So I am finally getting around to writing my Guilin, China blog. We left last Thursday afternoon (March 5th) returned on Monday (March 9th) morning. We took a sleeper train to Guilin from Shenzhen, China (just a few subway stations from Hong Kong). The sleeper train, however, was not as nice as the one to Singapore...and that is definitely saying something. For this train, they stack 3 beds on top of each other, and the train is a normal height (plus they put 6 beds in one tiny room!). Basically, I could not come even close to sitting up in my bed on the middle level. Luckily I was not at the top because you have to be some sort of acrobat to get up there considering there are no steps! This is a picture of us taken by the girl who was on the top bunk....clearly very little room to move around.
On the first full day, we took at 4 hour boat ride from Guilin down the Li River to Yangshuo. The whole river route, we were surrounded by these curvy, green mountains. The entire ride I was taken aback by the beauty of this rural town in China. Unfortunately it was rainy and foggy, so the scenery wasn't as good as it could have been, but it was still gorgeous.After we arrived in Yangshuo, we did a little market shopping, and had a local dinner. But the highlight of the night is the show that we went to. It is called the Liu Sanjie Show (or Yangshuo 
water impressions show), and thousands of people, including us, were outside in the rain to watch it. It was directed by Zhang Yimou, the chief director of the 2008 Olympic games in China. He was the creative mind of the unbelievable opening ceremony that China put on...the one people are still talking about. The show in Yangshuo was breathtaking. It was entirely on water with all the mountains surrounding. They used boats to move around on the water, and the lights and other effects used were eye-catching and beautiful. There was a story line, although it was conveyed without dialogue, just songs. But because we couldn't understand the songs, we didn't follow the story. Nonetheless, the show was well worth the trip out to this tiny town. By the end of the day, we were all ready to get back to the hostel. It had rained all day, and we were soaked (I was wearing bags on my feet to try to keep them from getting any more wet).
water impressions show), and thousands of people, including us, were outside in the rain to watch it. It was directed by Zhang Yimou, the chief director of the 2008 Olympic games in China. He was the creative mind of the unbelievable opening ceremony that China put on...the one people are still talking about. The show in Yangshuo was breathtaking. It was entirely on water with all the mountains surrounding. They used boats to move around on the water, and the lights and other effects used were eye-catching and beautiful. There was a story line, although it was conveyed without dialogue, just songs. But because we couldn't understand the songs, we didn't follow the story. Nonetheless, the show was well worth the trip out to this tiny town. By the end of the day, we were all ready to get back to the hostel. It had rained all day, and we were soaked (I was wearing bags on my feet to try to keep them from getting any more wet).
The next morning, when we were trying to scurry around to find a taxi that wouldn't rip us off, we met a tour guide named Colin. He seemed like a decent enough man (and he spoke English...rare in China), so we agreed to pay him US$10 each to take us around for the day. And it was WELL worth the money. He took us first to the rice terraces in Ping An village a couple of hours away. They are famous, and very touristy, but for good reason. The villagers have been developing these rice terraces for thousands of years. And I love walking through rural villages (whether in Africa or China!), so I loved just roaming around. One of the villages around Ping An is famous for being the "longest hair village" becaus none of their women ever cut their hair. So we got some of the local women to take down 
their hair (for money, of course), and we got some pictures. After the rice terraces, Colin took us to a local tea farm. And if you know me, you this is "my cup of tea"...no pun intended. We got to walk through their tea leaf fields and learn about how they make the tea. Then we got to have a tea testing to try several of the teas. We tried green, oolong, and black tea. I ended up buying a thing of Osmanthus Oolong tea because I loved it so much and because it was a local specialty, but by the end of the trip I realized it must have fallen out of my bag at some point...ugh.
Following the tea farm, we went to a local Chinese doctor where we got a traditional Chinese reflexology foot massage. They are supposed to be able to tell from your feet what the problems are in your body. Some of the other people in our group said that the diagnoses were correct. My lady said that I didn't have any problems...I guess that is a good thing!
On our last day in Guilin, we went to visit a cave with limestone stalagmites and stalactites. Instead of taking a cab, though, we rented bikes from the hostel and made the 7km ride on 2 wheels. The cave was unlike others I had been to before. And maybe this is because I haven't been to that many caves, but this cave's limestone was curvy and smooth. In order to light up the cave, they put many neon lights inside (soooo "Asia"), so the pictures all look so artificial, but oh well.After the cave, we rode our bikes around literally for the rest of the day. We picked the bikes up at 10:30am, and we didn't drop them off until 7:30. Riding around the city was crazy. We had to weave in and out of traffic, and several times I thought a big bus was going to bump me from behind. I was so proud at the end of the day that I had made it out alive...Chinese drivers are not so careful. We biked both through the main city, and out further into some small villages around the area. Maybe I'll try biking through Hong Kong now...kidding.
At the end of the day, we were sitting in a park
taking a rest when we looked up and saw tiny people on top of a mountain near us (see picture). Without question, the group consensus was that climbing the mountain was our next activity. Well, it took us a while to find the bottom of the mountain, and we decided that we needed to move quickly so we wouldn't get stranded at the top when it was dark. So we BOOKED it up this mountain...we were all huffing and puffing. After making it 90% of the way, we get to the last rock on the mountain, and this one I felt like I basically had to scale! I was pretty scared because the drop-off was really high, but I gathered up the courage and made it to the top. It was well worth all the struggle because the view from the top was gorgeous. It is hard to describe, but the city is basically built around these random mountains jutting up. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it will have to do.
Anyway, that was our trip...after the biking and hiking, we packed up our stuff and got on a sleeper train home. The trip was probably one of my favorites so far...I loved all the outdoor activities, and rural China captivated me
Love from across the world,
Sally
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