We've made it to Xian

I am now writing from Xian, the ancient capital of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties of China! It looks like every other big city I've seen, but the weather is nice and my hotel is extraordinary. We arrived about an hour and a half ago from Beijing by sleeper train. The experience on the train was phenomenal (our four person cabin watched the Godfather part II for the first leg of the journey), although we were slightly disappointed by the absence of the promised "dinner car". Water, a canister of Chinese pringles, and chocolate was the entree a la carte for the evening. Hope the morning finds you all doing well.

Zach

June 8, 2011, from the PRC