Yangshuo - bike ride thru countryside - May 27, 2009

Started the day looking for breakfast, but we didn't do very well. Bought some dumplings from a street vendor, but one was filled with noodles and the other was filled with a mixture of peanuts and sugar. We did manage to get soy milk, but I later grabbed some muesli with yoghurt.

Met the group and headed off for a bicycle tour. I must say that my expectations for the gear was fairly low given our experience with rented bikes on the city wall in Xi'an, but this time we were given full suspension mountain bikes that actually seemed to work. After we had all adjusted things and checked brakes, we headed out. Mike immediately had a problem so they swapped his bike out before we got too far.

The scenery was still gorgeous and a bicycle is a great way to see it – once you clear the traffic around town. They have built a small scenic route that is perfect for bikes, though we had to take some pretty rough roads at the end to reconnect with the main road network. There was a few opportunities to take pictures, though between the rafting and the ballooning, most uf us have lots of pictures of the area.

We rode to Moon Hill, which is where one of the karst mountains has had an immense hole carved into it by erosion. It's a bit of a climb, but well worth it. One interesting and irritating feature is that old ladies will climb the path with you, trying to sell drinks, postcards, or whatever. Linda and I were accompanied by 2 of these women, both of whom were carrying styrofoam coolers. Once we reached the hole in the mountain, I bought a drink from one of them. Linda refused a drink from the other, which set up a period of whining like I have seldom heard from a grown person – the one who had been slighted followed us around, shouting about how we now needed to buy something from her. I am ashamed to admit that I bought postcards from her just to get some peace.

On the other hand, Moon Hill had some beautiful views and we got some nice pictures. Some of the guys in the group decided to continue to the top, but we decided not to after seeing the mud and slippery conditions on the much narrower trail. They did make it and came down with pictures to prove it, including some of them on a pole that is apparently up there. It seems very strange ...

After walking back down, we pedaled the bikes to a nearby village and had lunch. I can't remember everything we had (and you wouldn't want to hear a full description) but there were a couple of dishes that I'd never had before, including some egg dumplings with a meat and mint filling (sort of like tiny omelettes) and every dish seemed to have pork in it (pork with carrots, pork with green beans, pork with tomato, etc.). It was a very good meal (though a couple of the dishes seemed a bit heavy on salt) and there was enough food that we had enough leftovers to have fed another person – the cost was 30 yaun (bout $6).

At that point we pedaled back to Yangshou. Mostly uneventful, but we were on the major roads and so there was the usual honking of horns and general mayhem, but compounded by the large number of tourists on bicycles that were not really concentrating on the rules of traffic. Unfortunately, Marlena had an accident where a woman on a scooter pulled out blind from behind a truck and Marlena couldn't stop in time, hitting the scooter from the side. Marlena hurt her thumb but was otherwise okay, but the stupid woman started swearing at her and motioning towards some damage on the scooter (which must have been there previously). Fortunately, Jennie rode up and tried dealing with the woman but apparently she continued swearing and being generally belligerent, so Jennie got out her cell phone and dialed 110 (the number for the police) and the woman just rode away on her scooter. Marlena was understandably upset, but at least she didn't suffer anything worse than a sprained thumb.

Once back in town, we all had some free time. We showered, then headed into town with laundry (it is quite cheap and very quick to get it done at the Speed Queen Laundry just off West Street). After dropping it off, we noticed some of the group at the pizza place, so we joined them. For a lark, we ordered a bottle of Great Wall red wine (which was more expensive than we expected it to be but still much cheaper than anything you can get at a restaurant in Calgary). Of course, it was no match for the Bordeaux that Kelly was drinking, but after breathing for a while (and as the alcohol took effect) it seemed tolerable.

After finishing our tuna pizza, we headed over to the meeting place to go to the light show. The show is difficult for me to describe, mainly because it was all in Chinese, but I'll try. It apparently tells the story of the area in song and dance, done at night with special effects involving lights, It is staged in a circle of mountains above a pool of still water where they have built stages that submerge and rise at different times. The performers are light by lights, but they also carry torches or (in one case) are lit by bulbs that are incorporated in the costumes. The whole thing was choreographed by the guy who did the Beijing Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, and it starred one of the major Chinese singing stars. Apparently, the show sells out every night. It was a definite change of pace for us, but enjoyable.

After the show, we picked up our laundry and paid the 20 yuan, then found a banking machine, then did bit of shopping. I'd definitely prefer to pick up souvenirs here rather than Hong Kong as I think things are a lot cheaper here. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the jade ball at the museum in Shanghai as they seem to be a bit of a dying art (or else we're not visiting the right towns for that). Oh,well, lots of other things make good souvenirs.