Bullet Train & The Great Mosque of Xi'an

Ohhh bullet train.  How I love you so.  You turn an 18 hour trip into a 5 hour trip and the ride is so very smooth.  I spent my time walking around, playing some cards, watching an Australian or South African freak out about the lack of green tea available, and torturing my peers with endless slow-motion video production.  I am sorry.  I just found that feature and dammit, it is the coolest thing ever.  I will write a post soon and share my creations.  It will be all slowwwwwwww mooooooooowwwwwwww.

So my morning started out with a little run on our last morning in Beijing.  I have to say, the first time I saw the neighborhood I was a bit hesitant.  It is natural to fear a new surrounding to an extent, but what I found was a neighborhood full of life, family and tons of fun.

So here are my last parting shots of Beijing: 

 This man is tired, very very tired.

 Parking is interesting around here.  Park where you can find room.

 Lots of people ride to work together and chat along the way.  I totally wish I had one of these to ride into school.

 This was our driver the entire week we were in Beijing.  His shirt, Unleash The Beast was a favorite of all of ours.  He was crafty and very good.  Patient most of the time and most skilled with fitting a large bus into the smallest of areas.

 Off to the train station to head to Xi'an, our next destination.

 Yes, kids here are the same.  I smiled as I looked at them thinking of Gavin and his buddies who do the same exact thing.

 Ida is my photography partner and we seem to find ourselves behind the group most of the time or rushing to catch up.  We are interested in many things.

 Bullet train!!!! 

Luggage racks were quite interesting.  They filled up fast.


Outside the world goes by pretty quick when you are going

We met our guide for Xi'an. He was born the year of the Tiger so his name is Tiger. He has a great laugh. The man is a machine. He can do 5 things simultaneously. All while on his cell phone. 

Xi'an is a "small" city of about 8 million people.  It is one of the oldest cities in China with a history of over 3,000 years. It was the capital city for 13 Chinese Dynasties including Zhou, Qin, Sui, Han and Tang Dynasties. Xi'an is the starting point of The Silk Road and home of Qin Shih Huangdi's Terracotta Army. Yay me!!! I cannot wait to see the army. As a world history teacher, it is something I have always wanted to study closely. #nerdalert

Power lines are interesting around here.wow.

Xi'an was the first city in China to be introduced to Islam.  The city has about 50,000 Muslims and is home to seven mosques, the most famous being The Great Mosque. 

 On the way to the Great Mosque of Xi'an we passed through a huge market.  The food and smells were quite a sight to see and experience. 

Heading to the mosque through these small passageways was chaos. Spaniards in the crowd got mad at us and were yelling a bit.  About what I will never know. 

The Great Mosque of Xi'an is the oldest and one of the most famous mosques in China, founded in 742.  The majority of the mosque that stand there now was not really built up until the Ming Dynasty and expanded greatly under the last Chinese dynasty, the Qing.

It is quite something when you can actually touch history with your own hands.  The mosque is over 1300 years old.  The fan in hand is a must when touring around.  A lot of us have one.  The weather here is a bit different from Beijing, seems hotter but drier.  Or maybe not as much pollution is covering the skin with a gross film.  I don't know.  We just got here, so we'll see.

As evidenced in the photo above, the architectural style is definitely Chinese.  This is unlike any mosque I have seen or studied about.

I thought a lot about my Somali, Kenyan and Djiboutian students today. They would love to see this place. 

It is still used by the Hui people, who are Chinese muslims.

Me and Margey, artist extraordinaire. 

  The colors in the market that surrounds the mosque are beautiful.