Ola, Nik, Mr. and Mrs. Li and I arrived to Mainland China in the rural city of Guilin. Getting off the plane, I noticed all the beautiful mountains China’s landscape is typically associated with. We learned later from our tour guide, Summer, that these mountains are made of limestone, which thousands of years of rain have melted away, giving them their characteristically steep and rounded shape. The city also didn’t have any very tall buildings and was very dark at night.
After a quick dinner at a local hotel, we checked in to a Sheraton overlooking a tree-lined walkway along the Li River. The rooms here were a little more upscale than the YMCA in Hong Kong, but the Y felt a tad more homey and comfortable. Ola and I, however, did appreciate the wide variety of music, ranging from Bollywood hits to country, which streamed from our bathroom ceiling. We had a jam session while replenishing our skin with chestnut and placenta facemasks.
The next morning, we met for an early breakfast in the hotel, at which a wide variety of steamed buns and noodles were offered. I did, however, stick to pancakes as my main meal for I was not quite ready to delve into an eastern style breakfast quite yet. Afterwards, Summer guided us to a nearby park where a few early bird elders were partaking in their morning tai chi exercises. There were also many metal exercise contraptions that functioned as ellipticals and as assisted pull up machines for the public to use.
After ten minutes of walking, we ended up at what is called Elephant Trunk Hill. This natural rock formation is the result of corroding rock and rainwater eating away under one particular mountain peak so that the limestone mountain resembles an elephant dipping its trunk into the Li River for a drink. The legend behind this phenomenon is that long ago, the Jade Emperor frequently enjoyed to visit Guilin, for he admired greatly its grand riches and sights. He started to visit so frequently that he began to bring along his elephant, his assistant, as well. The elephant soon too fell in love with the city and refused to go back up to the Emperor’s palace. The Emperor sent troops down to kill the elephant, but with no success. When the fighting was over, however, the elephant dipped its trunk into the Li River for a drink when one lone soldier hoisted his sword and stabbed the elephant in the back, turning him to stone. His final resting place resulted in Elephant Trunk Hill.
We soon boarded the Li River Cruise, which took us to the city of Yangshuo. In total, the ride was around four hours long and took us through the beautiful mountains of Guilin and Yangshuo. We were able to roam about on deck to take many pictures of these misty mountains and wave at others on passing boats. I, as well as Nik and Ola, did enjoy sitting down at our table inside, however, for we were all a bit unexplainably tired. Mrs. Li attributed this to sensory overload, where all of our senses were adjusting greatly to a constant change of surroundings far different from anything we had experienced before. We became rejuvenated after a delicious Chinese style buffet lunch though. One interesting incident onboard was that before we landed in Yangshou, a strapping young man approached me, a wild American, to take a picture with him. I was taken aback and at first thought he was asking me to take his picture with the mountains, but I happily obliged. It seems that Ola’s predictions were right. Due to the placenta face mask, I had found myself a bae.
When we departed from the boat, we were deposited into the shopping mecca of Yangshuo that is West Street. Hundreds of people packed onto this store and vender filled street, bargaining for goods ranging from high fashion knock offs to wall scrolls. As we pushed our way through the crowds, we could hear people yelling “wai guo ren”, meaning foreigner in Chinese. These rural parts of China rarely house foreign travelers, so it is a rarity that these people get to see them.
At the hotel, I decided to part ways with Ola and Nik to venture out with Summer and Mr. and Mrs. Li to ride bikes to the Li River for a raft ride. Nik hadn’t had much experience with bikes and Ola, although a robust bike rider, didn’t feel quite safe navigating the roads here. I don’t blame her and this bike ride may have taken ten years off of my life. It would seem that there are absolutely no rules to the road here. If there is traffic in your lane, it is completely acceptable for you to pull into oncoming traffic to bypass the congestion. Mopeds and bikes intermingle with cars and each other and beep their horns and ring their bells to alert pedestrians that they will be passing them within two inches of their bodies. There was also a lot of traffic also, which prolonged this usually twenty-minute journey to an hour. I will have no complaints driving in Wellesley or Cambridge again once I return home.
Once there, we all boarded a raft of hollow tree trunks to another one in the middle of the lake where you could get photographed in traditional ethnic costumes for a mere dollar and sixty cents. I partook in this activity and quite enjoyed the flowing red skirts of the local minorities here. There were also a few other customers who joined in with the photographer for they probably won’t see another 5’9” white girl in traditional fashions for quite some time.
When sailing back to the dock, we all witnessed cormorants fishing. In this practice, a fisherman on a raft ties a string around these birds’ necks and sets them free into the water. These birds catch fish, but are unable to swallow them, so they bring them back to the raft for the fisherman to collect. The fisherman brought a bird over that had just caught a fish for us to see. We were also able to hold the birds, whose wingspan was over six feet long and weighed a good fifteen pounds.
The way back to the hotel was much more peaceful. We took a more scenic rout around the town and into the mountains. The area was mostly undeveloped, but resorts and apartments were starting to appear in sections along the way. I enjoyed seeing hundred old buildings along side year old ones while families mulled about their daily lives. I wouldn’t say that the city air was dirty or smoggy necessarily, but the air in the mountains was definitely fresher and crisper. In all, the ride turned out to be three and a half hours long and a fabulous way to get to know the city and its rural counterpart. I would recommend the bike ride to those who don’t mind a little adrenaline and risk of death by moped. Upon returning, we ate dinner in the hotel and tucked in early in the evening. We had a big day ahead of us shopping on West Street!
Zaijian for now!
The next morning, we met for an early breakfast in the hotel, at which a wide variety of steamed buns and noodles were offered. I did, however, stick to pancakes as my main meal for I was not quite ready to delve into an eastern style breakfast quite yet. Afterwards, Summer guided us to a nearby park where a few early bird elders were partaking in their morning tai chi exercises. There were also many metal exercise contraptions that functioned as ellipticals and as assisted pull up machines for the public to use.
After ten minutes of walking, we ended up at what is called Elephant Trunk Hill. This natural rock formation is the result of corroding rock and rainwater eating away under one particular mountain peak so that the limestone mountain resembles an elephant dipping its trunk into the Li River for a drink. The legend behind this phenomenon is that long ago, the Jade Emperor frequently enjoyed to visit Guilin, for he admired greatly its grand riches and sights. He started to visit so frequently that he began to bring along his elephant, his assistant, as well. The elephant soon too fell in love with the city and refused to go back up to the Emperor’s palace. The Emperor sent troops down to kill the elephant, but with no success. When the fighting was over, however, the elephant dipped its trunk into the Li River for a drink when one lone soldier hoisted his sword and stabbed the elephant in the back, turning him to stone. His final resting place resulted in Elephant Trunk Hill.
We soon boarded the Li River Cruise, which took us to the city of Yangshuo. In total, the ride was around four hours long and took us through the beautiful mountains of Guilin and Yangshuo. We were able to roam about on deck to take many pictures of these misty mountains and wave at others on passing boats. I, as well as Nik and Ola, did enjoy sitting down at our table inside, however, for we were all a bit unexplainably tired. Mrs. Li attributed this to sensory overload, where all of our senses were adjusting greatly to a constant change of surroundings far different from anything we had experienced before. We became rejuvenated after a delicious Chinese style buffet lunch though. One interesting incident onboard was that before we landed in Yangshou, a strapping young man approached me, a wild American, to take a picture with him. I was taken aback and at first thought he was asking me to take his picture with the mountains, but I happily obliged. It seems that Ola’s predictions were right. Due to the placenta face mask, I had found myself a bae.
When we departed from the boat, we were deposited into the shopping mecca of Yangshuo that is West Street. Hundreds of people packed onto this store and vender filled street, bargaining for goods ranging from high fashion knock offs to wall scrolls. As we pushed our way through the crowds, we could hear people yelling “wai guo ren”, meaning foreigner in Chinese. These rural parts of China rarely house foreign travelers, so it is a rarity that these people get to see them.
At the hotel, I decided to part ways with Ola and Nik to venture out with Summer and Mr. and Mrs. Li to ride bikes to the Li River for a raft ride. Nik hadn’t had much experience with bikes and Ola, although a robust bike rider, didn’t feel quite safe navigating the roads here. I don’t blame her and this bike ride may have taken ten years off of my life. It would seem that there are absolutely no rules to the road here. If there is traffic in your lane, it is completely acceptable for you to pull into oncoming traffic to bypass the congestion. Mopeds and bikes intermingle with cars and each other and beep their horns and ring their bells to alert pedestrians that they will be passing them within two inches of their bodies. There was also a lot of traffic also, which prolonged this usually twenty-minute journey to an hour. I will have no complaints driving in Wellesley or Cambridge again once I return home.
Once there, we all boarded a raft of hollow tree trunks to another one in the middle of the lake where you could get photographed in traditional ethnic costumes for a mere dollar and sixty cents. I partook in this activity and quite enjoyed the flowing red skirts of the local minorities here. There were also a few other customers who joined in with the photographer for they probably won’t see another 5’9” white girl in traditional fashions for quite some time.
When sailing back to the dock, we all witnessed cormorants fishing. In this practice, a fisherman on a raft ties a string around these birds’ necks and sets them free into the water. These birds catch fish, but are unable to swallow them, so they bring them back to the raft for the fisherman to collect. The fisherman brought a bird over that had just caught a fish for us to see. We were also able to hold the birds, whose wingspan was over six feet long and weighed a good fifteen pounds.
The way back to the hotel was much more peaceful. We took a more scenic rout around the town and into the mountains. The area was mostly undeveloped, but resorts and apartments were starting to appear in sections along the way. I enjoyed seeing hundred old buildings along side year old ones while families mulled about their daily lives. I wouldn’t say that the city air was dirty or smoggy necessarily, but the air in the mountains was definitely fresher and crisper. In all, the ride turned out to be three and a half hours long and a fabulous way to get to know the city and its rural counterpart. I would recommend the bike ride to those who don’t mind a little adrenaline and risk of death by moped. Upon returning, we ate dinner in the hotel and tucked in early in the evening. We had a big day ahead of us shopping on West Street!
Zaijian for now!
1 comment:
Abby-
Get used to the pictures now! They won't end until you hit American soil again :)
Also, I fondly remember the death-defying bicycling in Yangshuo...glad you had the experience, though.
Best,
Ms. Lockrow
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