Emei Shan Mountain

This is the first time I've been able to post in the past five days. Apparently, some computers block posting websites and others don't.

We left Beijing on Monday and traveled to Chengdu via train. The ride took about 30 hours. There are four classes of travel on trains in China. We traveled second class, which means that our tickets granted us a hard sleeper in a cabin where sleepers are stacked three high and 66 hard cots are jammed into one car. Fourth class travelers sit on hard chairs next to cargo for the entire ride. I can't complain. We met a few Chinese people who spoke a bit of English and taught me more Chinese. Nothing is more fun than meeting people who live a life entirely different than my own. The ride provided some breathtaking views of the countryside; it also provided a first hand look at the grating rural poverty that still defines the lives of so many Chinese farmers.

Chengdu is another bustling Chinese city. I can't figure out whether the population here is 13 or 4 million. Either way it's big, it's busy, and the traffic is crazy.

We left the next day to climb Emei Shan mountain. My time's up. More to come...