17 November 2014
Greetings all and welcome to the 5th of 5 (last) updates on our visits through the South of China. We last were in Shanghrila and we took a flight from there to Guilin.
Guilin is in the Guanxi province (See the map belowand is known for 2 things...karst land formations and terraced rice fields. We didn't have alot of time, so we focused on the mountains...maybe next time we'll go to the rice fields!
These mountains are beautiful...rather than try to describe them, I'll just show some photos of our Li River tour from Guilin to Yangshao...where we go through the a beautiful part of Guanxi province. If you have ever been to Epcot at Disney World in Florida, and visited the Chinese pavillion, this area is shown prominently...check it out next time!
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| Map of China...Guanxi is in the South, bordering on Vietnam and also the South China Sea. The capital of the province is NanNing. |
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| It can get a little crowded on the Li River! |
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| Rod and Sarah on the Li River in Guilin |
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| Guilin mountains |
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| Guilin Mountains with a rafter (the river is very shallow this time of year) |
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| More Guilin mountains...and blue sky! |
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| More Guilin mountains and the bamboo you see on the sidelines is called Phoenix bamboo |
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| On the 20 Yuan bill here in China, the Guilin mountains are show...just had to prove it with a photo! |
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| Coming into Yangshao |
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| Arrived in Yangshao...and had to visit a few shops! |
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| So many pretty embroidery works here in this shop! |
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| Rod relaxing by the Meeting Dragon Riverside in Yangshao |
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| Sunsetting on the Meeting Dragon River in Yangshao |
As you can see the natural beauty is really amazing...the area where we ran the race in Qiubei, Yunnan province is called the little Guilin..and I can see why..same type of rocky strange shaped mountains!
And if natural beauty wasn't enough, then of course, doing everything on a grand scale, someone came up with doing a big show...none other than the same guy who did the corregraphy for the 2008 Beijing olympics. The stage was the water and the mountains were the backdrop..over 600 participants and I can attest it was a really amazing show. Below, the pictures really don't do it justice..so big, so 'wow' and so Chinese! If you go to Guilin, take the river cruise to Yangshao, then go to the show "Impressions"...it's worth it!
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| River stage with lit-up mountains in the background. That is a lady on a boat floating by. |
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| Canoes with torches on the water |
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| Fishermen on rafts, each with a red plastic sheet they oscilate..pretty amazing! |
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| A lady in the moon with fire torch boats in the background |
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| Dancers on teh warf with backlit mountains |
Well, like I said, you had to be there to get the full effect!
The next day, I went exploring on a bicycle in one of the small villages outside of Yangshao and we (me and the guide) stopped by a woman's house...I believe this was authentic...all of the stuff was used and the house was lived in..life in the country!
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| The front door |
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| The living room |
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| The laundry room (actually it was about 3 rooms, so when I say room's, it was more like a 'wall' |
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| The kitchen |
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| The living room...big screen TV and a photo of Chairman Mao..what a combo! |
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| The Chinese woman and me |
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| The Sofa (no cushions)..she was really proud of her grandson's art work behind her on the wall |
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| The running water |
She seemed very happy (for all I know she got paid for showing us her house..but it was very interesting I have to admit). I have not been in country homes in the North, but I assume the insulation is better in the North than what I saw in the south!
After the house exploring, we went to see "moon hill"..it was a hole in a mountain that was probably a cave and an earthquake moved the rest of the mountain to expose it. There is a road that goes around part of the mountain and depending on where you look at it, it's either a crescent moon or a 1/2 moon.
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| 1/2 Moon Hill mountain outside of Yangshao |
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| 1/4 moon hill mountain outside of Yanghsao...i |
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| 1/4 Moon hill mountain outside of Yanghao...it all depends on your perspective! |
After the tour around Moon hill mountain (that didn't take long!), we went on a bamboo raft down the river...someone else was doing the pushing..another shallow river ride.
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| Rod and Sarah riding down the river on a lazy afternoon in Yangshao |
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| Sarah on the best looking camel in Yangshao (after the river raft ride!) |
To wrap up our action packed time in Guilin, we were taken on a Cormorant fishing trip...I wasn't sure what to expect and I've never been a great fisherman..but I like birds and I had never seen cormorants up close, so I thought this would be fun! I was right...it was a blast!! This happens at night and they put a light to shine on the water to attract the fish. There is another one of these bamboo rafts (now, most of them are PVC) with the light and the fisherman and his cormorants. They fish naturally and they have a piece of straw around their neck so they can't swallow the fish when they dive to catch the fish. As spectators, we were in another boat riding right along side in the dark. The fisherman talks to them like you would a pet, but it was clear they are not pets..they are working members of the family! It was a hoot! Below are some of the pics of cormorant fishing in Yangshao..what fun!
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| Cormorants sitting on the boat ready to fish |
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| The front of the fishing boat on the water |
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| One of the cormorants having to give up his fish on the boat |
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| Back on shore the fisherman with his cormorant |
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| Sarah with the Cormorant on her arm (and a Chinese fishing hat!) |
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| Rod with the Cormorant on his arm |
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| A satisfied cormorant on the boat after fishing |
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| Up close and personal with a cormorant giving up his fish |
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| A cormorant's nighs work done! |
So that ended up our vacation...we left Guilin the next morning and came back to cold Shenyang...and I went to work the next day...and have been paying the price ever since for taking the time off during a busy time of year. I don't regret it one bit!
Hope you enjoyed our journey to Yunnan and Guanxi province...we didn't see anywhere near all of it and not sure we'll get back there...we sure did enjoy it when we were there and I highly recommend...especially Yunnan!
Sarah & Rod in China
