today i walked around in xian, checking out the city and some of the main central sights. it was lots of walking but i saw the bell and drum towers, as well as the great mosque and some antique alley in the muslim corner.

i have to say that i really loved the muslim area of town, although i didn't see much of it. i think the appeal was in the change of scenery... the mosque was wonderful and it may very well be the best sight so far.

in the antique alley i got to practice my bargaining skills for the first time. i'm not very good, and i am pretty certain that i paid too much for everything. i think that i start too high, but so do they, and i feel that if i start where i think is fair the difference between the two prices would be so big it would be insulting. but i got an amazing snuff bottle down to Y40 from Y120... pretty good but not good enough i'm sure. it is a good one though, with monkeys and everything. i also got myself a necklace and postcards, so that i can finally send people some!

for dinner i had some meat on a stick, muslim style, covered in hot pepper flakes and ground cummin. yum! and thenm i had more dumplings... but for some reason they brought me 20 of them! it was way too much.

i have been trying to upload pictures for well over an hour but it doesn't seem to want to end and post. and now, i've just received an error message. so my whole plan to get pictures up on flickr is pretty much down the drain... boy i miss those japan connections!

i am still very tired and will soon go to bed. tomorrow francois, a french guy i met in beijing and have been sightseeing with, will be in town and so we'll get to check out the sights together. but i don't know when he gets here... it could be a problem!