Day Fifteen - Guilin

We left early for Guilin by bus stopping at the South China Pearl Museum (factory outlet). I rested on the bus while Lucie went in to take a look. From the museum we went to lunch, Francois and I skipping lunch and taking our tour director, Liu,up on his offer to take us directly by taxi to the Lijiang Water Falls Hotel. This was a kindness I will always remember.

Since I didn't attend any excursions due to my illness, I will share some thoughts about the tour and the tour company - Sinorama. Throughout the trip we were guided by Liu, a University History Professor from Xi'an. His main role was to handle all of the logistics of getting the 25 of us to and fro the various hotels, buses, excursions and airports. Considering he never lost anyone I would say he did his job very well.

In each major area, a local guide was added to provide color commentary for the region we were in and to illustrate the places we visited. These guides were for the most part very good with varying levels of proficiency in French. One of the best local guides was Ben, also known as Sylvain.

Each morning we started our day with a breakfast buffet that was regularly very good. Most places offered an omelet bar, cereal with yogurt or milk, many kinds of fruit, pancakes or French toast, regular toast, croissants, and a variety of muffins. Along with this usual fair you could also have steamed vegetables, rice, noodles, chicken, fish, dumplings, and potatoes. Juices, coffee and tea were always available.

The buses were always comfortable and the drivers professional and courteous. In Beijing the driver had a cooler on board with beer and water which was a welcome treat after a long visit. We were able to leave our valuables on board making it easier to walk through the sites. Liu recommended we rotate seats but we never really did, although we rarely sat in the same place twice. Each time we changed hotels, we had to get the luggage outside our room by a certain time and the following day it was delivered to the new room, very efficient.

The hotels were excellent throughout the trip. They advertised 4 & 5 star hotels and that is what we got. Internet was difficult, rarely accessible in the rooms but usually available in the lobby. Facebook was never available and I only occasionally had access to this blog. One weird quirk of all the hotels was the way they had wired the lights. Practically all the lights in the room were wired to banks of switches next to the beds, labeled with 6 font black text. Needless to say, trying to turn out the lights was a comical moment to end each day.

The airports were very similar to ours with the same type of security checks and restrictions, except you didn't have to take off your shoes. All of our flights ran on time.

By the way, today is the 23rd anniversary of the Government's suppression of the protests at Tienanmen Square. There were no visible protests or marches and no mention in the papers.

Our freedoms are something we must never take for granted.

Tomorrow we visit  Zhongshan.

Day Fourteen – Yangshou

We are definitely in the south of China now! The heat and humidity slap us in the face as we walk outside the Yangshuo Jasper International Hotel this morning. With 600,000 residents and 1.8 million visitors per year, mostly from northern China, Yangshou is the main vacation destination for China. A quiet, slow paced lifestyle draws people to this area, renowned for the beautiful scenery highlighted by the Karst mountains. The entire area was under the ocean a long, long time ago and as the water receded we are left with the harder oddly shaped mountains, many of which have deep caves within them.

Life flourishes along the Li river near Yangshou as we drifted lazily through this Sunday morning for our river boat excursion.

Sadly, the residents of the Li river village were in preparations for a funeral as we passed through. The men were preparing the village meal and making posters with calligraphy.

The more we visited the stranger the vehicles got...

 Take a close look in the cab of this truck...

After the excursion and lunch we were awarded some free time to shop along the Yangshou street markets.

These are genuine-real-fake Louis Vitton handbags. This section of the store was in a back room behind a sliding mirror.

Hot peppers and garlic anyone?

Even Communists need to shop sometimes...

A Chinese card game.

By the time we reached Yangshou we had a case of a nasty stomach bug going around the bus. Unfortunately, I was one of about a dozen of us on the bus that caught it. As we finished our shopping through the Yangshou plaza I started to feel queasy and within an hour I was completely out of it for the next 2 and a half days. As a result, there isn't much to share with you for the next few days until we get home and I get a chance to collect some shots from the people that were still functioning.
The below shots are from the Internet of a show that the group saw that night.

Tomorrow we head for Guilin.

Day Thirteen – Giant Panda Zoo

Today was National Children's Party Day, coincidentally it was also our day to visit the Giant Panda Zoo. Not surprisingly, the zoo was absolutely slammed with children of all ages. In the end though no one complained, after all – a zoo is all about children anyway.

Our day started with the end of the Yangtze Cruise and the start of the third phase of our trip, Southern China. Here are some fishermen along the shore and of one of the countless suspension bridges we passed under.

 

The giant panda is one of the rarest animals in the world and the national treasure of China. Originating thousands of years ago during the fourth ice age, giant pandas remain relatively unchanged today. They eat primarily bamboo, about 20 kgs per day. There less than a thousand giant pandas remaining in the world today.

 

Zoo snacks and meals on wheels.

 

Some more animals.

 

Zoo visitors.

These little motorcycle-cars were cute.

 

Capitalism begins to creep into China in not surprising ways.

 

The elevated train system here in Chongqing reminded me of Chicago's “L”

China's youth.

Lucie and I used some free time to stroll the streets around freedom square where we encountered this stray dog as well as this puppy for sale.

 

The heat was bearing down on us so we couldn't resist an ice cream.

If they need a bridge, they build one...

 

Our next stop in Chongqing, a city of 10 million, was the old town where this banana tree was growing.

This statue of the first Emperor was said to bring good luck, below him are thousands of red cards carrying the wishes of the citizens.

In the old town we encountered this movie set, filming a new, still very popular, Kung Fu movie!

 

This painting in the gift shop caught my eye, but not my wallet, as we made our way back to the bus for our journey to the next region, Yangshou – the vacation dreamland of China.