Of dumplings and odoriferous regrets

Over night on the train on my comfortable (and enviable) air mattress and we are in Xian, China.
Xian is a beautiful walled city that also happens to be the home town of our guide.

After checking in to the hotel, our first order of business is a walk in the Muslim market.

The market is full of smells, people, food, and merchandise. All manner of Things can be bought here but we choose to stick with the food. So much food was consumed from persimmon cakes to so many dumplings and so much meat on a stick. I don't know what half the meat was but since it was from the Muslim market I know it wasn't anything strange or what we would keep as a pet. Everything was cooked right in front of you over open flame/in hot oil. It was fresh, fast, and cheap. And delicious.

It also smelled.
Hundreds of stalls cooking hundreds of dishes over open flame/in hot oil, some smog, and a lack of garbage cans, plus the fact that everyone here in China smokes, and things smell. I regret not bringing a Safeway bag to put my clothes in. The clothes I wore this day managed to stink up everything else in my bag.

We discovered an interesting cross-cultural translation.
Washroom.
Team Canada needed to find a washroom as we were making our way back to the hotel.
A member of Team Australia overheard and asked if they could put some clothes in too.
Team Canada wanted to pee.
Team Australia wanted to do laundry.
Only Team Canada came out as winners on this day.

Our group split up at night. 2/3 of Team USA, 1/2 of Team Canada and 1/4 of Team Australia went to a cultural show.
There were dumplings.

So many dumplings.
They were served with a traditional alcohol I didn't get the name of. It was warm, smelled like yeast but tasted like cider. I think it could also cure blindness.

We were treated to several acts of dancers telling the story of the Tang dynasty, ancient rulers of China in the ancient capital of China. It was very well done. The screen behind the performers was an LED screen and kept changing with each story.

Next: Well, there are girl horses and there are boy horses....

Animal killing room

After Forbidden City, we took the Metro in Beijing for the first time.
If there is anything I love, it is an efficient transit system. Beijing has this in spades. It is clean (remarkably so), safe and not near as crowded as you would think. Signs are in English and Chinese and the maps are clearly displayed with obvious YOU ARE GOING THIS DIRECTION marks on them. On the actual trains, the stops light up on maps above the doors so you know what the next stop is. There are many hand straps to hold on to (you're probably not getting a seat unless you're old or pregnant).

We are lead to a Peking duck restaurant. I've never had any kind of duck so I don't know what to expect.
Inside the restaurant, we're lead further and further back, through at least three hallways and up a set of stairs. Initially I think they're putting us in the back because we're a large group but all of the rooms we pass seem more than capable of holding large groups. It dawns on me that we're being put in the far back because we are a large group of white people. Interesting.

In case you're wondering, yes that is the head of the duck on a plate in front of me. Brains, beak and all. Can you guess what I did not eat?
The meal was an excellent birthday meal. I may or may not have duck again.

The Temple of Heaven is very crowded.
In China, the mandatory retirement age is 60 (55 for women). That's still very young and people are left with nothing to do while they receive their pension. You can't go back to work, or do any kind of work (go to the family farm, for instance). Old people are left to gather wherever they can in order to pass the time.

Lining the path leading to the Temple grounds, people gather to play card games, dominoes or any number of games. There are a lot of people, everyone happy and having fun.

 We arrived a couple of hours before sunset. I've never really understood why it is called the "Golden Hour" until this trip. Not just because of how the sun reflected off the copious amounts of gold paint used, but how the light made the other colours pop.

In a lot of the parks/public places we go, we see people practising Pai Da, a form of Tai Chi. This is really interesting to watch - there is some kind of chant element to it and the tapping. It reminded me of line dancing!

Tonight we get on an aptly named night train.
I had done my research ahead of time to understand what "hard sleeper" meant. Me not getting a good night's sleep affects everyone. I purchased a Sea to Summit UltraLight Mat and I am glad I did. It blows up and deflates quickly, is very comfortable and is basically an inflatable  spring cell mattress. It rolls up to the size of a water bottle and weighs almost nothing. (I'm not being paid by them, I just really love the product).

On the train we are divided in to compartments. Howard divides us up into teams and does his best to keep people travelling together, together.
Sonia, Renee, Jackie and I are put in one car and are called Team Canada.
Ash from Team Australia remarks that we can talk about bacon and maple syrup all night. I reply that Team Australia can throw another shrimp on the barbie.

Team Canada does not talk about bacon and maple syrup.
After we stack our snacks on the table in the compartments (there are six bunks in a compartment with three bunks. The top bunks are occupied by Chinese travellers who basically ignore us. I don't know how this is possible because we are rather loud! Everything is funny.
The trains have an aisle with folding tables on the wall. People are sitting here and texting, doing whatever on their phones, reading, writing, and so on. The compartments don't have a lot of floor space, so Jackie is sticking her ass in the aisle each time she gets something out of her backpack (frequently for the first half an hour). There is a Chinese guy checking out her ass each time and we're laughing about it.
At one point, there is a hunt for a western toilet. One is found but the sanitary conditions are not ideal. Jackie asks her mother for the wipes for her face, "and also for your genitals". Apparently, the ones for your face cannot be used on your genitals because they say "face" on them and not "genitals". The genital ones don't say "genitals" either but that's not the point. Over the course of our laughter, genitals turns to "petunia" and stay there for the rest of the trip.

16 hours later, we arrive in Xian, China.