On 3 November, Erik and Tek finally left for the interior, to visit the region known as the cradle of Chinese civilization. First, they flew to Xi’an. From the moment they arrived they undertook a series of trips and visits, many under the supervision of the guide they’d been assigned, Gao (who failed to impress Erik). The diary is full of observations and impressions, but Erik did not have time to write the next letter before they reached Luoyang.

3 November

Rose dreadfully early in the morning and set off for the airport; left at around half-past seven. Small aircraft with seats in rows of three and very small windows. Quite cloudy, but breaks in the cover every now and then, which we took advantage of (squatting in the side aisle by the small windows). The aircraft was also transporting a lot of cargo, a few soldiers with many family members, et cetera. The stewardess was a very young lady who spoke hardly a word of English. We taught her a few common expressions and gave her a pocket dictionary (after much protest). The view was very interesting: loess, terraced land, many reservoirs before Taiyuan, also tree plantations clearly visible as a grey-green haze on the mountains.

In Taiyuan we stopped for an hour at a tiny airfield in a freezing waiting room; then onwards. This is a loess region, so no more reservoirs. Taiyuan is situated in an enormous plain. We passed the Yellow River, which flows from here to the north-east; wonderfully wide and unbelievably yellow. Later, not far from Xi’an, we passed it again, this time where it bears away in a great curve from the north to the east. Could see very clearly the place where the Wei and Yellow rivers merge.

Around 1 p.m. we landed successfully in Xi’an. We were met there by a polite Chinese, called Gao, so well-behaved and insignificant that we didn't even enquire as to his ming (forename). He doesn't speak a word of English, more or less Putunghoa with a Shanxi accent, quite difficult and hopeless for Tek (Tek is furious, he's sulking and wants to protest at length in Peking later).