From the moment you cross the border into China, you enter a different world. A world where few understand English, where McDonalds takes your order at a table, where shopping is cheaper than cheap and the food is ridiculously good.
Kristal, Zarina, Cinja and I decided to travel to Guilin and Yangshou, China, in the spur of the moment. It was so unplanned in fact that I had to rush my visa. I'm so glad we went though because it was possibly my favourite trip to date, for many many reasons. The journey started on the Thursday afternoon with an overnight sleeper train from Shenzhen (border of HK and China) to Guilin. I honestly thought I'd be extremely bored on the train but surprisingly wasn't. I slept through most of the journey and it didn't feel to long. I think the hardest part was arriving at 7am and dealing with still being half asleep and lost. After checking in and getting our bearings we decided to explore what we expected to be a quaint town.
Guilin is an unimaginably beautiful place. Set amongst huge Karst mountains and with the Li river running through it, it makes for a pristine setting and perfect photo opportunity. It wasn't however a quaint town, but a bustling city, where from the top of Elephant Hill Guilin looks to sprawl never ending in all directions. While in Guilin we saw many of the tourist sights, walking to each and everyone of them... Elephant Hill, or as Zarina put it, a hole in a rock, was set on the bank of the Li River. It was really pretty, but the Chinese have decided to milk the elephant concept for all that it's worth, building elephant statues and charging admission. It was overrated, but still a nice place. Next on the list was the Twin Pagodas which sit in the middle of the river. Again the tourism board has capitalised on their beauty and so charges admission here too. We didn't pay though as the view was possibly better from the bank of the river where you could see both structures. Twin Bridges, Solid Beauty Peak and Seven Stars Park were to follow. All naturally beautiful areas and all offering something slightly different I'm glad we squeezed as much in as possible. My least favourite sight was the sad animals in the zoo at Seven Stars Park. The animals are relegated to tiny little cages with no natural habitat, in this zoo, even the Pandas looked depressed! Guilin also has many markets which were a lot of fun to experience. Every night, the city blocks off half its main street and opens up hundreds of tents and trinkets and goods. I enjoyed it, even if I was being taken for a ride in regards to pricing...
The next day we hoped on a river cruise down the Li River to Yangshou. After acting like ignorant, angry tourists the four of us were finally seated together. I still think it's ridiculous the way they wanted to seat us, but hey story for another day... The scenery was magnificent, although I was somewhat disappointed because the views didn't hold a candle to Doubtful Sound in New Zealand and after all the hype I was expecting perfection. Once we got to Yangshou the rain set in an totally dampened the entire holiday, but then again it wouldn't be travel to Kristal, Cinja and myself if it didn't pour with rain all weekend. Trying to find our hostel for the night was a task, with every local pointing us in a different direction. We did find it eventually however and were definitely relieved to see the sweet hostel sign. After checking into the hostel we explored Yangshou on a budget, a time budget that is. Hiring a taxi for an hour we got taken around the outskirts of town, seeing rice Fields, spectacular views, moon hill (another hole in a rock) and the locals working along the river. The town of Yangshou it self is beautiful, reminding me of a storybook town, or something out of a fairytale, but the countryside surrounding it was spectacular, not lacking in anything. We also went to the Yangshou Lights Show. This show was choreographed, at no expense spared, by the same man who did the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Set on the Banks of the Li River, the audience sits outside and watches the amazing display of ordinary town folk dancing, singing and telling a Chinese love story. It was amazing, and definitely recommended if you ever go to Yangshou. They even give you free ponchos for when the rain sets in.
Our last day in China was very up in the air until the last minute, but I think the decision we made was the right one. At 7am the four of us hoped on a tour from Yangshou to the Yao Village, to the Longji Rice Terraces in Leshan and back to Guilin. It was my favourite part of the weekend, with spectacular scenery and the nicest of people, minus the ignorant Greek woman who was on our bus. The Yao Village is famous for its long haired customs and beliefs. The women in this village style and grow their hair in relation to their marital status. For example, a woman who wears her hair in a front bun has children and is married, whereas a woman who covers her hair in childless and not married. The women in this village also have, apparently, the longest hair in the world, and if you're willing to pay them, they'll let it down and show you. After the Yao Village a mini bus took us to the top of the Longji Rice Terraces. It was a really foggy day and when we got there we thought we might not even get to see the terraces because we were surrounded in white mist. Luckily for us however the fog cleared enough for us to take some photos and see what we payed to see, the rice terraces. We also ate amazing Bamboo rice and bamboo curry in the village, it was amazing, and something I wish was easier to come by in Hong Kong or even in Adelaide at all.
Once we got back to Guilin we had a quick dinner and headed back to the train station, bound for Shenzhen. China is a country you'll either love or hate. It's not the easiest place to get around and the local merchants are more than happy to charge you a mint for something worth nothing. Having said this however, it's a place with such cultural and historical significance, the food is incredible and the scenery devine. It was my favourite trip to date because it's something I will always remember and be sharing for years. It wasn't a party trip, but a chance to see a completely different world.
Pictures:
Li River Cruise Karst structures
The group infront of Elephant Hill
The amazing Yangshou Light Show
Longji Rice Terraces
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