Ain't Got Nuttin' but Mutton

I've been in Xi'an for a few days now, and every day I've been here, I've had some sort of mutton dish. Mutton is all the rage here. I was informed that this is because Xi'an has quite a large Muslim population that can't eat pork (which is widely featured in Chinese cuisine), therefore pork is replaced by mutton from Inner Mongolia.

Speaking of Mongolia, I'm leaving for Ulan Bator in less than 24 hours!!! After much paperwork and red tape, I have a Mongolian visa in my passport, and a red hot ticket from Xi'an to UB (via Beijing) in my backpocket (well, actually, it's my backpack). Apparently mutton is the base for every single meal in Mongolia, so I'm going to do my best to find a non-mutton meal this evening.

This morning, after seeing my mother off to the airport, I visited Xi'an's "Great Mosque". As I mentioned, Xi'an has a considerable Muslim population, and is home to one of China's largest mosques. It was my first time ever visiting a mosque, and I have to say, I wish I had paid more attention during my first-year religion course, because I think that most of the finer details of the structure flew completely over my head. Unfortunately, it was raining quite heavily, so I didn't stick around too long.

Now that my mother is gone, I've changed accommodations, and I'm not staying at a youth hostel. My roommates are four roaring Scottish guys and a very quiet Japanese girl, so it should be an interesting evening.....