The hostel

While in Xi'an we stayed at the Shuyuan Youth Hostel. A hostel is usually cheaper than a hotel. This hostel had some private rooms that had attached bathrooms and some rooms that shared a bathroom. This is one of the things that make it cheaper. Often times travelers can book just a bed in a dorm room. This is a really cheap way to stay. I booked us 4 beds in one room. The bathroom and showers were shared for the whole floor.






The atmosphere of this place is really nice. It was clean and really pretty.

This was our room. It was cozy. The third night the air conditioner started dripping. It woke us up that night. It dripped from then on. We told them and they kept saying they would fix it "tomorrow". We only paid $200 yuan a night (less than $30). The location of the hostel was fantastic too. We were in walking distance of several tourist attractions.

It was good that the hostel was cheap because we could not get tickets to come back to Hangzhou when we wanted to go. We ended up staying an extra 3 days in Xi'an than we had originally planned.

This was one of the residents of the hostel. He was really lazy. The kids were okay as long as the dog did not bark. He only barked when he saw another dog. The kids only got scared twice.

Another good thing about staying here so long is that the kids got really good at using a squatty potty. The bathroom on our floor was a squatty potty. The western toilet was downstairs.

We have lived in China now for more than 2 years. The kids could use a squatty, but I still had to hold Hallie's hand (so she wouldn't fall) and most of the time, Eryn had us hold her over the potty (which is hard if she is going to be there for a while!). Now the girls are pretty good at it and do not need my help. Yes!!

Of course, we still prefer good ol' western toilets, but we are more versatile now.