a photoless update

Greetings! I can't upload any photos right now but will give you all on update. I have covered a lot of ground since my last posting. A special thanks to my good friend Kyle for riding his bike to Canada from Florida. People like Kyle make me feel a little less guilty about the tons and tons of carbon I have released by jet-setting around the world. Remember, we are all in this global warming thing together and we can't go around pointing fingers.

Back to my update.

After being turned away by authorities in Gansu, I went over to Lanzhou and then down to Xi'an-- the former Chinese capital during some of the dynasties. One of my former students goes to school in Xi'an so I was able to catch up with her and some of her friends. The most amazing thing about Xi'an- it has a wall. Yes, a wall around the city to keep out intruders. It's a big wall too (check back for photos). Oh, and there is a moat which I think is absolutely insane. Xi'an is also famous for the Terracotta warriors which I was able to see. I took a bus out to see them and to be quite honest they are pretty well represented by photos, nevertheless there is something amazing about being in the presence of these 2000 year old delicate life-size statues.

From Xi'an I took a train to Chengdu, Sichuan. People in Chengdu are famous for being lazy. They like to sit around and drink tea and play Mahjong. I was very excited and it didn't disappoint. I found a great place to stay run by a couple from Singapore and Japan. It was the first time I had found good company on my trip as well. I spent the better part of a week there with 3 lads from Ireland, some Israelis, and a few stray Englishmen. One day I ventured out to see the Giant Pandas at a nearby breeding center. In the style of the Sichuanese, the Pandas eat bamboo for 1 hour a day and then sleep the rest. They're quite playful for that one hour though. I also caught up with a former student at nearby Sichuan University, one of the best schools in China.

It was a proper vacation in Chengdu. So proper that I lost track of time and started to worry about making it to Laos before my visa expired. I decided to play it safe and flew to Shenzen (birthplace of all of your iPods) which lies on the border of Hong Kong. I made it to Hong Kong on my 89th day in China. I was allotted 90.

Hong Kong's a seedy place and I am eager to leave.

Tomorrow I fly to Singapore where I plan to stay for a few days and then catch a boat somewhere in Indonesia.