Flying to X’ian

October 3rd, 2011
This morning I woke up at 3:30 a.m. My driver met me at the back gate at 4:30 a.m. It was dark and I was tired but excited. I got to the Beijing airport at 6 a.m. It made me appreciate the fast train. I have become spoiled with the public transit. Nevertheless, on my way I cat napped for 15- 20 minutes and arrived one hour and a half later at the Beijing airport.

Before boarding the plane, I had a nice hot cup of coffee. That woke me up. The nonstop flight with Air China departed at 7:15 a.m. The service was great and the seating was spacious and comfortable. I continued reading Wild Swans. Finally, I arrived in X’ian at 9 a.m.

Curb to curb traffic

The day was just beginning (so much to see, so much to do). Then I boarded a bus to the downtown core with my traveling companion Al. We took the bus that flew down the highway like a sports car. I laughed in nervousness the whole way. I couldn't believe the traffic which only added to the poor air quality.  Al and I debated as to whether the “foggy” air was mist or pollution. It was rainy on our first day, which added to the cloud cover. We finally agreed in the end that in fact we were both right; there was some precipitation with a whole lot of pollution.

Solar power units on top of apartments

On my way to the Youth Hostel, I saw many buildings with solar power on the roofs. The solar power units were not at all attractive, but they were functional nevertheless. The effort to make the air cleaner was noted. The traffic was atrocious, however. Traffic congestion was everywhere during the Chinese holiday. The traffic was laden with curb to curb cars, trucks, bikes, scooters, trikes and even people.

What a great concept...

The bus finally stopped and we boarded a taxi and made our way to the first youth hostel. I sat in the back of the cab. In front of me was a touch screen TV. I watched trailers of upcoming movies, watched advertisements of local business, and read, saw and heard about upcoming city events. There is a potential business there for Toronto and other big city cabbies. Anyone want a partner? (Lol) Finally we arrived at the Youth Hostel. It was 10:30 a.m.