We arrived in the mountain paradise of Guilin on Thursday afternoon and took a forty-minute taxi ride to the Sheraton Hotel through some of the most lush and beautifully manicured terrain we've ever seen. Guilin is known for having the best landscaping in the world and we found that to be true everywhere we went. If ever presented with the opportunity to make the 17-mile bus or taxi ride between the Liangjiang International Airport and Guilin, one is rewarded by scheduling at least one way during daylight. We've never seen a longer stretch of road more beautifully maintained on our travels.
After briefly exploring the streets near the hotel, we opted for a restaurant that claimed to have authentic cuisine from around the world. Although the menu offered such fare as "double-bailed eggs with ham, bacon and intertines" (?) and cucumber-flavored milk, we opted for (what they considered) pizza. Oops. No tomato sauce, just a thick coating of mayonnaise between the crust and cheese. Still, we enjoyed the novelty of it.
To our delight, as we waited for our Li River tour guide in the hotel lobby on the morning of the 4th of July, a family we noticed at the pool the night before joined the group. Danne Johnson, her daughter Layla (11) and son Ahmad (7), were as eager as we were to partner up and an instant friendship was born. We would hardly separate for the next two days as we enjoyed eating, swimming, waiting out rainstorms and exploring together.
The 3½-mile cruise on the large, air-conditioned ship included tea and lunch but we mostly devoured the scenery. The verdant limestone hills jut and roll as if a child had drawn them in a unique topography known as karst and minerals have turned the rock faces various striking shades of yellow, white, black, gray and green.
We saw water buffalo grazing and a line of trained cormorants which are diving birds around whose necks fishermen tie nooses to keep them from swallowing their catch. A few merchants standing on thin bamboo boats rowed right up to the fast-moving tourist boat and latched on to sell their fruits and vegetables.
Many of the hills along the river have been named based on distinguishing features such as the famous Nine Horse Mural Hill on which one is supposed to be able to see up to nine horses in various poses.
Some of the highlights for the kids were their rain dance on the deck above the captain's head, getting soaked by intermittent showers and encouraging passing boats to lay on the horn.
A brochure we received reminds us that the reflections of the hills in the clear and greenish water provide bright, beautiful images: "One hundred miles Lijiang River, one hundred miles art gallery." Both ancient and modern literary works appreciate the beauty of the region. Han Yu, a great poet form the Tang Dynasty, wrote a popular work praising the scenery:
The tourist town of Yangshou is the terminus of the cruise and is visited by 20 million people a year.
We had about four hours to wander the streets before catching the bus back to Guilin but ended up spending much of the time chatting and avoiding the rain and intense heat by talking our way into the deserted dining area of a hotel. We did manage to break away and head through town to check out the many shops and visit a park across from the bus station before we left.
We woke up on July 5 to torrential rains, a swollen Li River and flooded streets outside our hotel; not enough to do damage like some areas we've seen on the news, but enough to divert traffic here and there. We relaxed in the lobby to ride out the rain with Danne, Layla and Ahmad after the first of our two extravagant hotel breakfast buffets. The kids all had a wonderful time together and Danne and her husband, Reggie, share so many of our interests and values that we are excited to have found these life-long friends. We've already made plans to see them again in Shanghai on July 10th and have been sharing travel tips and stories with each other by text and email.
After the rain slowed and before Danne ushered the kids to the train station for their 18-hour journey to Shanghai, we ate lunch together at a conveyer-belt sushi restaurant in Guilin. Vaughn and I plucked various delights such as cuttlefish and seaweed from the passing plates while Quinn, Xander and Betsy ordered noodle soup, fried shrimp, sushi and broiled fish from the menu. We were going to wait until Tokyo to have sushi, but we couldn't pass up the presentation and it was well worth the visit.
Our last great memory of Guilin was when we took some sports gear to a nearby sprawling plaza to get some exercise. Quinn garnered her usual share of attention but when the boys and I pulled out our baseball gloves and started whipping the ball around we ended up becoming a major tourist attraction. Scores of people stopped and gathered to watch, fascinated by the unusual sport and the boys' ability to throw accurately and catch hard liners and high flies. We encouraged young and old to try their hand at throwing the ball and even tossed our gloves to a few willing participants and challenged them to catch a popup or two. As darkness brought the activity to a halt, everyone whipped out their cameras and wanted to meet us face-to-face. Right at the end, I gathered a part of the group together and asked them to pose. It was a great joy to be ambassadors of goodwill and sportsmanship and to be a part of so many people's enjoyment of the evening. The smiles we saw and the oohs and aahs we heard from the crowd are moments we won't soon forget.
After briefly exploring the streets near the hotel, we opted for a restaurant that claimed to have authentic cuisine from around the world. Although the menu offered such fare as "double-bailed eggs with ham, bacon and intertines" (?) and cucumber-flavored milk, we opted for (what they considered) pizza. Oops. No tomato sauce, just a thick coating of mayonnaise between the crust and cheese. Still, we enjoyed the novelty of it.
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| The best part was the beer-flavored beer. |
The 3½-mile cruise on the large, air-conditioned ship included tea and lunch but we mostly devoured the scenery. The verdant limestone hills jut and roll as if a child had drawn them in a unique topography known as karst and minerals have turned the rock faces various striking shades of yellow, white, black, gray and green.
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| A very famous view available for just US$3.22, far lass than the cost of a seat on the riverboat. |
Many of the hills along the river have been named based on distinguishing features such as the famous Nine Horse Mural Hill on which one is supposed to be able to see up to nine horses in various poses.
Some of the highlights for the kids were their rain dance on the deck above the captain's head, getting soaked by intermittent showers and encouraging passing boats to lay on the horn.
A brochure we received reminds us that the reflections of the hills in the clear and greenish water provide bright, beautiful images: "One hundred miles Lijiang River, one hundred miles art gallery." Both ancient and modern literary works appreciate the beauty of the region. Han Yu, a great poet form the Tang Dynasty, wrote a popular work praising the scenery:
The river winds like a blue-silk ribbon,
While the hills erect like green jade hairpins
The tourist town of Yangshou is the terminus of the cruise and is visited by 20 million people a year.
We had about four hours to wander the streets before catching the bus back to Guilin but ended up spending much of the time chatting and avoiding the rain and intense heat by talking our way into the deserted dining area of a hotel. We did manage to break away and head through town to check out the many shops and visit a park across from the bus station before we left.
We woke up on July 5 to torrential rains, a swollen Li River and flooded streets outside our hotel; not enough to do damage like some areas we've seen on the news, but enough to divert traffic here and there. We relaxed in the lobby to ride out the rain with Danne, Layla and Ahmad after the first of our two extravagant hotel breakfast buffets. The kids all had a wonderful time together and Danne and her husband, Reggie, share so many of our interests and values that we are excited to have found these life-long friends. We've already made plans to see them again in Shanghai on July 10th and have been sharing travel tips and stories with each other by text and email.
After the rain slowed and before Danne ushered the kids to the train station for their 18-hour journey to Shanghai, we ate lunch together at a conveyer-belt sushi restaurant in Guilin. Vaughn and I plucked various delights such as cuttlefish and seaweed from the passing plates while Quinn, Xander and Betsy ordered noodle soup, fried shrimp, sushi and broiled fish from the menu. We were going to wait until Tokyo to have sushi, but we couldn't pass up the presentation and it was well worth the visit.
Our last great memory of Guilin was when we took some sports gear to a nearby sprawling plaza to get some exercise. Quinn garnered her usual share of attention but when the boys and I pulled out our baseball gloves and started whipping the ball around we ended up becoming a major tourist attraction. Scores of people stopped and gathered to watch, fascinated by the unusual sport and the boys' ability to throw accurately and catch hard liners and high flies. We encouraged young and old to try their hand at throwing the ball and even tossed our gloves to a few willing participants and challenged them to catch a popup or two. As darkness brought the activity to a halt, everyone whipped out their cameras and wanted to meet us face-to-face. Right at the end, I gathered a part of the group together and asked them to pose. It was a great joy to be ambassadors of goodwill and sportsmanship and to be a part of so many people's enjoyment of the evening. The smiles we saw and the oohs and aahs we heard from the crowd are moments we won't soon forget.
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| Sadly, there were no scouts on hand. We'll have to try again in Japan. |