Shanghai-ed

So, I think this blogs must be terribly boring without photos to accompany them, but here's another update- pictures are soon to come (hopefully).

We left northeast China last monday. We were sad to leave- we had connected with some great people there and saw a part of China that few others have. It felt like home, with the blend of Chinese and Korean culture in the area. We were still able to use our Korean to communicate- which was great.

Unfortunately~ ;) ~ the trains out of our little town were all booked up for about a week, so witht the help of a new friend we were able to get a great deal on tickets to Shanghai- which saved us from a 48 hour train ride, bummer. Shanghai was a great city- filled with such a strange blend of cultures and influences. And for those of you who just do not feel like changing out of your pjs-- move to Shanghai and you can freely where your pjs whenever and wherever. Apparently it use to be a sign of affluence- only the wealthy could afford pajamas.

Anyways, Shanghai was great- we saw some cool gardens, went up the 101 building, which is brand new and has the world's highest observatory on the 100th floor, took a day trek to a water village (basically a chinese venice, just on a smaller scale-- pretty sweet place. There are alot of these towns in the area, we went to the little village that Mission Impossible III was filmed in), met old friends, saw a acrobatics show, and generally just played the part of tourist. I was amazed at how comfortable the city felt to me-apparently Seoul prepared me well for the crowds. . .

We took the train out of Shanghai to Xi'an on Saturday, arrived Sunday morning, checked in to the hostel, and immediately jumped on the tour that was heading out to the Terracotta Soldiers. The soldiers were, well, strange. Its beyond me how someone would think its okay, even good, to spend 40 years and use thousands of people to build a lifesize army- though I suppose that's better than actually burying his army with him, as apparently the king originally wanted to do.

After the tour I wandered around the city- Sunday was a holiday for the Chinese- mid-autumn festival- it envolves hanging out with fam, looking at the full moon, and eating moon cakes. It was fun to watch all the families out and about- people playing ping-pong in the park, exercising on the park exercise equipment, playing badminton- Asia has great parks for their communities!

The plan for now is to stay in Xi'an for another night, then head somewhere new. That's the update for now. Hope all is well with you!