Guilin and Yangshuo

From a rather chilly Xi'an, we headed down to the South of China, go Guilin. After Shanghai & Xi'an, both big cities even by Chinese standards (but it like this, both have a far bigger population than all of Finland...), we felt the need to explore the Chinese countryside a bit (especially after the wonderful few days we spent in Huanshan).

So, as implied above, the main reasons to visit the reason are natural, rather than man-made wonders. We checked into our youth hostel, a nice enough place, with the predictably slow WIFI being the main drawback.

After a good night's sleep, we decided to head off and explore the famous Longsheng rice terraces. It turned out to be a bit of an expidition - we first had to take a city bus to the bus station, then take a bus out to a small town, and get on a minibus from there. Amazingly, in spite of the fact that we didn't encounter a single person who spoke any English, we made it to Longsheng without too much hassle of delay (it did take us about 3 hours, though).

A brisk walk took us to the village at the bottom of the rice terraces, from where there is a cable car service up to the top. We had a slight disagreement on how to get up - I wanted to hike, whereas Isabelle fancied a ride in the cable car. Eventually we came to a compromise, we decided to take the cable car up, and walk down. A good idea, as it turned out, as the too means of transport offers different perspectives of this magical landscape.

So, as I mentioned, the landscapes are truly amazing, especially from the top. So functional, and necessary to grow rice in this challenging environment, yet so beautiful at the same time. The area up at the top is a bit touristy, with restaurants, tourist shops, and the like (Isabelle even bought a selfie stick, noooo....!). We were quite thankful for the restaurants, as  we were hungry, so we decided to grab a bite. We decided to have bamboo rice (basically rice, that has been treated with the juice of young bamboo shoots - apparently it gives the rice a boost of vitamin B and a green tea-like taste).

The walk down to the bottom of the valley was wonderful - the landscapes were amazing, of course, but it also gave us a bit of an insight into how the local village people live and work. It seems that they have managed to maintain their way of life, in spite of the no doubt constant presence of tourists.

Actually, it was getting a bit late, and since a mini bus driver was looking for some passengers for Guilin, we decided to go for it. We didn't have the energy to do much in Guilin, we did have a walk around, checking out a couple of impressively lit up pagodas by the Li river, and having one of the most awful burgers (think worse than McDonald's!) ever in a restaurant that was well recommended in our Lonely Planet for some odd reason.

For the next day, we'd decided to join an organized tour to head down the Li river to Yangshuo, where we were spending the next couple of days, before heading up to Beijing. The Chinese organized tour experience was quite interesting. We (together with 4 Americans who were as clueless as us) managed to figure out the rough plan - we were to ride the bus for about an hour, then take some river boats down to Xingping, where we were supposed to find a bus, which would take us to Yangshuo (we were supposed to find the bus using a rather dodgy hand-drawn map, which we were allowed to take a photo of).

Then, the lady went on to speak non-stop (and I mean that literally, we were starting to suspect she was a robot or something since she didn't even seem to stop to catch her breath) for about 1 hour, no doubt explaining what we were supposed to see during the river cruise. She summarized it all in 5 minutes in English (rather efficient!).

Anyway, enough sarcasm - the river cruise was actually wonderful. We rode down the Li river on some traditional bamboo rafts (or rather, modern boats made to look like traditional bamboo rafts), and the views were just amazing. The images have been justly made famous by numerous Chinese artists and photographers (sugar cane shaped hills, lined up along the river).

We stopped by at a place where they sold touristy trinkets - you could also pay to pretend to be a Cormorant fisherman. Cormorant fishing is a traditional form of fishing in this part of China, where the fisherman basically has a pole on his shoulders, with a cormorant at each end, tied with a rope to its leg. The birds then does the fishing, basically. Isabelle, pictures besides this text, had a go... (OK, I'm lying, the pretending to be a fisherman means only posing for photos ;-) ).

We then carried on to Xingping, a nice-seeming traditional town, one which we didn't have time to visit, unfortunately, as we were desperately trying to locate the elusive bus that was supposed to take us to Yangshuo. Thanks to one of our American friends, who actually spoke a bit of Mandarin, we made it in time. (well, we didn't actually, but the bus was even more late than us).

Yangshuo was apparently a bit of a backpackers' haunt, about 20 years ago. Those days are long gone - mass tourism has taken over, to doubt about it. Still, it's a pleasant enough town, and the Youth Hostel we were staying at was an absolute gem. Located just outside of the town (but still a comfortable 10 minute walk from the town centre), we had lovely views from our rooms towards the surrounding countryside (as well as a nice terrace and even a swimming pool).

The thing to do in Yangshuo is to take out a bike and explore the countryside. Isabelle was more for renting an electric scooter, but I managed to talk her into a bike ride ;). So off we went, into the rugged countryside - the plan was to head off Liugong, a nice little village. It was a wonderful bike ride, taking us through some truly sublime landscapes. We passed through quite a few small hamlets (some of which were on our map, some which weren't - finding our way was a bit of a challenge actually).

Amazingly enough, we ran into the American couple we'd met on the organized tour on our way to Liugong, so we decided to team up, as they were heading to the same place. And we did amazingly find the place, and even a nice restaurant where we had lunch. It was quite a nice little village, a bit rugged, but not a tourist in sight. After lunch, we walked around in the village for a bit, and then headed back to Yangshuo.

In the evening, I decided to check out the famous West Street - which used to be the backpackers haunt in town. These days, it's an INSANELY busy tourist trap, full of bars, shops and restaurants. The street was just ridiculously busy - think Oxford street the weekend before Christmas. Well, I suppose that counts as an experience as well - but I rather preferred the calm countryside during our bike ride...

The next day, we were weighing up various options, but decided to do another bike ride in the end. The plan was to check out a traditional Chinese market at a small town called Baishapu. Again, the bike ride was fantastic, taking us along the river, with wonderful scenery (and more of those sugar cane hills).

We ran into some kind of old communist crazy tourist guide, who was dressed up as a soldier, who seemed to be really keen to take us on a guided tour. We gracefully turned him down, and he equally gracefully agreed to pose for a picture with Isabelle.

The market we ended up in was very traditional indeed - again, not a tourist in sight. Pretty much everything edible (and non-edible) imaginable was on sale - including dog meat (which is a local speciality, apparently!). I decided to have a haircut at the local barber shop, always a cool experience. Unfortunately I forgot to bargain the price beforehand, so no doubt I paid about ten times the price locals pay (which still makes it about 3 times cheaper than in Europe).

We had a wonderful lunch at one of the food stalls (for the more than reasonable price of about 1 Euro). Yummie.

The ride back was great too, with more fantastic landscapes, with some gorgeus riverside views. Looks like we'd hit a more popular section of the river, as there were quite a few tourists, cycling like us, checking out the views. Unsurprisingly, we got lost (too busy enjoying the views to follow the road signs, I suppose), but managed to find our way back "home" thanks to some helpful locals.

For the evening , we decided to check out the famous Impressions Sanjie Liu show, directed by the great Zhang Yimou (known to the wide public for having orchestrated the Beijing Olympic games opening ceremony, also a great film director whose films I rather enjoy). The show, based on the legend of Liu Shanjie, is a rather over-the-top affair, but undeniably impressive.

It takes place on the Li River at night (some of the nearby hills are lit up for added effect), the spectacle itself is a mixture of light effects, singing and dancing. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many extras in one show, either... Anyway, it's a spectacle worth seeing, but only once.

The next day, 'twas time for us to head off to Beijing. It felt a bit wistful to leave this beautiful region with its lovely countryside, but then again, I was very keen to explore the treasures of Beijing!