Day 84 Shanghai to Xi'an

Wednesday, rainy and gray. After an early breakfast, I stored my suitcase at the hotel and took a taxi to the Pudang Airport. Fantastic self-check in: Didn't matter what airline, just entered passport number. Coffee was expensive, but good. RT airfare to Xi'an, 40% of the way across China, was 140 USD, and that included a meal and FREE beverages. YOU HEAR THAT DELTA-NW?

The taxi experience was memorable. There is almost no English here, except for the hospitality people. The taxi driver and I invented a way to communicate. A sleeping head meant the hotel. 'Beijing Olympics' wasn't understandable, but Beijing and a drawn Olympic symbol, and a thumbs up brought a smile. Numbers seem to be universally understood. We agreed to a half day contract for a trip to the Terracotta Warriors the next day. Hotel check-in was no problem. Visa is universally understood. The hotel is a 5 star, and is nice. I ate in the 'western restaurant'. Ordered a garden salad and salami pizza. Salami was no longer available, so I settled for a cheese pizza, and took half of it to my room for the second night.

The air standards here are lower than in Shanghai. The air is yellow-brown now in the winter, and the visibility is low. I have not used an inhailer since I was a child, but I was wishing I had one here. Took antihistamine and decongestant. I start reading Thunder Bay, a story from my home state.