From Xi’an to Beijing

08/10/13 

Our time in Xi’an has come to an end and while I’m not too thrilled about going back to work (educating future world leaders/taxi drivers can be a bit of a pain) I am excited to get back to our “normal” life in Beijing which, despite my initial reservations, is a pretty great city to live in. We found Xi’an busy, dirty, smoggy, smelly and generally quite unpleasant. It had its saving graces, namely the Muslim Quarter, the City Walls and the Terracotta Warriors but I won’t be rushing back any time soon. It was a shame that our trip, the only holiday we’ll have in China was marred by illness but it did give us a chance to laze around, watching movies and if I’m being really positive, we didn’t eat properly for like five days so we saved loads of money!

When we woke up this morning we eagerly packed and prepared to leave Xi’an. We had a few hours to kill and after sitting in the lobby for a while we made our way to the shining golden arches of McDonalds. 

Everyone in Xi’an seemed to be drawn to the golden arches too as the place was packed but not with customers. Every table was occupied but nobody was eating. It’s so weird but it seems to be the norm over here, people of all ages go to fast food restaurants, take up all the tables and just sit there. Some are on their phones, some are sleeping, some are engaging in serious PDA but they just sit there, looking at you as if you are crazy for wanting to sit down and eat the food that you, as a genuine patron of this fine fast food restaurant, just purchased. It drives me crazy. As does the staring. Dear China, I am a westerner. I get it. You don’t need to look at me all the time. I would say take a picture, it’ll last longer but you already do that! Eugh. Rant over. 

After our not so relaxing lunch we took the subway to Xi’an North Railway Station but of course, it’s not actually called that on any of the maps. Instead we just had to hope we were headed in the right direction! Thankfully we arrived at the station in one piece and it didn’t take long to find our train, which was a real achievement as everything is in Chinese because who cares about tourists, not China, that’s for sure! 

Six short hours later we had travelled 1216km (715miles) and were finally back in Beijing. We managed to grab a taxi but after loading us in the car he disappeared, only to return with another passenger. We thought this was odd but nothing prepared us for him driving up to every person he saw and asking if they wanted to get in too! After dropping off his first passenger he left us home and while it was nice having a break I can honestly say I am glad to back in our apartment, stinking bathroom and all!