Well, it's over... what next?

What’s next?!?!?!?!?  I’ve gone from plan A to plan B, and now to plan C for what to do after the end of my program.  Originally, I had planned to ride the train from Beijing into Tibet, and then trek around Tibet, visiting monasteries and the base camp of Mt. Everest, before heading down into Nepal.  Then from Nepal to India to see the Taj Mahal, and finally to Hong Kong for a week, before returning to Beijing for my flight back to the States.  Unfortunately, the Tibetan uprisings and visa issues has made that trip impossible. What’s more, because the Chinese government is being very strict about giving out visas, I could not even go to another country and then come back into China.  This includes going to Hong Kong.  One of my friends got a scholarship to work in Beijing over the summer, but she has to fly back to New York City in order to get her visa extended, before coming back to Beijing a week later.  In any case, it seems my travel is restricted to China.  That’s where Plan B came in.  Plan B took me from northern Xinjiang (the western-most and most other-worldly province in China), down around the Taklaman Desert, following the Southern Silk Road (an ancient road used by traders to transport silk and other goods), through the mountains into Qinghai province, down into Sichuan, then up to Xian and back to Beijing, taking me all the way across the country.  Of course, the earthquakes in Sichuan have made plan B impossible as well.  After some thought, however, I’ve decided to stick with Plan B, going directly from Qinghai to Xi’an rather than going to Sichuan. 

My program has now ended, and I’ve rented a room on the first floor of the building that served as my dorm all semester.  Tomorrow, I’m planning to finish getting all of my stuff in order and to go see the Forbidden City.  I’m pretty tired physically (little sleep and helping people with bags all day) and emotionally (just said goodbye to a lot of really good friends), but I’m trying to get hyped about my trip, even though I’ll be going alone.  But if I get too lonely or too bored, I’ll hop a bus to the nearest town with an airport and head back to Beijing.  This trip will be the biggest adventure of my life thus far, and I’ll try to keep up with my posts throughout.  I’m unable to post pictures here, because of the speed of my Internet connection, but I’ll put them all up when I can.