We recently enjoyed the “Dragon Boat” Chinese holiday on a trip to Guilin, Longji and Yangshuo. Prior to arriving in China, we had never heard of any of these places. However, without fail, everyone we met had told us that the Guilin area was the most beautiful place in China. After our first trip to Sanya, China we thought that was hard to believe. We must admit, Guilin is amazingly beautiful and has a lot more to offer than the Sanya beach trip. Here is a brief summary of the trip as well as some interesting things that happened along the way. There are way too many amazing photos to post in the blog, therefore, we recommend that you check out our flickr page.
Day 1 (Friday June 11, 2010): Shanghai to Guilin
We had an afternoon flight from Shanghai to Guilin, so we didn’t arrive until nearly 6 PM. At the airport we met our guide for the 5 days names “Curry”. Although Katie did all of the planning and coordination with the travel agent and the people that we were travelling with had used this agent before, Curry had a large sign that said “JEFFREY”. Apparently he thought that Jeff was the one who was going to be involved with decision making and his tip at the end of the trip. He couldn’t have been further from the truth. When you travel with the Shanghai Tai Tai’s, they make all the decisions. In this case, we had three in our company, so there was little question on who would be making the decisions.
After about a 45 minute drive we arrived at the Guilin Sheraton Hilton. This would be our home base for the first two nights. We had done a little research prior to arriving in Guilin and determined that the two most highly rated restaurants were the “Good Luck Restaurant” (for Chinese food) and “Rosemary’s” (for western food). We were feeling a bit adventurous so we decided to head out to the “Good Luck Restaurant” to sample the local fare. We certainly made good decision. We sampled to local “beer fish” along with a rice dish, grilled pumpkin, a pork dish and a beef dish. They also let us open our own bottle of wine without corkage and charged us 10 Yuan for 600ml bottle of the local beer, LiQuan - which tasted a bit like Coors Light. Split six ways, our bill came to 40 Yuan per person($6).
After dinner, we decided to take a stroll through the streets of downtown Guilin. We were told before we came that Guilin had nothing to offer and only Yangshuo and Longji were worth visiting. We found this to be untrue, as the streets of Guilin were hopping with people and plenty to do. The opening game of the World Cup was displayed on nearly all the restaurants. We wandered into a bar called “Ragazz Pub”. This bar seemed inviting as each of the staff were wearing colored wigs and face stickers representing the different countries participating in the World Cup. The pregame show was being broadcast on the large screen behind the DJ stage and everyone seemed truly interested in watching the opening game. However, as soon as the game started the pub transformed into a dance club. Ten-year old rap music began blaring from the speakers and drunk Chinese men started taking off their shirts because they were getting to hot from what we guessed was some form of “dancing”. This was a bit disappointing as we were hoping to catch the game and enjoy a few LiQuan’s.
We ended up skipping out on the dance club showing a soccer game and headed over to the local Irish pub. The place was packed and we had to sit on the outskirts of the area in front of an outside screen. If it wasn’t for the skunky beer, we probably would have stayed. However, we had a 2 hour drive to the golf course tomorrow and we decided at halftime that there would be plenty of other World Cup games to catch. Thus, it was back to the room to rest up for the rest of the trip.
Day 2 (Saturday June 12, 2010): Golf at Merryland
Saturday morning saw us getting up early, enjoying a buffet breakfast at the Sheraton and heading out to Merryland golf club for 18 holes. Only in China would they decide that it was a good idea to build a world class golf course right next to an amusement park for toddlers. The round was ultimately uneventful except for the occasionally songs of merriment coming from the merry-go-rounds and other amusement rides in the background. Katie claims to have played her worst game ever and was pretty sure the caddy asked her if this was her first time on a course.
After golf and lunch we headed back to Guilin for free time in the afternoon. Five of the six travelers enjoyed an $8, hour long foot massage at the local parlor. For the second night in Guilin, we had identified a western restaurant that we hoped to visit. Upon waiting for the rest of the crew, we were approached by an English speaking Chinese local. He seemed friendly enough and made small talk. When the conversation naturally came around to our plans for the evening, we mentioned that we planned to eat dinner at Rosemary’s. He informed us that Rosemary’s was closed for remodeling. However, the same Irish pub that served skunked beer the night before was quite nice. Being the skeptic that I am, we decided to check for ourselves to see if Rosemary’s was closed. Sure enough it was open and looked like it had not been remodeled in about 20 years. It just goes to show you, you can’t trust people no matter where they are from in the world. Dinner was not memorable, but at least the beer was cold and fresh.
We headed home early to catch a little shut eye before the US vs. England game that was scheduled to start at 2:30 AM. With an 8:30 AM pick up time for tomorrow’s activities, it was wisely decided that staying up until the 2:30 AM kick was not going to work. The strategy to turn in early and wake up in the middle of the night was rewarded with a solid US effort and a well earned draw with England – thanks in part to a goal in which anyone with two arms and two legs would have been embarrassed to have conceded.
Day 3 (Sunday June 13, 2010): Guilin to Yangshuo
After waking up in the middle of the night to watch soccer, the 8:30 AM pick-up time sure came fast. Meeting my bleary eyes was also a solid sheet of rain. Not the best combination for a four hour boat down the Li River to Yangshuo. Although the weather was miserable, the scenery was amazing. This is just one shot of hundreds that were taken by our crew on the boat ride down. Check out the rest at our flickr page.
Although the scenery was the highlight of the trip, a close second was the lunch that was served on board. The food itself was average at best, but the manner in which it was served was classic. We were six of ten Westerners on a boat of roughly one hundred and fifty people. There only appear as though a handful of the Chinese people on the boat spoke any English. Which was well enough, since I was tired, it was raining and I didn’t really feel like practicing my Chinese or trying to decode their version of English? The female Chinese tour guide that was assisting us with this leg of the journey came over to our table about 2 minutes before the food was served and informed us that:
“Chinese people are pigs. Since the food is included in the price of the trip, they will take way too much food. You better line up now, or you might not get any food.”
I found it to be amusing how she so readily threw her countrymen under the bus. Figuring that she wasn’t kidding we lined up in front of the buffet serving trays first and were immediately swarmed by Chinese people pushing and shoving their way to get in line behind us. The food was decent. The tour guides advice turned out to be some of the best we received while on vacation. After the line died down, I headed back to the table to grab a piece of watermelon that I didn’t grab on the first trip through the line. To my surprise, every single piece of watermelon had vanished. Upon walking back to my table I noticed one group of four Chinese men that thought that it was necessary to stack as many pieces of watermelon on their extra plate as possible. The pile was literally six inches high and had to have had 50 pieces of watermelon on it. So while I didn’t get one, they clowns each got to eat at least 12 pieces each.
Lucky for us, the rain had stopped by the time we reached Yangshuo. Thus, our afternoon plans of visiting the Water Cave, which included a mud bath and hot spring, and going to the light festival were not ruined. The water cave proved to be one of the most interesting things I have seen in a very long time. The cave itself was only accessible by canoe. It was only accessible by canoe because the entry way to the cave was only about two feet high. Therefore, you had to duck down to avoid taking a rock to the cranium. Once inside the cave was amazing. You’ll have to check out the photos, as I can’t really do justice to the uniqueness of the rock formations in the cave. About three quarters of the way into the cave was a mud bath and mud slide. We knew of this before hand, so we came prepared with bathing suits and towels. Playing in the mud was really enjoyable. Especially the mud slide that was carved from the area that fed the mud bath. After the “bath” and a shower to clean of the mud, we headed over to another room in the cave that had hot springs located in them. A very nice way to wrap up a very cool trip into the depths of a cave in the middle of Southern China. Apparently as a tourist you do have to watch out for ‘fake caves’ trying to mimic the beauty of this one. I am still not sure how you make a large fake cave with a mud bath and hot springs, but I would probably pay to find out. It would be nice to know that the Chinese can indeed copy everything.
The evening events had us attending a light show on the Li River. This show included over six hundred and fifty performers depicting the daily lives of the locals and a legendary story of a Chinese girl from the area that was famous for her ability to sing local folk songs. The show was decent, but not something I would have to do again. The fact that they were performing on bamboo boats on the water was impressive. The fact that I don’t speak a single word of the local dialect made the story difficult to follow. Our tour guide explained that most Chinese probably didn’t understand what was going on either. The lack of ability for anyone in the stands to follow the story probably makes this show a hit!
Day 4 (Monday June 14, 2010): Exploring Yangshuo
We wake up for our 9:30 AM start to a torrential downpour. I would have said “raining cats and dogs”, but as you will read later, there is no way the locals would let it rain cats and dogs without enjoying them for dinner. Our activities of biking and rafting are not looking too good. Curry arrives and gives us some alternatives to keep us busy until our scheduled cooking class. We decide to head to a local market and explore. We quickly discover we are not in a tourist area when everyone is staring at us through the market like they have never seen a white person before – some probably hadn’t. Some of the vendors seem to think this must be our first time around the block and try to sell us things at ridiculous prices. Katie is the only one smart enough to snatch up a pair of the local rubber rain boots for 30 kuai and is the only one who does not ruin her shoes for the rest of the day. I decide to take a pass on the “niek” rubber sandals for the same price. Next, we happen to stumble upon a local ‘pharmacy’ that Curry explains is very famous among the locals for its Chinese doctors. The little woman doctor is excited to see us and starts reading each person’s pulse while Curry does his best to translate the questions for us. Since four members of our group decide to take this opportunity to see what ailments they have, we are soon becoming a spectacle as people are crowding in to see the doctor themselves and are none too pleased to have to wait an hour until we are done. Each time someone gets up, sure enough there is someone trying to jump the line to get to her but she pushes each one back because she is enjoying practicing on Westerners. We think Curry is pleased that we have managed to kill 3 hours at a local market, only spending 30 kuai.
We decide to kill the rest of the time on a covered raft tour. The rains picks up again just in time for us to board the boat. With the assist of some borrowed umbrellas and the ponchos we received at the Li River show, we make it through without getting too soaked. The trip isn’t too exciting but the Tai Tai’s are happy since it ends at a place where local artwork can be purchased. Katie managed to buy a very nice decorative fan that is currently on display in or dining room. 120 kuai is more than I would have paid, but it killed two birds with one stone. 1 – buy a piece of artwork that reminds us of the trip. 2 – fill the space in our dining room that was left when we decided our Bonzi tree couldn’t live there.
After lunch, it is time for our cooking class. A ‘master chef’, “Panda”, who doesn’t look old enough to vote in the US, comes to meet us to start with a tour through the local wet market. Our group is paired up with another 5 people and we have two major decisions to make. The first decision is to pick what we want to make for dinner. Both options sounded fine to me, but the group decided on the Kung Pao Chicken, pork dumplings and Sichuan green beans. The second question was “Who wants to see the dog meat?” Some Westerners must have reacted pretty terribly to seeing the dogs being prepared for dinner, since Panda asked us about 20 times “Are you sure?” At first everyone was a bit hesitant, but we are quickly swayed by Panda, who taunts us one more time with “are you sure you don’t want to see the dogs?” Most of us give in and we are taken by an area where a dog head is laid out for sale and a freshly electrocuted dog is now being scrubbed of its hair. A few dogs are still caged in the corner. The chef informs us that they don’t eat pets and these dogs only come farmed. Somehow that made me feel better. They all look the same as well, like smaller golden colored huskies. As we are leaving the dog electrocution and roasting section we pass a number of small cats in a cage. Katie asks why they would have pets in the butcher shops. Panda simply says, “those aren’t pets…. lets keep walking”. Apparently cats are as popular as dogs, but they must be delicious just the same.
After the market, we walk over to “Cloud 9”, a local cuisine restaurant on West Street. The class begins a little instruction on what is in front of us, including a cutting board, a very large knife, a mixture of some cooking condiments and a large wok. Our “training” included 30 seconds of instruction on how not to cut our fingers off with the large knife. Luckily we are fast learners. The dishes all ended being very delicious and now Katie can make me dumplings in the bamboo steamers she bought a few weeks back. For those keeping score, she can now use the 4 bamboo steamers she bought to make a desert called mango and sticky rice and dumplings.
Day 5 (Tuesday June 15, 2010): Longji Rice Terraces
We check out of our hotel and start the 3 hour journey to the Longji Rice terraces. We are not quite sure what is in store for us on the last leg of this trip, all we know is we are going to have to hike to our hotel at some point. Luckily, I can pay some old lady 20 kuai to lug my bag up the mountain. We finally arrive at the parking lot and our greeted by sunshine for the first time in our whole trip. It could not have come at a better time since we now have a 30 minute hike up a mountain to our place. Per usual, every single tourist location in China is littered with people selling junk. No, I don’t want your factory made blanket, or your paint by numbers “original”, or anything else in your hut. Apparently I am the only one that shares this thought process. After about 15 seconds of the rest of the crew perusing the curio shops, I decide that I can find my way to the top without them. After all, there is one way up and one way down. Only 400 people live in this village. How hard can it be to find the place we are staying? So I head up the mountain on my own, unknowingly to me, with Katie in tow. I was listening to a 2 year old episode of “Stuff you missed in history class”, so I missed her calls for me to wait for her. About 2/3 of the way up the mountain, I realized that I probably should have asked Curry where the destination was. Every single place looked exactly the same and nothing was very well labeled. Instead of waiting I figured I might as well take advantage of the clear skies. So I decided to skip the village we were supposed to stay in and head all the way up to the view point at the top of the mountain. This proved to be quite a hike and I reached the top 18 minutes after departing from the bottom – absolutely dripping in sweat. The hike was well worth it though. The views were amazing and the blue skies were rewarding. Check out the flickr page to see for yourself. After a brief rest, I decided to head back down to the village. In the meantime, my phone starts blowing up. Since I still had my head phones in, I missed the first couple of calls. When I finally realized my phone was ringing, I picked it up to learn that both Katie and I have not arrived at the hotel. I receive instructions on where to find our hotel and tell Curry to call Katie back because we are not together. Apparently everyone else assumed we were. Luckily Katie and I ended up wandering by each other right about the time that Curry found us. I can tell you that Katie was not to happy with my decision to go to the top and leave her to wander through the village by herself.
After a shower and lunch, Curry takes us on a tour of the rice terraces. We head up to the view point that I already visited, across the top of the terrace to the second view point, and then back around to where we started. From the first view point you are supposed to be able to see “Seven stars and the moon”. From the second you are supposed to be able to see “Nine dragons and five tigers”. You need a pretty good imagination or some pretty strong drugs to see either. Regardless, the views are spectacular. Katie or I will have to show you in the pictures where the suns, moons, tigers and dragons are. I know I couldn’t see them without Curry pointing them out.
A nice dinner, a foot massage, some liar’s dice, and a handful of beers greeted us after our hike. This was a great night cap to an amazing trip. Anyone coming to China for an extended period of time needs to visit Guilin, Yangshuo and Longji.
Day 6 (Wednesday June 16, 2010): Longji to Guilin to Shanghai
Another day of pouring rain met us in the morning. It broke just long enough for the same lady that carried my bag up the mountain to carry it down for another 20 kuai. The whole time I was thinking that I was doing the locals a favor by providing them a way to make a living. Besides, I would have been exhausted if I would have had to take the bags up myself.
We watched a long-hair show by the locals at the base of the mountain. The only way I can describe it was…. interesting. A quick stop at a tea farm for some lunch and tea tasting and we were back to the airport. We bid farewell to Curry and promised to recommend him to all of our friends. And for once, that wasn’t lip service. Although many flights were being delayed, ours left without delay. A quick two hour trip back to Shanghai and our little adventure was over. It was back to work for me and back to whatever it is Katie does all day.
"This one" & "That one". A mere point with the index finger and a "Zhè ge" or a "Nà gè" does the trick whenever you are buying just about anything. Lucky for us, most menus at non-western restaurants are about 50 pages long and include pictures of everything. This makes the ordering process a bit time consuming, but it ensures that something resembling the family pet doesn't end up on your plate. How do I know this? Well, when you order duck in China, you typically get the whole duck – from beak to feet. Ordering a fish? You got, it comes with the head and tail. I have even seen an entire sucking pig present on a plate. It was a bit strange, but it was so delicious. I am convinced that the Chinese believe that they are being cheated if they don't see where the thing they ordered started and ended. I, on the other hand, am just glad that I get a picture book to choose my meal from and can use "Zhè ge" and my index finger. Common places to use this: fake markets, restaurants, street vendors, etc. Related sayings "Zhèlǐ" and "Nàlǐ" meaning "here" and "there".
