Guilin and YangShou

On Friday, March 28, Kate, David, Peter, Nickle, Kennedy, Colin, Cameron and I flew a little over 2 hours southeast from Shanghai to Guilin.  Guilin is situated on the west bank of the Li River and the name means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city.

Upon arriving in Guilin, our guide took us to the airport to check in and then took us on a brief tour of the "village."  Guilin, population 700,000, is not considered a city in China because the population is not over one million.  We saw the twin pagodas and the many bridges in Guilin modeled after famous bridges throughout the world, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Tower Bridge.  We had a quick lunch in a traditional Chinese restaurant near the hotel, including a serving of beer fish, a famous Guilin delicacy.  Not so great from my point of view, but the dumplings that didn't contain sesame oil were a hit in my book.

Our guide took us to the Ludi Yan, the Reed Flute Cave, which was incredible.  It is a natural limestone cave with multicolored lighting and has been one of Guilin’s most interesting attractions for over 1200 years. The cave is over 180 million years old and filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and rock in all kinds of formations. The cave got its name from the type of reed growing outside, which can be made into melodious flutes.  We had a great time climbing down into the wide, expansive cave and enjoying the creative names of the various rock formations.  Our guide informed us that many international heads of state have visited and even attended governmental dinners in the largest, lowest open area of the cave.  It was just beautiful and vaguely reminded me of Timespell, the light show that used to be show on the rock walls of Watkins Glen State Park, at least, if Disney had designed the light show.  

After touring the cave, our guide took us to Elephant Trunk Hill.  Elephant Trunk Hill is the symbol of the city of Guilin. It got its name because it looks like an elephant drinking water. The round opening that would be under the elephant’s trunk is known as Water-Moon Cave because at night the reflection of the moon can be seen through the arch and it looks as if it is under the water and floating on the surface of the water at the same time. Elephant Trunk Hill and Water-Moon Cave are located at the confluence of the Taohua River and the Lijiang River.  We had fun strolling through the park there and then walking back to our hotel.

Our guide left us at the hotel to wander the shops on our own and find dinner.  The kids were fairly enthusiastic about western food, so we tried a restaurant in which the waiters had to leave and walk across the street to collect our food.  As is usual in China, the food all came at different times, with all of the adults being served before any of the (starving) kids.  Finally, Kennedy and Colin got their ham bao baos (hamburgers), but Cameron's salmon never came.  We finally left, after a heated discussion with the wait staff, and got the kids hamburgers and ice cream at McDonald's.  We walked back to our hotel, the Waterfall Hotel, for the evening show - when the side of the hotel turns into an actual waterfall.  I don't know how they do it, but water was streaming, full speed, down one side of the hotel.  We saw 3 of the windows open on that side and couldn't help but wonder if those rooms were full of water.


Because Guilin is quite a bit more southern than Shanghai, the weather was hotter and definitely more humid there.  We had some rain on Friday and pouring rain on Sunday, but a beautiful day on Saturday.  Good thing, because, we left the hotel, after breakfast on Saturday morning for boat a river boat cruise up the Li River (Lijiang) to YangShou.

Every beautiful picture you've ever seen of Chinese mountains, mist and rivers could have been taken in, or painted of, the Li River cruise to YangShou.  It is incredible and beyond anything you can imagine.  Every view, every vantage point, is a stunning photo and breathtaking image.  

You can understand why rock climbing in China was started in, and is still cenetered on, YangShou.  The hills, which look like small mountains to this somewhat Midwestern girl, are stunning peaks of limestone, shooting out of the ground at unusual angles and in a variety of stunning shapes.

Our river boat cruise was 4 hours long and included lunch, although no one really cared to eat too much of it.  The plain white rice wasn't bad and the orange slices were good.  :)   We were interested by the American tour group sharing the boat with us - a group of American families who had adopted Chinese girls and were returning with them to see China and to eventually visit the orphanages in which the girls previously lived.  The girls seem to range from about 8 or 9 to about 14 and were completely American, so much so that their parents said they were having trouble getting many of the girls interested in the sights and history of their birthplace.  The girls were having fun together, talking, texting, taking photos - typical American pre-teens and teenagers.

One notable spot on the cruise, along a stretch of non-stop incredible views, is the area which is dispicted on the back of the 20 RMB bill.  We dutifully took pictures there, holding up the bill, to compare with the incomparable sight.

YangShou the town is only 11,000 people, by far the smallest, more rural area I've visited in China.  Once we docked in YangShou, we walked to our beautiful hotel and checked in.  We had great views of the hills and the river from our terraces.  After that, we wandered West Street, stopping in stalls and stores and looking at the local crafts.  Eventually, we made our way to dinner and then to a water show on the banks of the Li River, The Liu San Jie Light Show.  While the Chinese audience continues to talk, loudly, throughout the show, including telephone calls, and it rained briefly, but loudly, due to all the plastic ponchos being put on and taken off, the show was none-the-less very pretty.  It was directed by the man who directed the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and had a similar feel, with 600 performers and boats, dancing with ribbons, and in LED lighted costumes.  The boys fell soundly asleep, quite a feet in such sticky humidity, and had to be woken to walk all the way back to our van for the ride back to the hotel.

Sunday morning, we woke to loud, crashing thunder storms and pouring rain.  Fortunately, that hadn't been the day of the river cruise.  We packed up and headed back to the Guilin airport for our flight back to Shanghai.  While everyone else was continuing on to Vietnam and Cambodia, I was returning to the apartment in Shanghai, where Miranda was waiting for me.  Chris had picked her up at the airport earlier for her spring break visit to Shanghai.

All-in-all, Guilin and YangShou are situated in one of the loveliest places on the planet.  This was certainly one of most beautiful natural areas I've seen in my life, and I was born and raised in one of the most beautiful places on the planet as well - Watkins Glen, NY.  I have more pictures than I could ever post of the incredible sights, and I treasure every one of them.  I highly recommend this trip if you ever have the chance.