Day 5 China

Day 5 was a transfer day as we left Beijing for Xi'an.  We had to leave our wonderful guide, Joan, behind but she saw us right onto the train...probably wanted to make sure we were really gone! The train ride was cool.  We were all in first class and Joan had gotten us Subway sandwiches (yes, from Subway) and chips and bananas for the train ride.  Tasted just like Subway but the bananas almost liquid inside.  Anyway, we headed south and at times we were traveling over 300 kmh.  That is about 190 mph!  Very smooth and quiet so you didn't realize you were going this fast.  The seats got uncomfortable after about 5 hours but the landscape is fascinating.  Lots of huge farms but more high rise buildings (we are talking 30 to 40 stories) in groups of 15 to 25 out in the middle of nowhere.  Apparently the government is eliminating a lot of the little villages and moving the workers into these centralized "cities".  We really don't see a lot of open countryside.  And the smog is no better here than in Beijing.

We get to Xi'an about 4:00 pm and meet Lee, our young hipster guide for the next two days.  He is wearing torn jeans and a Metallica t-shirt and looks 18.  Turns out he is 31.  Not married as he does not have the money yet for a house (translate that to apartment).  It turns out that the one child policy of the Chinese government over the past 30 years has produced a lot of boys and far fewer girls.  In the old days, boys were the preferred child as they could carry on the family name.  We all have heard the stories about girl children being left on hillsides to die.  We also all know someone with an adopted Chinese daughter as the Chinese would not let boys be adopted outside the country.  WELL, the worm has turned and now girl babies are preferred!  There are not enough young women for the young men and it is a sellers market here for brides.  If you are a young man and want to marry, you better bring a lot to the table.  Young women and their families expect a nice home, savings and a good car (preferably BMW or Range Rover).  The government has reversed their one-child policy and now will allow two.  There are lots and lots of very coveted , adorable little girls being toted around by proud daddies now.
 
Xi'an is a city of 7 million people in a provence of 38 million.  I thought the train station was in the middle of the downtown because there were hundreds and hundreds of high-rise buildings.  But that was only the beginning of the suburbs.  We traveled through hundreds and hundreds more of these buildings.  I felt like a bug in "A Bug's Life".  It took us 40 minutes of this to get to the city-center which, thankfully, had more diverse architecture.  We are at the Renmin Square Sofitel and the rooms are really nice.  For tonight only, I got my own room and I love it.  I don't know why but I am not asking any questions!  We had a cocktail party for a professor from the Northwest Agricultural Research University (her name was YU Ying - she said to call her Ying) and she was really informative.  UNL and her university have been trading students and cultural information for about 4 years and she really loves Nebraska.  We had some snacks (tasty but not enough for dinner) and wine (doled out in 2 tablespoon increments - I followed the server around like a puppy dog begging for more) then we were all free for dinner.  I ate with Nancy and Lois.  Both think the trip is going extremely well and I would have to agree.  I am learning a lot even though I will never remember it all or even some of it.

Hope all is well there.  We are having sunny days (but not clear with all of this smog) but it is cooooooold!