Xining - 28 May 2014......

I arrived in Xining this morning about 9.15 am. Xining is an historical town in western China who’s name “xining” literally means "Peace in the West” or something similar. It has a mixture of Tibetan, Chinese and Muslim communities and is a city of around 2-3 million. Although it is obvious it is expanding quickly as everything seems new.

The nice people at the LETE Hostel I am staying at arranged for me to be picked up from the train, which was a great help. The room is very nice and reasonable. I even have my own washing machine (which seems to be working) and little kitchen.

I haven’t really ventured out yet, just getting affairs in order. However I have cancelled from train ticket from here to Xian in two days time and got a cheap flight instead. 11 hrs train Vs 1 hr flight. After the last train trip, I need a break from trains. One of the fun bits of the last train was to go to the dining car, I needed to shuffle past 2 sleeper carriages and the step over a multitude of bodies all sprawled out over another 4 seat only carriages. Running this gauntlet was no end of fun and amusement. I wimped out and went for a flight on next leg. Plenty more train action down the track.

Couple of pics of view from rooftop café at Hostel Lete this morning.