Dec 2, 2009 - The Picturesque Guilin

This is where, under heaven, you will find your breath taken away by the charming scenes --- The Picturesque Guilin. East or west, Guilin is the best." Guilin got its name because it is a "forest of Sweet Osmanthus." According to geological research, the area was an ocean in ancient times, but the limestones at the bottom of the ocean were raised by the earth's crustal movement, and became many picturesque limestone mountains and formations. Guilin's unique scenery earned its reputation as "By water, by mount Guilin is one of China's most...

Dec 1, 2009 - Day 1 - cooking

Awesome first day!! Woke up to breakfast of champions – see photos. Then rode bikes 5 miles to twice-weekly market in the large market town of Bai Sha. Compared to our little village of Chao Long, it was like going to the big city! It was crazy busy and we “blended in” like 3 white guys visiting a Chinese market! We tried to take photos (and did) but the vendors were not so interested unless we were paying for product. We saw poultry (at least 10 types), fish (at least 10 types), pork (every cut including all the offal hanging from hooks...

Nov 30, 2009 - Biking in Yangshuo

So who falls asleep at 8pm on a weekday...this guy! I had quite the Monday where I hopped on a mountain bike at 9am and didn't return to my guest house until 4. Total miles logged...no clue but enough to make anyone's legs burn afterward and the need for me to leave the bar after one beer because I kept nodding off in front of my new English friends. But the extreme tiredness was well worth it because I found myself riding through small towns, across ancient bridges and rice fields, and encountered locals who got me on the right path after...

Nov 29, 2009 - The Li River

Hi everyone, First off my quick observation between the northern regions of China versus the Southern. The northern dwellers wear boots over their jeans and love Celine Dion (heard her five times while waiting in the aiport...and Wham!), while in the South little fashion exists but they are very pleasant and outgoing people. Okay so now to good stuff. The region of China Im currently in...breathtaking! Every where you look are limestone karsts or rock outcropping that pop out of nowhere. I arrived in Guilin late last night and could see...

Nov 22, 2009 - Guilin

Sun 22 Nov 2009 GUILIN Our first internal flight takes us to Guilin. Guilin is hailed by many as the most beautiful place in China. According to a popular Chinese saying, “Guilin’s scenery bests all others in the world.” Its shapely-rising limestone towers and crystal-clear waters are often portrayed in Chinese artworks. Adding to its natural beauty are many fascinating caves. The city of Guilin was founded in the Qin Dynasty in 314 BC as a small settlement on the Lijiang River. It became increasingly important following the construction...

Oct 7, 2009 - Yangshuo

We finished our boat cruise in Lichang where we spent the night before boarding an overnight train the next day headed to Liuzhou before a bus trip to the picturesque town of Yangshuo. We had a great dinner in Lichang - we ended up with a whole chicken (including head, feet, neck and everything else) tossed in a big bowl with a spicy sauce. We avoided the parts we didn't want to eat but the meat was very tasty. Our train trip was the worst yet. We had soft sleeper rooms which meant 4 bunks per room with a door and everything so we were all...

Sep 24, 2009 - Day 5: Yangshuo - Guilin - train

8am River rafting - Just incase I hadn't enjoyed the scenery enough so far, we went cruising the Li River on bamboo river rafts. These are really lovely rafts, with bamboo seats under a shade cover where we just oodled down and back on the river for two hours. The scenery was even more gorgeous from the water and ever so peaceful. There were buffalo swimming about, a few people cleaning their clothes, some fishermen paddling their rafts, and of course, a hawker sitting on a little island in the middle of the river with his computer set up...

Sep 23, 2009 - Day 4: Yangshuo - Cycling + Tai Chi

8.00am For some crazy reason we all hired bikes (ah, yes, it was an included activity!) and set off in the heat to explore the countryside. But to get to the countryside meant cycling through the city first, and it was no mean feat trying to follow our local cycling guide "Panda" as she swerved in and out across the traffic (even if she was holding up an umbrella along the way). Somehow we made it, and then could actually look up and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. We stopped at a few places to take photos, but it was fairly full on, especially...

Sep 22, 2009 - Day 3: Train to Yangshuo

(written on the overnight train, typed later)... We were supposed to arrive at 6.30am, but two hours later I'm still listening to Tomic telling us that it will "just be another half an hour". For the last two hours his "just another half an hour" has become a running joke :-) But I'm really quite enjoying the ride. I'm sitting on a little fold-out seat in the corridor, where vendors have been coming up and down selling all sorts of things. One of my favourites last night was the toothbruch man, who gave a 10 minute demonstration in our...

Sep 19, 2009 - Longi rice terraces near Guilin

Amazing feats of farming engineering, which are also amazing to gaze at. This area is also famous for the women with their long, black, beautiful (their own words) hair, three of who chased us through the rice terraces wanting us to take their photo (for money of course) and pay them to show us the way to the next village (as they appeared to of removed the sign posts). We ended up slightly lost and then it got dark. Fortunately we stumbled upon a tiny village where the locals took us in for the night, gave us a bed and also a chicken...

Sep 18, 2009 - Yangshuo

The first day in Yangshuo was the most tiring and hot i've had in China. We decided to walk upto 'Dragon Bridge'which is some old 600 year old Bridge. It turned out that the reason most people bike this trip is because its miles away! If i was on my own this would have been very difficult, however, because there was two of us we managed to catch a lift with a chinese man in a Honda to some villege. This was actually a village. You see, China doesn't do small so when Lonely Planet calls something small it is often HUGE but this really was...

Sep 16, 2009 - Yangshuo

Wow, the scenery around the Yulong and Li river is incredible. Yangshou, is the kind of easy tourist hideaway base that allows you to explore the surrounding countryside with ease. Enough to do here for weeks. Bike trips to swimming spots on the Yulong, bamboo raft trip up the river Li and biking throug the villages which hideaway at the base of those shafty steep little peaks. Days were topped off with beer pong at monkey janes rooftop bar above our hostel.