Post-Beijing Blog (the first of many)

I've now been home from my Beijing trip for more than a week, so this is me finally getting around to starting blogging about it. I will do a separate post about each place we went to, but that may take a few days. I mostly just wanted to post something to let ya'll know that yes, I am alive, and I will get to posting more.

First of all, here is my group. In the picture we are at the Zhongshan train station all ready to set off.

From left to right, there are Lindsay, me, Savannah, Ashlee, and Rachael. Everyone is my roommate except Ashlee, who is my honorary roommate. They are all awesome.

Statistics:

Length: 12 days/11 nights

Stops: Guangzhou, Yellow Mountains, Beijing, Xian

Total cost of the trip: US$480

The cost covered:

12 days worth of food

7 nights at hostels (the other nights were on trains)

7 train rides covering a total of approximately 6,000 km

Transportation around the cities (buses, metros, taxis)

Entrance fees to various sites

Souvenirs

I went slightly over-budget, which was not surprising, considering how small my budget was, but this is still amazingly cheap compared to what I would pay for a similar vacation in the states.