I returned last night from an interesting getaway that I heartily recommend to anyone either living in China or on an extended visit.
It’s taken us nearly five years to finally make it to the southern Guangxi autonomous region and the city of Guilin, and onward to our destination along the Lijiang River of Yangshuo.
The train trip from Beijing lasted 22 hours and was very pleasant. By the time we awoke, we’d already passed Wuhan and were arriving in Changsha, capital of Hunan province. It began to rain.
By the time we arrived in Guilin, then by bus to Yangshuo, it was a disaster scene. Floods had enveloped the town. We found dry lodging, and immediately put on shorts and flip-flops to look around. Much of the town was waist-deep in water.
Equally as interesting as the flooding was the extraordinary speed at which the town recovered within a day as flood waters receded. Everything seemed to recover almost immediately.
I hadn’t been to a place with such a variety of things to do for a family. We rented bicycles, including a couple of bicycles built for two. Riding along the Lijiang, we were delighted by the sight of several hot-air balloons drifting lazily over the karst mountains. So we chased them. It led us down dirt roads and trails till we could hear the snorting and ripping of the jet flame shooting hot air into the balloon in a field about 50 feet from us.
There are caves to explore, rivers to raft and many shops filled with tribal group handcrafts in Yangshuo to browse.
Perhaps most interesting was a day and night we spent in the village of Chaolong outside Yangshuo. We stayed at the Yangshuo Outside Inn, known to one and all as the Helan Fandian (or Dutchman’s Inn) (www.yangshuo-outside.com). The Dutch owner was away at the time, but the staff, all minority Zhuang women, were extremely helpful and food was great. We rented mountain bikes and took an amazing journey across small bridges, along gravel roads and into the back country. The region received enough foreign visitors so that one doesn’t get the, ‘My God, Martha, look at the Martians coming down the road!’ stares foreigners sometimes get in places like remote Sichuan Province. Those stares, by the way, are interesting all by themselves and will be subject of another blog. There are not that many places left on earth where one can one go and be seen as so alien to the ‘normal’ way of life of another people.
Another morning, through a steady drizzle, we hiked into neighboring valleys following age-old trails carved by peasants and farmers. Gravestones with writing in traditional characters marked the way. Farmers ploughed their rice paddies with water buffalo. It was nice to see that some traditions never change.
TJ,
Did you take off your helmet (needed for Beijing?) and ask the natives: "Take me to your leader."
Posted by: A B | June 17, 2008 at 12:53 AM
Excellent Photos. That brings back memory, thanks.
Posted by: rocking offkey | June 17, 2008 at 02:18 AM
Did you photograph any of the villagers with the water buffalo staked out for a fee and observe the gangs nearby waiting for their cut?
Posted by: James Cochran | June 17, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Tim--sounds a lot like a weekend I spent in Hangzhou once. I was in Shanghai, visiting friends who lived there, and we took the train down for the weekend. A wonderful place, still have good memories of our time there.
Posted by: Eve | June 17, 2008 at 05:18 PM
My trip on the Lijiang was the highlight of our trip to China earlier this month.
Posted by: mperloe | June 29, 2008 at 06:02 PM