Choose another map, showing:

• China
• South East Asia
• Asia
• Eurasia, Africa & Pacific
• The World

Other entries in Guilin

Guilin

Sorry for the lack of entries on to this blog. Lets just say that the Chinese internet is very restrictive!!

After Beijing I got my first overnight train to Xi'an in the west. The overnight train was fine, much better than I thought it would be. I travelled by 'hard sleeper' and had my own bed in a little compartment of 6. All the lights get switched off at 10pm and its quite easy to sleep. The conductor comes round and makes sure that you're awake half an hour before your stop which is good.

In Xi'an I didn't do too much, mostly wandering around the markets in the Muslim quarter and 'Culture Street', looking at sets of calligraphy brushes, silk scarves, Chinese art and ornamental chopsticks. Also discovered a really good hostel got the Shenyang Hostel which does toast for breakfast! The highlight in Xi'an was a day trip to see the Terracotta Warriors which were really amazing.

After Xi'an I got the train to Shanghai, a 16 hour journey. Shanghai was very rainy and it reminded me of London. All the streets are very narrow, not like Beijing at all, and there are loads of expats living there so there are lots of signs in English which is good. Highlights in Shanghai were the Yu Gardens and Markets and going up the Jinmao Tower, which is the 4th tallest building in the world.

From Shanghai it was a 24 hour journey by train and bus to Yangshuo, a beautiful little town near the city of Guilin. The landscape here is very strange - it is completely flat except for huge limestone mountains which are dotted all around. Yangshuo is a real traveller town - there are lots of cafes, hostels, shops and restaurants. On my first evening here I went to see a light show which is performed on the Li River by 300 performers. It is directed by the same person that is directing the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games and it was really enjoyable. I also managed to meet a group of guys from Exeter in the bar afterwards!

The next day I had a tai chi lesson in the park in the morning. Who would have thought that tai chi could be so complicated. Apparently there are 24 basic moves and once you know these you can complete another 108 other moves. I learnt the first 6, which were really difficult, but it was all good fun. In the afternoon after a massive thunderstorm, I went on a cruise down the Li River in a little wooden boat, very beautiful, and I took hundreds of photos.

The next day I went on a caving trip with my roommate Alice. We even had a mud bath in one of the  underground caves!

After Yangshuo we stayed in a tiny village up in the hills, right in the middle of the rice paddies and farmland. From there we did a lot of cycling on the little raised paths between the rice fields which was amazing as we got to meet all the locals out working in the fields, and saw a lot of other crops being grown as well - oranges, peanuts, chillies etc.

I am in Guilin at the moment having just returned from the Longji rice terraces. Longji is a mountainous area where the locals have resculpted the mountainsides into rice terraces which is quite spectacular to see. The first night there I walked to a little village called Dazhai and stayed in a little wooden guesthouse for the night. I became a bit of a favourite with the local Yai women because I bought one of their silver bangles and I ended up being mobbed by all the other local women all trying to sell me more jewellery! The next day it rained very heavily but I had to walk for 4 hours in the pouring rain to the village of Ping'an, sometimes ankle deep in mud! In Ping'an I managed to get a foot massage to recover from the walk and in the evening watched and took part in a minority culture show where all the locals were teaching us their traditional dances and songs, probably the highlight of the trip so far.

I have just had to pay a visit to the pharmacy here because somehow I have managed to get an infected foot, which is not good as I have a lot more hiking coming up in the next few days and at the moment I can only just fit my trainer on! Luckily all medicine can be bought over the counter here so I am stocked up with more pills and lotions.

This evening I am catching the train to Shenzhen and then crossing the border to Hong Kong.

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit