Day 122: Xi'an, Shaanxi Province

With my body feeling like an old man, I could barely peel myself out of bed. We spent most of the day resting and walking around our neighborhood in Xi'an. That afternoon, we made our way to some governmental building, that the hostel recommended, in an attempt to extend my Chinese visa to obtain a double entry. Once we got there the building was lined with Chinese children, I assume trying to get a visa to study out of the country? Regardless, we were able to get past the line because I am not Chinese. It is amazing with how much you can get away with by being a westerner. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a dual entry added to my visas.

Not much happened today, we just got our train ticket settled for tomorrow to Beijing; I am really excited, it is one of the fast trains, so we are going to be getting from Xi'an to Beijing in 5 hours vs. 12 hours on a normal train. Could you imagine an intracit rail system in the US? I would much prefer to take a fast train to California or NY rather than spend all the time/money flying and dealing with the TSA or driving and pouring money into gas and parking. How about a quick train ride from Columbia to Charleston? I'd be there all the time!

That night, Joseph and I met two girls from Amsterdam who are headed to Beijing tomorrow. Hopefully we get to all meet up when we get there.