Beijing & Pingyao

Olympic Water Cube Swim Center

Then, made it to Pingyao. 13 hr night train from hell with no heat between 1am and 7am, no doors to block smokers in the between-car area, stinky bathroom... I would have taken a different train or gotten a sleeper if anything at the main station ticket office had been in English. That place was a zoo, totally bonkers.

Pingyao is a really cute city with an ancient wall all the way around it with watchtowers. Very 'Monty Python', nights of the round table, only very Chinese. The buildings are all small 1 story brick bungalows with a labyrinth of courtyards and funky interior spaces, exquisite woodwork and doors.

It's not as cold here as in Beijing. The only (deal breaker) downside is that the air is filthy. I don't want to breathe in deep, constant headache. It's like being around a campfire only 1000 x worse. Maybe it's bad because the houses are burning for heat, or burning trash... I need to leave China soon.

Tomorrow I'll go to Xian, and I'll look into flying to Shanghai. After Shanghai, I'm thinking I'll bag the rest of China and go hang out in the Philippines for a while. Then go to Hong Kong a few days before my flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. I've heard good things about all those places.

Otherwise, I'm safe, in a good hostel, had dinner and a shower, washing my clothes all the time.