Update from Xian and Pang Liu

The group has been busy going from Beijing to Xian to a small village called Pang Liu. The students took an overnight train from Beijing to Xian and immediately jumped into life there. They visited the Bai Hui Market where the local youth gather and shop. It is known to have every kind of normal and strange shop imaginable, with Chinese food and culture abounding. They also took a bike tour of the city, visited the local art market, and saw the Terracotta Warriors.

The next adventure had the group traveling via bus to the Pang Liu Village to begin their homestay portion of the trip. The students have spent the last few days getting to know their host families and the rest of the villagers, helping them plant crops, and teaching English at the local school. Each day the group had meals with their homestay families and evening activities with the local children and even learned some Majiang. Today was their last full day in the village and included a Majiang tournament, more volunteering at the local school and prep work for the village farewell party. Tomorrow the group will say goodbye to everyone and pack up for Cheng Du!

There are some great pictures from Beijing and Xian posted in the slideshow in the right hand column. Remember, you can click on the picture to view larger versions of them all.