(Yang Ni Ke aka Nick)My entry into mainland China was not a very pleasant one. If you didn't already know, I got sick on the trainride from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. I then proceeded to vomit once again in our private room of probably the sketchiest restaurant I have ever been to. The tour of Guangzhou felt like a blur and all I wanted to do was sleep. Luckily I passed out in the hotel for 14 hours! I awoke feeling much better. Unfortunately, my experience in Guangzhou was not a very good one and I was rather happy to leave.
Guilin was amazing. A bit chilly but I guess that is to be expected considering its the coldest winter in China in the last century. The actual city is a little built up but the tall peaks surrounding it make it very picturesque. Last night after our tour of Guilin, we decided to get full body massages. We had our own private room. The massages were a little too much for the girls, but the rest of us found it relaxing. Cady and I are probably the two most ticklish human beings known to man, so of course we happened to be right next to each other during our massage session. We spent the whole time giggling. Our masseus' didn't really understand the concept of being ticklish and were kind of perplexed when we would just burst out into laughter. At one point we were laughing so hard, my masseuse asked me if Cady and I are a couple....which was greeted by a firm NO from each of us.
Today we went on the famous Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. Words cannot even describe the views we saw today...simply breathtaking. The mountains surrounding the Li River are very narrow and tall..it looks like another planet. The whole time we thought we were in the Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia! Our cruise lasted 4 hours. We had our own table inside where we got tea and lunch, but the whole boat was three stories high and the top story was open air for sightseeing (I spent the majority of the 4 hours of the cruise on this top story...brrrrr). I probably took a couple hundred photos in the span of 4 hours. Towards the end of the cruise, a Chinese girl approached Cady and I. We thought she wanted her picture taken but in fact she was just very friendly! We found out that she was a university student in Hangzhou of all places! We told her that we will be in Hangzhou in a couple weeks to study at Hangzhou High School, and she told us that it is the most well-regarded school in Hangzhou. The rest of the group joined us later and we spent the rest of the cruise talking with her...we used some of our (minimal) Chinese skills and she spoke amazing English. She then went down to the first story and brought up her family. Her family was very unique; her mom has a boyfriend from South Africa who lives in New Zealand but works in Abu Dhabi (wow). Her two step sisters live in London and New Zealand. We had a lot of fun meeting them and talking about both of our trips to China. We got a picture with them at the end! A very interesting family. Talk about international....We got the email address and phone number of Jessis (Jing Jing) so we can contact her when we get to Hangzhou....hopefully we can meet up!
Now we are in Yangshuo. It is by far my favorite place so far. Although it is reachable by car/bus, the fact that we took the Li river cruise to get to Yangshuo makes it feel all the more isolated. Yangshuo is very different from the other cities we've been to so far (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Guilin) because it is not nearly as built up. There are no high-rise apartment complexes and it really does feel like a small town/village. It is very touristy but not in an western way. There is only one main street (West street) with lots of shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, and clubs. The architecture is very much Chinese. Yangshuo is a mountain village, surrounded by the skinny peaks of the Li River. In Guilin, these mysterious peaks surrounded the city, but in Yangshuo, the peaks are literally part of the city. The hotel we are staying at (The Paradise) is the best in Yangshuo and has a great location right on the end of West street. We spent all of yesterday afternoon shopping along West street for people at home (don't worry Mom and Dad, I did not forget about you!!!). Everything is so cheap and it is so much fun to bargain (Cady got two scarves down from 100 yuan to 25 yuan). Last night we went to a performance in Yangshuo that is the only theatrical performance in the world to use the water as a stage and the mountains as the background (according to our tour guide Rico). It was amazing...there were 600 actors total, 300 professional and 300 locals. It's kind of hard to describe the actual performance but it was just breathtaking..lots of special effects yet so natural being performed on the water with the Li river mountains the background! It was very well done (directed by Zhang Yimou), and its a very popular show in China right now (sells out every night), so thanks Rico for the suggestion!
After the show, we came back to the hotel and were greated by Ric who finally got into mainland China!!!!!!!! Terry was so happy to see him and so were we. It surprised us that he actually got here (he took a plane from Hong Kong to Guilin and took a taxi from Guilin to Yangshuo....dirt roads and all).
We are about to go rent mopeds to drive around the Yangshuo countryside so I must go. There is so much to talk about!!! Hope everyone is doing well in Dover-Sherborn. We are having so much fun!
Zaijian,
Yang Ni Ke
Guilin was amazing. A bit chilly but I guess that is to be expected considering its the coldest winter in China in the last century. The actual city is a little built up but the tall peaks surrounding it make it very picturesque. Last night after our tour of Guilin, we decided to get full body massages. We had our own private room. The massages were a little too much for the girls, but the rest of us found it relaxing. Cady and I are probably the two most ticklish human beings known to man, so of course we happened to be right next to each other during our massage session. We spent the whole time giggling. Our masseus' didn't really understand the concept of being ticklish and were kind of perplexed when we would just burst out into laughter. At one point we were laughing so hard, my masseuse asked me if Cady and I are a couple....which was greeted by a firm NO from each of us.
Today we went on the famous Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. Words cannot even describe the views we saw today...simply breathtaking. The mountains surrounding the Li River are very narrow and tall..it looks like another planet. The whole time we thought we were in the Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia! Our cruise lasted 4 hours. We had our own table inside where we got tea and lunch, but the whole boat was three stories high and the top story was open air for sightseeing (I spent the majority of the 4 hours of the cruise on this top story...brrrrr). I probably took a couple hundred photos in the span of 4 hours. Towards the end of the cruise, a Chinese girl approached Cady and I. We thought she wanted her picture taken but in fact she was just very friendly! We found out that she was a university student in Hangzhou of all places! We told her that we will be in Hangzhou in a couple weeks to study at Hangzhou High School, and she told us that it is the most well-regarded school in Hangzhou. The rest of the group joined us later and we spent the rest of the cruise talking with her...we used some of our (minimal) Chinese skills and she spoke amazing English. She then went down to the first story and brought up her family. Her family was very unique; her mom has a boyfriend from South Africa who lives in New Zealand but works in Abu Dhabi (wow). Her two step sisters live in London and New Zealand. We had a lot of fun meeting them and talking about both of our trips to China. We got a picture with them at the end! A very interesting family. Talk about international....We got the email address and phone number of Jessis (Jing Jing) so we can contact her when we get to Hangzhou....hopefully we can meet up!
Now we are in Yangshuo. It is by far my favorite place so far. Although it is reachable by car/bus, the fact that we took the Li river cruise to get to Yangshuo makes it feel all the more isolated. Yangshuo is very different from the other cities we've been to so far (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Guilin) because it is not nearly as built up. There are no high-rise apartment complexes and it really does feel like a small town/village. It is very touristy but not in an western way. There is only one main street (West street) with lots of shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, and clubs. The architecture is very much Chinese. Yangshuo is a mountain village, surrounded by the skinny peaks of the Li River. In Guilin, these mysterious peaks surrounded the city, but in Yangshuo, the peaks are literally part of the city. The hotel we are staying at (The Paradise) is the best in Yangshuo and has a great location right on the end of West street. We spent all of yesterday afternoon shopping along West street for people at home (don't worry Mom and Dad, I did not forget about you!!!). Everything is so cheap and it is so much fun to bargain (Cady got two scarves down from 100 yuan to 25 yuan). Last night we went to a performance in Yangshuo that is the only theatrical performance in the world to use the water as a stage and the mountains as the background (according to our tour guide Rico). It was amazing...there were 600 actors total, 300 professional and 300 locals. It's kind of hard to describe the actual performance but it was just breathtaking..lots of special effects yet so natural being performed on the water with the Li river mountains the background! It was very well done (directed by Zhang Yimou), and its a very popular show in China right now (sells out every night), so thanks Rico for the suggestion!
After the show, we came back to the hotel and were greated by Ric who finally got into mainland China!!!!!!!! Terry was so happy to see him and so were we. It surprised us that he actually got here (he took a plane from Hong Kong to Guilin and took a taxi from Guilin to Yangshuo....dirt roads and all).
We are about to go rent mopeds to drive around the Yangshuo countryside so I must go. There is so much to talk about!!! Hope everyone is doing well in Dover-Sherborn. We are having so much fun!
Zaijian,
Yang Ni Ke
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