The Olson's Asian Adventure

About 10 years ago Amanda and I visited an exhibit at the Houston Museum featuring the Terracotta warriors.  It was cool, I loved the lesson, and I bought a book.  In Xian, we got to see the real thing.  We arrived in Xian at around 11pm and then got to our apartment around 12:30.  Everything takes longer than you expect especially when you don’t want it to. On this short trip to the apartment, the parking garage shutdown, the van died 3 times, and our guide seemed lost.  On the upside, Xian has a much cooler vibe than Beijing… Not sure what it was exactly; maybe cheaper, cleaner, friendlier… it just seemed nicer.  This apartment was a lot nicer too;  33% cheaper, nice view of the goose pagoda, and the landlord was great.  At first we thought the hot water was out, but that moment of despair was quickly reversed.  And, the AC worked like a champ.  The next morning, we started a bit late and didn’t really have breakfast… not...

I’ve been looking forward to this trip since we arrived.  The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and the Temple of Heaven are all spots that everyone knows about.  You see these sites in movies, advertisements, and cartoons.  In most of the world’s eyes, this is China.  The train left at 7am which is early considering we didn’t fall asleep until around 1am.  As a foreigner, you have to pick up your tickets at the train station counter with your passport as opposed to the kiosk for the Chinese nationals.  I was a bit worried we could have lines or trouble once we got there.  But, lucky for us, the lines were manageable and the tickets were easy.  All of our seats were near one another and so it made a nice, easy 5hr ride to Beijing.  The landscape between Shanghai and Beijing is pretty nice, but normally only accentuates the pollution problems in the country.  You find yourself saying, “the picture would be great ...