I arrived in Xining, which I will refer to as "Xilang" since that is the way I referred to it to my Tibetan friends during my journey. It was about 11pm. I looked outside my train window for a maroon-clad monk, my friend's brother, who was supposed to be waiting for me there. I saw him standing next to the station building. I got off the train with my large backpack strapped to my back and walked towards him. He gave me a katag (white scarve that Tibetans greet eachother with), and we exchanged greetings. I asked him "Khyo manga ab-guk?" (Did you wait long?), and he said no that he just arrived.
Then we walked to our hotel just up the street and settled in, took a shower, and tried to talk to eachother. I quickly realized that some of the phrases I had practiced earlier were going to have to be modified slightly, and adapt to real life situations.
The next day, we moved from our fairly nice hotel to a hotel around the corner that was a little cheaper. This was in the Tibetan section of town, I guess you could call it "Tibet Alley", it is a loud alley full of little shops, pool tables, Chinese shoe-shiners, monks, fake-monks begging for money, theives, prostitutes, travelers, and traders. It's a nice place to stay.
"Tibetan Alley"
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