Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Xinjiang

06/07/10
Last day of Beijing! We went to Gugong, the Forbidden City and saw the 3 Great Halls, they had such delicate, intricate jewellery. There's 9999 rooms in the Forbidden City! It was so incredibly hot that day so I joined the Asian Umbrella Colony and carried umbrellas around with mummy. I started getting a cold that day and I was really desperate so I wiped my booger on one of the Emperor's column - Mum insisted I take a photo!



I bought two duffle bags for when I go to Japan and OH MY I love Peking duck so much! Afterwards, while everyone was eating dinner, Bonnie (a family friend's daughter) and I went to a place where they sell cheap souvenirs. We had to be quick to go to the airport to Xinjiang.

I thought this ad looked funny
We were waiting for the plane and I was imitating how rude and noisy the market people are in Chinese and a man sitting next to us laughed at me. I was so embarrassed. We all got on the plane at 9:30pm.

At around 9:55 when it was due to take flight, they informed all the passengers that there was a mechanical problem with the plane so we would have to wait. After one hour we were all still sitting there and the electricity was then cut. It is now 3 hours that we're waiting but we've been sent outside to relax on the lounges.

They've now told us that they're sending us all to a hotel to relax as they fix the plane to wait for either 4 hours or hop on another at 7:30am. My family was at the back of the line to get assigned a hotel room. First I met Melbourne soccer players going to Sweden for a tournament, then we got split into pairs - I with my sister and we all got assigned the biggest room in the hotel. It was a massive suite, Jana and I showered and brushed our teeth and then we got a call saying that the plane is ready. Such a shame!
We finally boarded, with scare as well - seeing as the same plane was having problems, and turbulence for 1 hour at like 4:30 am was crazy. Mum was praying next to me, Jana was holding my hand and everyone was going insane on the plane.

Half of the queuing line..
My reaction to our suite
Our bedroom, that's only ONE of the rooms!
I seriously thought something bad was going to happen - I have never felt turbulence so bad. It was really chaotic on the plane, people thought the mechanical problem was playing up again. We got close to a group of Pakistanis that were here for one month planning developing country towns. 

We finally got to our friend's house and Jana and I went to sleep. We slept for 7 hours then I got locked in the toilet. It was hilarious, it took about 30 minutes of prying with a spoon for me to get out. We all got ready to go to the markets where the Xinjiang tribes and Russian, Arabian and Pakistani migrants all gather. Because this place we're at is at the border, its really strange thinking it is China because its so hard to explain. You see people and you think yeah I'm in China, and then you see other people and you think - I have no idea where I am. Because they look Asian but Arabian. And at the airport they asked me if I was from one of the Xinjiang tribes. 

In this place, onto of every Chinese character theres Xinjiang writing as well (which is very similar to Arabian) I think its so weird! 

This dude is Chinese... like WTF?!?!?!
Family and friends..


I said to family and friends that I'll pretend to act confident in my Chinese so they give us local prices and not foreign prices when we go to the market. Later on we found out that market is the  place that had the riot last year July so theres soldiers marching together everywhere.
My favourite Xinjiang food ever! Jana said I've probably eaten a whole lamb to myself in 3 days

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