The Li River

(Molly)

Yesterday we went on a boat cruise down the Li River through the most beautiful mountains in China. They are tall and skinny – they look a little bit like thimbles, but maybe are taller. It was raining, but the mountains looked beautiful in the mist.

The boat cruise took us from Guilin to Yangshuo, which is a very cool old little city. There are hundreds of little shops on the famous West Street. I feel funny calling it famous, because all the restaurants and shops here advertise by calling their wares “famous,” but I think this street actually is famous in China. Last night I bought an oxhide Mao wallet for my brother (he had asked for one). I bargained it down to 130 from 160 by almost walking away. I don’t think I could have gotten it for less. I also bought a Mao hat! It is green, with a red star in front. I feel like a real communist. It was originally 20 yuan (less than $3), and they laughed at me when I started bargaining. I’m not sure why. A little old woman wrote down “20” on the cover of a notepad, and I wrote “10” and they laughed. We ended up settling on 16.

Everybody stares at us here. They all say “hello,” which always confuses me. Why are they greeting me? Then I realize that they are practicing their English.

Today we picked a guide from a stand on the street. I didn’t really like him, but the day was nice. The weather was gorgeous! It was very warm and sunny – I wore shorts and got a sunburn! Steve and I rented a tandem bike, and Ms. Arkin rode on the back of the guide’s moped. Both are very popular here. The tandem bikes are painted blue in the front, and purple in the back – talk about gender roles! We rode ½ hour to a river, past many little villages. It was flat, but we were surrounded by mountains. We were on a dirt bath for the last 10 minutes – turns were difficult with the bike, and at some points it was very narrow, and muddy or rocky. It was our first rural experience, and it was pretty cool.

When we got to the river, we went on bamboo boats! Steve and I were on one, Ms. Arkin on another. We went over some mini-waterfalls, which was a little scary! On the first my pants got wet, which was irritating. The rest of the trip was very nice and relaxing. We saw one family – father, mother, and very small child – on a moped crossing the top of one of the man-made mini-waterfalls. Some people on other boats came up and tried out their English on us. One man said “Welcome to our country,” and “where you to come from?” We told him, and heard him say to his wife, “mei guo pen you,” which means “American friends.” It was pretty cute. Also, there were tons of people on bamboo boats floating in the middle of the river and trying to sell food.
When we got off the boat, we ate at what seemed to be the only restaurant around. It was ok – not great, not horrible. I had to use their bathroom, though – it was my first experience peeing into a hole in the ground. It did have a door, though, which was very lucky. I had a sunburn (which dehydrated me) and a killer headache, so Steve did most of the pedaling on the way back. When we got back, we got bin chi lin!!!A wonderful day, in short.