Wednesday, August 1

Ni Hao!

I can't believe it's already August--this summer has flown by.

We're now in Xi'an. We left Beijing on Monday evening, after a 5-hour delay. Needless to say, it was a long wait in the Beijing train station. Several of our group purchased the new Harry Potter book, so that kept them busy.

The overnight train ride was great. We had private, soft-sleeper cars (2 persons to a berth), so it was very comfortable. We arrived in Xi'an at about 10:30a.m. and immediately took our private bus to the hotel, which is lovely. After a shower and rest, we went for lunch to a famous restaurant specializing in Xi'an dumplings. In the afternoon, we visited the old city wall, built 600 years ago. Xi'an, a city of 8 million, is the only city in China with an intact city wall. Preston, Colin, Katie, Cassey, Julie and Jenny rode bikes around the entire city wall, about an hour-long bike ride, which they made in 45 minutes. The remainder of the group walked around and rested.

After visiting the city wall, we were taken to the Muslim market. This is a famous area of Xi'an where Muslims settled many years ago. We walked the streets lined with outdoor eating establishments and markets. We returned to the hotel at 5:30p.m. and spent the evening resting.

This morning we enjoyed our first American breakfast. This afternoon we'll visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and tonight we're going to the Tsang Dynasty Show. Tomorrow we'll see the Terra Cotta Soldiers and the museum. We're learning so much about Chinese culture and history, which is important as we work to relate with the Chinese people. We're better able to understand their thinking and the concerns they have.

We're looking forward to the remainder of the week, which we will spend in a country village working with a Christian orphanage.

Again, thank you for your continued prayers. The Lord is faithful, and He continues to provide for us. I've posted a few new pictures below. I'm slowly collecting pictures from everyone's cameras, so I'll post more tonight.

Blessings on you all. ~~Wayne