Guilin and Yangshou, China – 2011

6-11-11  Xi’an/Guilin

On our flight from Xi’an to Gulin we ran into quite a bit of thunderstorms and turbulence. I could start to see lightning in the distance as our plane moved through the sky. I was reminded of that poster in the Truman Show where the airplane has a lightning bolt through it. Luckily though we landed safe and sound in the city of Gulin, located in the southeast of China. It was a relief to finally leave all the big cities and come to an almost jungle-like atmosphere. We arrived in the city too late to catch any dinner, given that of course the airline never serves me vegetarian meals in any country on any flight no matter how much I tell them…so we just had a quite dinner and some drinks in the hotel.

The Mountains of Yangshou

6-12-11  Guilin/Yangshou

Stephen and I woke up and headed over to a dock for a boat ride adventure down the Li River. The boat ride was simply amazing. Jungle crept over the sides of the banks as towering peaks and mountains jutted up around and in the distance. Water buffaloes and peasants came to the water to pluck their chickens and drink. It was as though I was watching a scene from an ancient movie, or I had suddenly been transported back 500 years. Our boat ride ended in the small backpacker town of Yangshou. We dropped our things off at the hotel, and then it immediately began raining, but we forged ahead! We rented bikes and rode far into the country side with ancient farm houses, workers wearing conical hats in the rice paddy fields, and ending at a small tributary to the Li River. We parked our bikes and took an ancient log boat ride down the river. The mountains were again surrounding us and our boat man started singing ancient river songs in a strange dialect as we floated down the river. After our relaxing boat ride, we biked back through the country side to the city and headed for some dinner. Stephen and I got delicious Chinese food and huge beers at a cute little corner cafe. Our waitress was excited we were foreign and kept practicing her English with us. It was fun. We headed back to the hotel to freshen up, and then went down to the river for a night light show. There is beautiful song, dance, lighting, and choreography all tied together with the river and the mountains. It was quite beautiful. We got some ice cream and walked back to the hotel for a good night sleep.

My Bike Ride Through Yangshou

6-13-11  Yangshou

This was Stephen and I’s lazy catch up day. We slept a lot, took nice hot showers, and wandered down to this delicious vegetarian restaurant called Lotus. I had delicious eggplant, and the food was so amazing. I was starting to really like this town with its hippie backpacker feel, the closeness to nature, amount of veggie places to eat, and the amount of English spoken. We wandered through the markets and the shops, and I bargained and bought a pair of flowy pants. After walking, we found a nice indian place to stop for dinner and then bar hopped the night away.

6-14-11  Yangshou/Guilin/Shanghai

We woke up and drove back to Guilin to see Elephant Trunk Hill, which is an interesting rock formation worn away by the river. Stephen and I hiked to the top of the hill and found an ancient pagoda. We came back down and saw where they made rice wine. Whew it stank! We then took a drive over to Seven Star Park where we saw wild monkeys in the trees and they came right up to you! We saw some interesting rock formations and where Bill Clinton gave a speech, and then headed over to Reed Flute Cave. The ancient and beautiful cave was lit up with hundreds of colored lights. It was impressive and amazing. We packed up our things and jumped the plane to Shanghai! Stay tuned for my last China trip update!

My Feets and I Sailing Down the River

Advertisement