Nov. 24- Family reunion

Since the bikes could not come on the same train with us, we had to ship them separately as cargo. It was a bit unnerving having a railway employee take them out of our hands and wheeling them to the back of the cargo warehouse from where they would then be put on the next best train. In general, the Chinese train system has a good reputation for efficiency but we were still worried that the bikes may get damaged. People tend to not understand how delicate bikes can be and that stacking other boxes and bags on top of them could be very damaging.
James was especially worried about the well being of our bikes and the fact that they did not arrive in Xian until two days after we did kept us on edge. We prayed for our bikes, which were like our little kids, that they may arrive without damage.
We were quite anxious when we went to the train station and the clerk in the shipping office confirmed that our bikes had arrived. We had to wait a little while until they were brought out. It was a very happy reunion. One of Bicyclettes wheels had come a bit loose but other than that they were unscathed after this 3000km journey across China. If only they could talk they would certainly have some stories to tell.
THANK YOU LORD FOR KEEPING OUR BIKES SAFE!!