So here's to NOT hiking the mountain

Li Shumin has always told us that there is a major difference in the people that live in the east and the people from the west. I am afraid that yesterday we discovered that difference for ourselves.
Mike and I tried to go to Mt. Hua Shan using the same system that we did to go to the Terra Cottas. We found a bus that was 33 yuan and hopped on. After 5 hours we arrived at this hotel near the Hua Shan mountain area, then the guy began explaining the Mountain to us and we realized that we were not where we wanted to be. In fact, we were near Dengfeng, which Mike and I are visiting in a few weeks. The guy was saying that you can only hike the mountain at night (our friends told us it was BETTER at night, but not required) AND that this hotel was the one we could stay at. As a funny side story, there was a German that was on the same bus as us, and he was really confused because he didn’t speak any Chinese, and he thought it was just a bus that drove you around for an hour! We explained to the Chinese guy that we all needed to go back very soon and we couldn’t stay but they took us to see a room and in the meantime our German friend left (wherever he went, I hope he is okay). After explaining again that we couldn’t stay (mind you all of this is in Chinese) they told us to eat lunch and then the bus would come back and we could go back to Xi’an. Mike and I ordered 3 dishes… fish, vegetables, and soup but this meal was the most expensive meal we have ever eaten in China.. totaling 179 yuan! This was outrageous for a Chinese meal, in fact it is the most expensive meal we have EVER had in China. We asked why it was that much, and she said that you buy fish by the jin (Chinese measurement, 1 jin is ½ a kilogram), and we had 4 jins…. More like they gave us 4 jins, they never even asked how many we wanted, nor did the menu say “per jin.”
In a situation like this.. in a rural area of China, it is best not to argue- just pay and leave. We left with most of our fish still on the table and decided to do some walking and find the train to take back instead of that bus.
We walked around the base of the mountain range and then asked some people how far away the train station is, they said we would have to hire a taxi. Since this is a small town, there were not any real taxis, but just people you have to bargain with to drive you somewhere (Yes, a black taxi; only ours was silver). This driver said 20 yuan, and Mike talked him down to 15 and we got in and went to the train station. On the way, the road was blocked by police and the driver automatically decided to play this crazy English CD. I am not sure if it was because of the police, or us, but none the less we listened to some crazy music. Upon arriving at the train station, we were ripped off AGAIN! We handed the driver 15 yuan and he told us it was 15 yuan per PERSON! A real taxi would have only cost about 12 yuan.. but there were none, and we just had to hand over our money and leave. We were just happy to be at the train station by 2:00 P.M.! We bought our tickets which were 60 yuan per person and had to wait until 8:00 P.M. so we decided to go to this temple that I saw while we were in the taxi. It is called Xi Yu and it looks very much like the Forbidden City, only there were not very many people there. Mike and I decided that this was the only good part of the trip, and we were happy that no one ripped us off there; in fact, we had a student discount making it only 10 yuan to go!
After the temple, we didn’t want to get ripped off again, so we just bought ramen and ate at the train station. Then, it took us an hour to get back by bullet train 
By the way, the difference between east and west China… (incase you didn’t catch on)
People have to be careful of being ripped off. In the east, people are better cultured but as you get farther west, the people are more likely to be farmers struggling to make it by. Most Chinese people would have known to ask “Do I pay for this per jin?” or “how much for 2 people?” Not only did we get ripped off because we are white, but also because it’s just what they do. All in all, the day didn’t cost us to much money (to go to the mountain with the hostel would cost 400 yuan per person). We will also have the chance to go to the mountain when we visit Deng Feng. From a different entrance, same mountain.

First half of Xi'an

Yesterday we arrived in Xi’an. We are staying at the Shuyuan hostel for 6 days, and it is a very nice place to stay. It is cheap and they have pets.  Since we have arrived it has been raining, so yesterday we just walked around the hostel and checked out the bar since it has free snacks 
The hostel charged 190 kuai (per person) for the Terra Cotta Warrior tour. Since Michael and I know enough Chinese to have an adventure.. so we decided to wing it and go on our own (it cost Mike and I 162 for both of us, plus 90 more for a souvenir) . We took the bus to the train station and just looked until we found a bus that had a picture of the warriors on it and then asked how much it would cost. It was only 7 yuan.. so we decided to get on. We were not sure which stop to get off on since the bus goes to many places… and we were the only foreigners on the bus, but we were quick to make friends with some Chinese that spoke broken English. With their broken English and our broken Chinese, we decided to go to a different museum first, and then to the underground pits. From the museum we took a taxi for one yuan per person (7 people), but it required a pit stop to look at souvenirs.. I think the driver was a little angry that we didn’t buy anything because that is how he makes money! Nevertheless, we finally ended up at the Warrior Pits, it was very interesting and we got to know our new Chinese friends very well… Well enough that Mike and I are preparing to go to dinner and maybe the bar with them tonight 
Wednesday June 9th
Since Mike and I were hanging out with new friends until late last night, we decided to sleep in today. It rained off and on all day so Michael and I decided to go to the Bell and Drum Towers as well as some shopping (only a little, we really hope we can bring everything home). Tonight we are going to the Tang Dynasty show! It should be very exciting and there is a buffet that comes with the show (the show cost 168 kuai per person through our hostel)

Central College is out for the summer.. finally

After struggling to finish a final paper for Modern Chinese Literature, I am happy to say that I am ready for some traveling! On Sunday Michael and I will leave to start 6 weeks of traveling.. We have decided to go to: Xi’an, Lhasa (Tibet), Huangshan, and Dengfeng.

Last night our Chinese language class had a dinner and then went out for a night on the town. It was good to see everyone again and we really enjoyed ourselves. As much as I am sad to leave them, I am happy that I have made connections and I now have an excuse to travel all over the world to meet up with old friends 

... and alas I find my love, twice

Today I am torn between two lovers. One of them told me that my hair and eyebrows are both very beautiful, and the other gave me a hug because it was the last day of my internship. As Pony hugged me and said “I love you much Ashley,” which is not an English phrase that I taught them.. but I replied “我也爱你“ (I also love you) which was the first time any of the kids have ever heard me speak Chinese. Literally, all of the kids stopped and started asking me a ton of questions in Chinese because they were shocked! As for the ages.. one boy (the first) is probably 3 and the other is 5.. but I don’t know which one to pick. I know that I have to stuff children in my suitcase to bring back for my friends.. but I think I will bring them all back for me. Sorry everyone, I decided to keep all of the boys for myself!