Anyway, I finished packing and went downstairs for breakfast, which is included practically every day as part of our tour package. It was basically a Chinese-style continental breakfast with more rice noodles, steamed red bean buns, corn, sweet potatoes, congee, and fried dough strips…of course served with warm Soybean Milk. It was OK, but I still prefer the local eatery where we started off yesterday.
After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and drove 45 minutes outside of Guilin to the Lijiang River. As you can see, they offer steamboat tours that end up in the little town of Yangshuo:
On our boat, we got seated at tables of 8, each with a pot of hot tea. I’m not sure what the local specialty tea is here, but I hate to say that I really don’t like it. As much as I love tea, I have to agree that one American on tour put it best when he said it tasted like “someone made tea out of whatever they found in a used lawnmower bag.” Here are 3 of the 8 at my table:
Also on board was another local specialty. Call me a wimp, but I refused to try the snake wine, seen below. Really, I don’t drink alcohol anyway:
Shortly after the boat started, we climbed up to the top to catch the view. Prepare for one really large sequence of scenery pictures because this is the part where I try to convince you that the Guilin area is one of the most beautiful places in the world:
Of course, a lot of other people wanted to have a look too:
There was some wildlife on the river. As we were watching, 2 of them began attempting to make more of said wildlife. Oh nature…
And, of course, the occasional picture of your favorite tacky American tourist…just to prove I’m really there with all the limestone mountains and the beautiful Lijiang River:
Oh no! Some idiot American photo-bombed my beautiful scenery shot. Wait a sec…
More wildlife! I don’t know why all the people on this trip get so worked up over animals, but we do.
A little break to scenery…
…and then more wildlife! Behold, bathing water-buffalos. We were actually all talking about how cute they are. Now that’s Americans for you.
We also passed a lot of set-ups like this one.
OK, this is the last Lijiang River Cruise picture I’m going to throw your way. This cliff is called the “Painted Hill of Nine Horses.” Look at the patterns formed by the stone coloration. With a lot of imagination you can supposedly count 9 horses, but most people only see 3-4 at most:
We finally arrived in Yangshuo—a town close to the size of Cheraw. You may ask, “Why go to some teeny tiny town in the middle of Southwestern China where most people’s English is limited to “Hallo, hallo! Buy this—10 yuan—OK!” and where the town is surrounded entirely by countryside?” Well, for one, it simply felt good to get off of that boat since we’d been cruising down that river for almost 4 hours. Secondly, I like the countryside—always have—but I like the city as well. I approach places the same way I approach seasons: when it’s summer, enjoy the warmth and when it’s winter, enjoy the cold. Likewise, when living in the countryside, enjoy what it has to offer, and when living in the city, enjoy everything it has to offer. Even though I’m currently residing in Hong Kong, I’m still rather “country” at heart and my small town roots reach pretty deep. It feels good to be in the countryside again. What’s more is that, even though people don’t speak English well here, that’s fine. I may not be fluent, but I speak enough Putonghua to get around quite well and even hold rather lengthy and in-depth conversations. I’ve already been practicing my Putonghua every chance I get, and where else is better to practice than in the marketplace? Yangshuo has a somewhat famous market called “West Street” where you can buy all manner of merchandise for cheap.
Here’s the bit of Yangshuo I saw on my way to the market:
This picture is for Masa-san because I know he loves Casablanca:
Finally, I made it to West Street:
I only took the one picture, but I’ve got plenty to remember it by. This was the absolute best place to buy souvenirs, and I came back with an awesome haul and still a very full wallet. I bought one souvenir for myself. As soon as I saw it, I knew that was the item I wanted from this trip. I call it my “Rainbow Fish Bag.” For those of you who don’t know, there is a children’s book called The Rainbow Fish, and it was one of my favorites when I was little. It has beautiful artwork—most notable are the pictures of the rainbow fish himself with his scales in all colors of (you guessed it) the rainbow. This little bag I found is a hand-made purse with a shoulder strap. The bag looks like a turquoise fish with scales in all different colors, and the cinch-top is at its mouth. I will be sure to post pictures later but for now I’ve already packed it away.
I also bought another small item for Sarah. The pocky chopsticks and the T-shirt were a little cheesy, I admit, but this time I bought you a real souvenir that I know you will love. I got 4 of another item because I want to send one to Grandma, one to Mom, one to Kim, and one to my Big Sib (I don’t care if it was 3 years ago, Brittany, you’re still my Big Sib and I miss both you and our “Southern accent contests”). I bought another item for Grandma, and I finally found a gift for Dad! None of you have any idea just how happy that last part makes me. I’ve been trying to find something for Dad for ages but, sorry Dad—you’re already hard to shop for but it’s even harder in China. For one, most of the souvenirs China is famous for are kind of girly. Secondly, Dad, you’re a big guy. They have big guys here too, but you’ve still got most of them beaten by a long shot. Even though it’s a super-touristy gift, I’m so excited about it that I’m going to spoil it. I don’t think anyone will really mind. I found a T-shirt in Dad’s size with the Coca-Cola logo in Chinese characters. In Chinese, Coca-Cola is Ke Kou Ke Le, which is “Refreshing and Happy.” Good translation, I think. Much better than Pepsi, which is Bai Shi Ke Le, “100 Happy Things.” I know my dad likes a good T-shirt, and this one’s downright funny. I thought for a moment about buying the “Oba-Mao” shirt, but thank goodness sense caught up with me first.
The best thing about all this shopping: I bargained in Chinese for every item and paid no more than 50% of the original price for anything. I love China.
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