The Muslim Quarter

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August 28th, 2006 Capital Normal University, Beijing, China (OK)
As I arrived down in the lobby of the hotel this morning I noticed that our numbers had been reduced significantly. Apparently, the donkey I had enjoyed so much yesterday wasn’t what it seemed. Quite a few of the group had food poisoning and were feeling pretty bad so they were resting in their rooms while those of us healthy enough went out into the rainy day. My stomach had felt pretty bad the day before, but I don’t always notice when I’m sick. I went through four years of high school and all of college (so far) without having missed a day of classes. Perhaps I have a high tolerance for pain.
We made our way into an old section of Xian which was the Muslim quarter. We walked through small alleys and a marketplace which had not yet come to life for the day. We walked inside a gated wall which housed the mosque of the area. I thought it was pretty cool that the mosque was built in the style of the Forbidden City. The courtyard contained a beautiful garden. It was a tranquil spot and I sat down for a few minutes by myself. It’s good for me to be alone every now and then. I can be a bit of loner sometimes.
As we walked out, we found that the marketplace was now bustling. I immediately felt like I was in Jerusalem. The shops were set up in the exact same way, and the corridors and passageways of the place were extremely similar. The shop owners even pulled you into their stores the same way. I ended up buying a pipe. I collect pipes from many of the countries I go to, and this one was in the shape of a dragon. I spent quite a bit of time perusing the shops, enjoying the atmosphere of a busy marketplace. We had some downtime at the hotel before the entire group met at 12:15 for lunch. We ate at the first restaurant we had visited in Xian. Most of the group didn’t eat, but I was pretty hungry. Around twelve or thirteen of us walked down the street to the South Gate. I would love to have seen what all these monuments and buildings and structures looked like in their prime.
The drive to the airport took around forty minutes and the bus remained pretty quiet. People stumbled off the bus and we said goodbye to Willow, who had done an admirable job of leading a bunch of Americans around her city (or ‘citay’ as she would say). Security was uneventful (which is always good) and we were soon air-bound for Beijing. Annie and I made faces at each other across the aisle and people around us were tossing rolls and muffins to friends who didn’t get a whole meal. Even though Air China is possibly my least favorite airline on which I’ve flown, this last flight was a little more entertaining than the others.
We landed in Beijing a little before 7 and, once we gathered a few pieces of luggage from the baggage claim, we drove back to the university. A few people stayed on the bus to go eat dinner at a Chinese pizza place. As much as I really wanted to try it, I had already eaten on the plane and I had other things I needed to do, like wash more clothes in my sink. The others didn’t dry as well as I would have liked, so I hung the latest load of laundry out the window. I really hope they don’t fall during the night, because I can’t afford to loose my underwear.
I ran for the last time on the track outside the building. I’m not trying to be melodramatic or anything, but it is bittersweet to be leaving China. There is so much more I would love to see and do and am sad to be leaving (because I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back and hike the Great Wall!), but I am excited and ready to go to Australia. A second stage of the journey is about to begin.
We fly to Shanghai tomorrow and after a one hour layover, we fly twelve hours to Sydney. China has been absolutely amazing and I will be sorry to see this time end. Thankfully, however, more adventures are ahead.

PS. The Banpo Village was found in 1953 and not in the ‘70s. I was way off.
PSS For some reason, the Internet is moving very slowly, so I was only able to post one picture of this day on the blog. I'll do more when I get the chance.