiting for the rain to dissipate. At one time or another I noticed a Chinese soccer uniform in one of the stores. I thought this would be a great souvenir for myself. I looked at the department store where it was displayed, but I was unable to find it. I set a goal for myself to try to find one before leaving Shanghai.
I was pretty worn out by the time we went back to the guesthouse, so I went back to my room for a some sleep. I did go up to Mark�s room and knocked on the door. Mark was in the middle of an important phone call. After about an hour, Mark came to wake me up to discuss plans for Sunday. He gave me the choice of visiting a city which had a lot of gardens or a city with canals like Venice. I choose the city with canals (Zhou Zhaung) since I had already seen a few gardens while in Shanghai before. We were set to go with Ruth who had originally accompanied us to Pizza Inn.
One of Mark�s former students, Eva, stopped by. She had remembered me from visiting last year. She had left me a bookmark as a present the day before. I told her we were going to Zhou Zhaung and that she was welcomed to come along. She said she would think about it and get back with us. After a few minutes she said she would go with us.

Woke up at 4AM. My early rising may have been due to my jet lag. I sat around and watched Chinese television for a while. At around 6AM I walked around campus and watched people. Lots of people were carrying around large colorful thermoses of hot water or tea.
I knocked on Mark�s door. He didn�t seem to be up yet, so I walked around some more. At around 7AM Mark finally answered the door. I tried to get online to email home via Mark�s laptop, but I was unable to. This proved to be an ongoing problem with internet access throughout my stay in China.
Mark�s classes watched Disney�s Mulan. Mark had gotten a Japanese VCR to use with the VHS video tape from America. I had not seen Mulan before. Two classes were combined in the same classroom to watch the movie.
After the first session I decided to go out on my own to the streets of Shanghai. I took my cameras to make pictures. I discovered that my 35MM camera had a low battery. I never use the camera since I use my digital camera almost exclusively. I was a bit anxious to see if I could find a battery for it. I walked back to Mark�s classroom. His class was busy watching Mulan again so I motioned for him to come out into the hall. He said that we could try to look for a camera battery this afternoon.
I decided to head back to my room to rest and wait for Mark to get back at 11:30. I watched an American cop show dubbed in Chinese. Everyone was carrying guns which seemed to solidify the stereotype that most Chinese think that Americans all carry guns around. Surprisingly I also saw a video of Billy Ray Cyrus. I also saw an advertisement for Pentium 4 with the Blue Men.
While I was waiting, the cleaning ladies came in to make the bed and to change the towels.
Nearer toward the time when Mark was supposed to get back, I went upstairs to knock on his down � no answer. I waited out on the top floor and saw him. I shouted to him and he waved back.
Mark said that we could go to Pizza Inn for lunch. He said that one of his students would be accompanying him. It was Ruth, but a different Ruth than what we had met before.
The pizza at Pizza Inn was okay. It had that slight Chinese oily taste to it. When they brought the cokes to us, I noticed they had placed lemons in the glasses of the cokes. While in Pizza Inn I noticed there was a TV playing music videos. The videos I saw showed groups like New Kids on the Block, Whitney Houston, and Destiny�s Child � �Survivor.� We had about 3 pieces of pizza leftover. Mark requested a �to go� box.
We rode the bus back to the school. Before I left for China, Mark had told me that haircuts were extremely cheap in China. So I decided to let my hair grow out and get a haircut in China. We checked with the barbershop on campus. They were busy with several other people, so we decided to try to find a battery for my camera. We walked to a Kodak store near school. Surprisingly they had the batteries available. I purchased 2 for my camera.
We went back to the barbershop for my haircut. The male barber cut my hair. Mark had requested a shampoo for me also. After my haircut, the lady put shampoo in my hair and began rubbing my head. She rubbed it for a good 15 to 20 minutes adding a bit more shampoo ever so often. It was very relaxing. Just about the time when I was getting tired of it, she asked me to go to the sink to rinse.
We went to Mark�s room to try to get on the internet so that I could email home. We were unsuccessful. Instead I worked offline on my webpage. After feeling very relaxed I went back to the room to rest. Mark and Paul arrived back at the room. Mark had arranged for Paul to take me to Xi�an during the May Day holidays. We were supposed to be planning the trip. Paul was also getting him to purchase a computer for him. Mark was purchasing it from a US company over the web since it was a lot cheaper in the US. Since Mark�s internet account seemed to be inaccessible, they used Paul�s internet account. For an hour they looked at options for computers and compared prices. I was able to update my webpage and email home using Paul�s internet account. I also emailed all my friends to let them know about my updated webpage.
It was getting to be suppertime Mark suggested we go to the Chinese version of Denny�s which was down the street from the school. It was raining and it was difficult to avoid stepping in puddles. I had dumplings at the restaurant. I had gone next door at the Lawsons to get a cola since they don�t serve cola at the Chinese Denny�s. During supper we discussed Chinese and American differences with Paul and Bund.
Mark, Bund, and I went to a study at a Hong Kong person�s house. It was located in a very nice gated apartment complex. We had to use the intercom system to call the resident to let us in. There was a doorman available for security purposes.
As we entered the apartment we took off our shoes. I was surprised to learn that taking off your shoes was also a Chinese tradition. I was under the impression that it was exclusively a Japanese tradition.
The apartment was furnished very nicely. When entering the apartment complex you really get a sense of forgetting that you are in China. Somehow you feel as though you are in America. This happened a few times while we were in China. CNN in English was on the television. I had thought that it would have been censored. The room had hardwood floors with a floor heater on it. I was glad to have the floor heater since my feet were still wet from walking in the rain.
At the study people from the Bahamas, Washington State, and Missouri were there. Afterwards we ate chicken wings. We took a taxi home. When we got back to the school we noticed that Paul was waiting in the lobby of the guesthouse. Mark and Paul set about to purchase the computer. I went to bed.

I woke up at 2AM and couldn�t sleep. After getting ready, I left for the airport at 3:40AM. I arrived at the Nashville International Airport at 4AM. My flight was scheduled to leave at 6:15AM. I had been told to arrive at the airport 2 hours before departure for international flights. At 4AM no one was at the United Airlines ticket counter. By about 5:15AM someone finally arrived at the United Ticket counter. A line of ticket holders had already formed.
After talking to the ticket counter representative, I was slightly aggravated to find out that I had one too many pieces of carry on luggage. While dropping off my mom for her trip to Hawaii the week before, I had asked the United Airlines personnel how many pieces of carry on luggage I was allowed. They stated 2. Unfortunately there was a misunderstanding. Two pieces were allowed for domestic flights, while 1 piece was allowed for international flights.
I had a fairly uneventful flight from Nashville to Chicago. I was a little cold during the flight and the stewardess offered me a blanket without me even asking. They passed out surveys to all passengers. I gave them high marks on my survey.
The flight from Chicago to San Francisco was uneventful. I had a conversation with the lady sitting next to me. She was going to San Fran on business. She seemed interested in my trip to China.
At the San Francisco airport I called home. My mom had made it back from her week long trip to Hawaii and I was anxious to talk to her.
The trip from San Francisco to Shanghai lasted 13 hours. An older American couple sat next to me. After seeing there were 2 empty seats in the row in front, the man moved up front. The Chinese lady who was already up front was slightly aggravated that he was taking a seat in her row. Eventually she moved to a completely different row. The other lady who had been sharing a row with me moved up to the same row as her husband. This left me to have the row of 3 seats completely to myself.
Unfortunately during these long flights, I am unable to completely fall asleep. Usually I just dose for a few hours.
As we descended onto Shanghai, I could see ships in the ocean. The water was unusually brown
Customs was no problem. I had already purchased my Chinese VISA (an absolute requirement when visiting China). Basically the customs proceedure consisted of the customs official looking at my VISA and my Passport; doing some typing on the computer and then stamping it.
I then retrieved my luggage. I waited around to see my friend Mark, who was supposed to be at the airport. He wasn�t there. After waiting around for 15 minutes, I decided to get in line for exchanging currency. I met a nice American couple who was visiting their daughter who was studying in a Chinese city.
After a while, Mark and his friend Ruth showed up. They had been stuck in traffic. Mark suggested I exchange $500 since I�d be using some of this money to buy a plane ticket to Xi�an. I got the best rate from my traveler�s checks. The regular dollars got a poor exchange rate.
We got on a hotel bus for our trip to Shanghai from the Pudong Airport. The bus cost was 20 Yuan which was much cheaper than the 200 Yuan that a taxi cab would have cost. While on the long bus ride I showed Mark a recent Time Magazine which he seemed to show great interest in.
After we arrived Ruth caught another bus to her apartment. Mark suggested we eat at the Chinese equivalent of a Denny�s since it is open 24 hours. I had a sausage and eggs sunny side up. Try eating that with chopsticks � it�s impossible! Since the restaurant didn�t serve soft drinks, I went next door to the Lawsons convenient store to get a Sunkist.
We arrived at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade and got a room for me at the guesthouse. My room was completely furnished like any American hotel room. I had my own bathroom and 2 twin beds. Also there was a TV set and water cooler. Mark said the water in it was probably safe to drink, but it was probably stale.
I spent part of the time in Mark�s room discussing plans. While there, I tried to recharge my camera AA batteries on Mark�s power converter. I later found out that this probably blew out my battery recharger due to different voltage specifications.
While in Mark�s room, I did receive a phone call from a friend whom I had met during my last Chinese trip. Her name was Eva. She was a former student of Mark�s. She remembered me. She was anxious to see me again.
After getting unpacked I tried to sleep. After about an hour, I went to Mark�s room. I was feeling a bit homesick and needed someone to complain to. The week before my parents had been away in Hawaii. I hadn�t seen them for a week and knew I wouldn�t be seeing them for the next week and a half. Also just days before I had found out that a friend of mine had an inoperable brain tumor. Prior to my departure I had visited her frequently in the hospital. I was feeling a bit guilty taking a vacation while my friend was in the hospital. Mark assured me that I would have a good time in Shanghai and that I should make the most of it.