On arrival we were met by our local guide, Maggie and the driver, Mr.Chan. We checked into our hotel and then had lunch.
Guilin is very humid, with temperatures in the high 20’s may be 30’s. It is also rainy season. The combination of these two elements left us with a misty day with low visibility. Our guide, Maggie, said that while it is sunnier in the summer the water levels in the rivers are lower making river cruises chancy. So in her opinion this is the best time of year to visit. A highlight of this leg of the trip is a cruise down the Li River so sufficiently high water levels is important.
After lunch we took a cable car up the mountain and then a slide down. The slide is a 1 KM German-engineered ribbon of stainless steel at up to 15 degrees grade. It is said the maximum attainable speed is 80KM but I suspect that is more marketing. I coasted without braking and doubt I got to half that speed.
The next stop was to the Tea Science and Research Institute. Our guide said the focus of their research was on improving growing methods and practices, improving production processes and product quality. Our tour didn’t touch on those matters. Rather we had a short but concise explanation of the different types of tea: white tea; green tea; olongh tea followed by a walk through of the production process (everything is done by hand) and then a tasting. The guide demonstrated the formal process to drink tea and then we tried four different varieties. It was a surprisingly interesting experience and the teas he selected were very good. As usual, the main attraction was followed by a gift shop. I gave in an bought some tea and associated paraphernalia.
After dinner we walled back to the hotel for a much needed shower and sleep.
We left Guilin early for a four-hour cruise down the River Li to Yangshou. The boat held about 150 passengers and when we departed we were one of several cruise boats. It was like a convoy. Many of the mountains along the way are named. Maggie tells us that the Chinese have a great deal of imagination as they are able to see images in the various forms the landscape takes. For example, there was the Elephant mountain and Sleeping Buddha in Guilin. I overheard another guide offer up the same message of “good imaginations” to his group and wondered if this was coincidence. Probably not. I expect it’s part of their training. Lacking imagination I was unable to see the images claimed or what I saw was different so when the description of things moved on to images I tuned out and pondered other things.
After checking into the hotel we took a Cart drive through the county-side. This was quite good. I enjoyed seeing the fields and villages all completely devoid of traffic. The cart came with a driver who guided us along the country roads, or trails would be more accurate. The alternative to going by cart was to rent bicycles. Maggie dissuaded us from taking bikes saying the roads were very bad for biking. After taking the driver/cart I better appreciated why the bike alternative would have been a bad idea (at least for older people.) First finding the route would have been very difficult. Second it was hot and while the terrain is quite flat it still would have been needlessly difficult. Finally, there were vendors of various wares along the way and in the cart it was possible to out run them. Less so on a bicycle. Linda was less impressed with the trip, but the rest of us enjoyed it a great deal.
The cart dropped us off at a point where we could catch a bamboo raft down “Meet The Dragon River.” The raft was made of bamboo logs, had two seats, an umbrella and an oarsmen. It was a very pleasant and relaxing drift down the river. Even the periodic thunder showers didn’t dampen the experience.
After dinner we attended a fabulous Chinese musical: Liu three sisters. Well worth the ticket price and a “must see.” Get the VIP seats (B level).
The next day we went to two villages: Shangri La and Da Xu Gu Zhen. They are both tourist spots meaning certain elements are contrived. Certainly true for Shangri La but compensated by the setting, situated in the mountains along a river and lakes. Da Xu on the other hand seemed less contrived but had the souvenir shops regardless. Shangri la was an idealistic view of village life while Da Xu was realistic with the old houses, the dirt and smells. While I drew interest out of seeing the reality it brought back bad memories for Linda in terms of the living conditions for grandparents generation and so she preferred the idealized view of Shangri La.
I’ve come to two observations. The tourist spots that we see are similar in many respects to Disneyland with one key difference: for the most part the exhibits on display are real. But in so many ways like Disneyland many of the “displays” are partially or fully contrived. Packaged to display the ideal or quintessential elements of the attraction I’m not sure how much it matters, and arguably it does make things easier. Ironically the one thing that wasn’t contrived was the show we saw. While it was a show it seemed more real in many respects than the other displays. It was a truly amazing spectacle and helped allay the cynicism building from the theme park nature of the tour. It restored my confidence that Chinese culture did exist.
The second observation is what I call the intestine. I’ve noted that each tourist site is divided into two parts: the attraction and the gift shops. The gift shops are usually located after the display has been consumed but before the exit gate is reached. The purpose is to extract as much “nutrients” (money) as possible and therefore I call this leg the intestine. This analogy is further supported as many of the shops wind on for some length often through several rooms. Just
like an intestine.
After a late lunch we took a cruise along the lakes of Guilin. This was a rather light item on the itinerary but given the heat it was nice to sit and relax.
From the cruise we went to the Reed Flute Caves. These are not as large as those in Zhangjiajie but the stalactites and lighting compensate. As well it was cool.
Following the caves we climbed a local peek giving us a 360 degree view of Guilin albeit visibility was poor given the humidity.
This being our last night in Guilin our guide took us to a fancier than usual spot that included live music: a two-girl band, one playing a Chinese guitar, the other a xylophone. Very nice soft music that complements and does not overwhelm.
The second scheduled item on our final day in Guilin’s itinerary was a flight to the so call mountain city of Chongqing. The first item was a game of golf. At 6AM it was thundering. We arrived at the golf course amid a torrent and although enough to even shut down the PGA Tour they would only refund our prepaid green fees if there was thunder. 15 Minutes before tee time was the first crack of thunder. I has the sense we would never play golf in China. There’s always Beijing! said Linda.
So after assessing the alternatives we visited another cave, Crown Cave. Three caves in under a week may seem like an overdose but each one has been different and added something different. This cave had a train, elevator and boat. As well the was an underground river and water fall. These are said to be the largest caves in China.
After lunch we proceeded to the airport to board our flight to the mountain city of Chongqing to board the ship Victoria Serial-Katerina for our Yangtze cruise.
Click Slideshow for all the posted photos from Guilin
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