Xiling Adventure

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a few days.

On Thursday, January 29th, Kevin, Gloria, Emma, Jared and I set on our journey to Xiling mountain. Gloria, Emma and I took one taxi and the guys took another one to the bus station.
We all met up at the bus station around 8 am and the bus was scheduled to leave at 8:40 am.

Leaving Chengdu



We were on the bus for about 2 hours. We had originally wanted to book a hotel outside of the park that was pretty far away. Since we had to pay to get into the park and we didn't know how long the tickets were good for, we instead decided to go to a tourist center and see if we could find a hotel in or near the park.

Once we arrived to Xiling

The tram that took us up the mountain




We walked into a tourist information center and another guy (we assumed he was a travel agent) told us that he had already booked a room in a hotel in the park but the people weren't going to show up, so he could get us the room. He then told us that in order to get into the park, we would either have to pay 220 kuai for the park entrance and the tram ride up the mountain (after an approximate 2 hour wait) or 160 kuai for just the park entrance and instead hiking up the mountain ourselves for two hours. We were a little unsure about the whole thing, but decided to trust the guy and we all bought the tickets for only the entrance and decided to hike up the mountain. Once we entered the park, Emma and I were lagging behind because Emma was sick and I felt bad for her. We had all of our stuff with us and it was really warm, so the walk was getting more and more difficult as time went on. My book bag was getting heavy and I was getting really hot. Maybe a quarter of the way up and a half hour later (with frequent stops), Emma decided that she was too sick and wasn't going to be able to do it. I didn't know what to do, so I told her she should take the tram and that I would probably continue walking.

Walking up the mountain

The entrance of the park and the LLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGG line for the tram





She said she didn't want to go alone, so I accompanied her and we walked down to the entrance of the park. We told the people there that Emma was sick and that she had to take the tram up. One guy took our tickets and wanted some form of ID. We gave him both things and he wrote our name and something on the tickets. We then went to buy the tram tickets (Emma paid for mine) and on our way there bumped into the travel agent again. He said he couldn't get ahold of Kevin and wanted us to call him because the guy at the front desk of the hotel didn't speak any English so Kevin was supposed to call some number. Anyways, I went to go stand in line while Emma talked to the guy and called Kevin. She then joined me and we stood in this ridiculously long line for about 2 1/2 hours.

Waiting in line for the tram

The line. The red building is where we needed to go, so that gives you an idea.
The line and security guards. We started talking to one of them after these people were complaining that they were getting cut off. We felt sorry for the security guard because he had to be there from 8 am to 10 pm, listening to people complain.

You can tell how happy I am to wait, having people push up against me.


The tram!! There were a total of about 6 like this and about 10000 people in line. You do the math.


This girl had really cool and colorful hairclips.

Getting closer!
Finally in the building!



We got in line around 12:30 or 1 and my watch said 3:20 when we finally got in.


Emma really excited about being on the tram!


The building and the line as we were leaving it.

The ride up





Once we finally arrived to the park and got off the tram, we still had to take a bus to our hotel. So, once again, we had to wait in line, but this time it was much shorter. The bus was packed to more than its limit and Emma and I had to stand with most of the crowd. The ride was so curvy it almost felt like a rollercoaster. When the bus stopped, everyone got off. Our hotel, Maple Hotel, was right by the bus stop. So, Emma and I went in and looked for our room, which was 506. We walked to the 5th floor, knocked and Gloria, Jared and Kevin were already in the room waiting for us.

Once we got off the tram. The long line is for people waiting for the tram to go down the mountain.


Waiting for the bus.The hotel

The lobby

The lounge area
The ceiling had all these cool red umbrellas hanging off of it


Once Emma and I dropped off all of our stuff, Jared, Gloria and Kevin wanted to go to the top of the mountain to do some hiking so we went to the tram that goes to the top. We found out that it was 80 kuai to ride the tram and instead decided to do a little tour of the resort.

The tram


Tour of the resort

Some of the hotels




Sliding down the snow


Snowman!!!


Hot Air Balloon


Dog sledding


Video: Dog sledding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UlPSwYNLQ4

Rides


Skiing

A guy that got stuck in the net. :)

Video: Skiing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pnV24yj1-g


Lounge
Teletubby (without his head)

His head!




A Chinese girl and I


The Great Wall made out of snow





People were riding down it

Food

After walking around for a little while, we decided that we were hungry since we didn't have lunch, so we went to a restaurant around 5:30 pm.

In the restaurant for dinner




Video: Outside of the restaurant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR7iFwpLMA4

Once we finished dinner, we returned to our hotel and wanted to play cards. However, Emma and Kevin were already tired, so they wanted to get ready for bed. So, since we only had two beds and five people, we pushed the beds together. Jared, Gloria and I went downstairs to see if there was anything to do, but we couldn't find any sticks or balls for the pool table and someone was already using the ping pong table. We all returned back to the room, talked for a little while, and then got ready for bed around 8:30. We realized at that point that our hotel room sucked though, because we didn't have ANY hot water or heat in the room. So, none of us took an actual shower and we just brushed our teeth and changed. We were pretty angry because we had payed 680 kuai for the room! Nonetheless, we were all in bed by 9:30. It was really weird to go to bed that early, but we were all really tired and we wanted to get up at 7 am the next day.

Pretending to be asleep (Kevin slept on the crack and I slept next to Emma, the one with the purple jacket on her)