China Part 4 - Guilin, Yangshuo, Longji & Food
What's the best way to get from Chengdu to Guilin??? If you guessed 30-hour sleeper bus, you made the same mistake we did!
Ingrid and I enjoyed 30-hours of Southwest China aboard this love boat. All-in-all, it could have been worse. The television provided us with hours of Chinese film and karaokee played at a soothing 121 decibels - Oh! and the speaker was right over my brain - but fortunately the Chinese don't suddenly breakout into senseless dance routine mid-plot(unlike Bollywood).
SO why would we go through such conditions to reach a place you've probably never heard of???? For This....
Guilin is a city of 1.3M Chinese located in the Karst limestone topography of Southwest China. The scenery is best described as Otherworldly (or "Magical" as the Disney fans say).
We spent a few days in Guilin enjoying the Caves that run underneath these edifices, officially the oldest scenic sight in China and, arguably, the world - opened by the Somethingorother Dynasty in Alongtimeago (rejoice that I remember them being China's original tourist attraction and stop sweating the details).
- BIG fan of the caves, could ya tell? -
the not so wild, wildlife
and (sung to the tune of the Ramones "my sharona") Duh-duh da-da, Duh, Da, Duh, Da, Duh-Duh Da, Da-Duh-Duh, Da-Da, Duh, Da MY PAGODA!
Hey, mom always told me I was a character:
Am I on a roll here or what!?!
From Guilin we ventured 65km South to Yangshou, a backpackers paradise set deep in the heart of Karst Country.
Yangshou is a sleepy town of just 300,000, which in China is more or less backwater. We camped out here for several days because the views and the town were really a pleasure.
We met Edya and Shay (don't worry Shai Bandner, you'll always be my first), a great Israeli couple living in Boston, and the four of us ventured along the river for a 6-hour trek to take in the sights. Mind you - the same route can be covered in about an hour aboard a luxury riverboat sipping a Latte and nibbling pastries, but we opted to walk along the river bank. Seemed like a good idea at the time, then the rain began.
Every morning from our hotel window we watched this guy perform Chi-gong exercises in unison with sunrise (while we lay in bed of course, and if you bought that sunrise comment I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you).
From Yangshou we turned North to the village (pronounced "Willage") of Longji. If Yangshou wasn't small enough, Longji at 13,000 did the job. The purpose of going to Longji is to view "The Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces". These terraced mountains cover a height ranging from 300m to 880m and were built 1,000 years ago during the Bigfansofthewhitestuff dynasty.
This area is also Mao Willager territory and for those who haven't seen the discovery channel special, they're the women who maintain 2m of thick black hair on their heads! Bear in mind that most of these women are barely 1m in height. No real good photos of the ladies, those sprites are surprisingly fast, what with the load of hair they're wielding and all.
The terraces were phenomenal but as you can see from the photos, mother nature did not provide us with the best weather for viewing.
P.S. This is what rice looks like, I was expecting to see Orange and Navy "Uncle Ben's" boxes growing from trees.
Speaking of food, I've mentioned in previous posts that we've seen some unique delicacy here in China, this might be a good time to introduce you to our food.
Here is our restaurant.
These guys have stalls all over the place and for less than $1USD you can get a filling and tasty meal any time of day. Assuming you can handle the MSG, you simply point out what you'd like in your stir-fry and they whip it up right in front of you.
Veggies are on the right and there are 15 different types of meat/protein on the left! Let's see, there's Pig, Chicken, Beef, Egg, Tofu... what could make up the other 11 flavors????
Okay, I see Snake, Eel, Fish, Duck, Quail, Turtle, Snail, ROUS'es (Rodent's Of Unusual Size - on the left), Raccoon (Not in photo) and what could be in that sturdy steel cage behind the ROUS'es? I'll give you a clue - Sing with me now, "How much is that Doggie, in the window?" - Prices are in the Upper Right of the Photo.
And just in case those flavors leave a nasty taste in your mouth, you can always wash things down with a nice tall glass of Snake Wine.
Wow! I'm spent after all this blogging. Where's the Snake Wine at?
Guilin'i otsustasime minna 24h-se bussiga,et naha rohkem Hiinat ja kogeda esimest korda magamis bussi.Soit venis aga 5 h. pikemaks kui plaanitud kuna vaanuliste, kaanuliste, uduste magede vahele oli oosel moodustunud autode kolumm, kes plaanisid oodata paikse tousuni, et edasi soita. Nii siis vottis ka meie bussijuht end rivvi ja keeras koos reisijatega magama.Hommikul arkasime autode signaalitamise peale, et siis taas liikuma hakata.
Buss ise enesest oli mugav kuigi Adamil ja mul rippusid jalad yle serva. 30 h-ni jooksul onnestus meil aga Hiina filme vorrelda India omadega. (Yhest India filmist elu jooksul on taiesti piisav, kuid Hiinakad olid paris asjalikud)
Guilini joudes nagime oma esimesi imelisi magesid, mis jooksevad pikalt mooda Li Jiang'i joge vahemalt Yangshuo'ni valja. Et seda koikke sisse votta ja vahe trenni teha jalutasime me mooda kallast yhest linnast teise mis vottis umb. 6h. Need 2 linna on mu lemmikud Hiinas, kuhu ma kunagi (soojematel temperatuuridel) tahan tagasi tullaMolemad linnad voimaldavad vaatamisvaarsusi (hooneid, koopaid, magesid jne), naistele on seal piisavalt shoppamist ja pidutsejatele on baare ja klubisid piisavalt. Ja nagu meie puhul, kuna olime "valged" inimesed, toi klubi omanik meile lauda kingituseks hunnikus alkoholi ja puuvilju ning tutvustas meid oma ohtu tahele-kutile, kes laulis ilusas ja puhtas inlise keeles(poisil oli supper haal ja seetottu algul arvasin, et ta teeskleb ja liigutab niisama suud).
Guilinist 3 h. pohja poole asusid ilusad ja huvitavad riisi pollud/maed, kus meil onnestus ringi hulkuda ja ka lopuks ometi ara naha milline riis taimena valja naeb. Ilm oleks kyll voinud parem olla, kuid siiski saime me toreda elamuse ja ylevaate, mis see suur istandus endast kujutab.
Guilinis onnestus mul katsutud kasside nimekirja pikendada. Vorreldes Cheetat, lovi ja tiigrit voin oelda, et tiiger on neist koige voimsam ja kui need peaksid omavahel voistlema, siis minu panus oleks tiigri kasuks. Nii kui ma olin roomsalt tiigri otsa hypanud, taipasin kui kiirelt mu elule voiks lopp tulla ja arvatavasti see ei olnud mu elu koige targem tegu. Nii siis tegin kiisule veel moned paid ja laksin teda teisele poole puuri imetlema.
Ingrid and I enjoyed 30-hours of Southwest China aboard this love boat. All-in-all, it could have been worse. The television provided us with hours of Chinese film and karaokee played at a soothing 121 decibels - Oh! and the speaker was right over my brain - but fortunately the Chinese don't suddenly breakout into senseless dance routine mid-plot(unlike Bollywood).
SO why would we go through such conditions to reach a place you've probably never heard of???? For This....
Guilin is a city of 1.3M Chinese located in the Karst limestone topography of Southwest China. The scenery is best described as Otherworldly (or "Magical" as the Disney fans say).
We spent a few days in Guilin enjoying the Caves that run underneath these edifices, officially the oldest scenic sight in China and, arguably, the world - opened by the Somethingorother Dynasty in Alongtimeago (rejoice that I remember them being China's original tourist attraction and stop sweating the details).
- BIG fan of the caves, could ya tell? -
the not so wild, wildlife
and (sung to the tune of the Ramones "my sharona") Duh-duh da-da, Duh, Da, Duh, Da, Duh-Duh Da, Da-Duh-Duh, Da-Da, Duh, Da MY PAGODA!
Hey, mom always told me I was a character:
Am I on a roll here or what!?!
From Guilin we ventured 65km South to Yangshou, a backpackers paradise set deep in the heart of Karst Country.
Yangshou is a sleepy town of just 300,000, which in China is more or less backwater. We camped out here for several days because the views and the town were really a pleasure.
We met Edya and Shay (don't worry Shai Bandner, you'll always be my first), a great Israeli couple living in Boston, and the four of us ventured along the river for a 6-hour trek to take in the sights. Mind you - the same route can be covered in about an hour aboard a luxury riverboat sipping a Latte and nibbling pastries, but we opted to walk along the river bank. Seemed like a good idea at the time, then the rain began.
Every morning from our hotel window we watched this guy perform Chi-gong exercises in unison with sunrise (while we lay in bed of course, and if you bought that sunrise comment I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you).
From Yangshou we turned North to the village (pronounced "Willage") of Longji. If Yangshou wasn't small enough, Longji at 13,000 did the job. The purpose of going to Longji is to view "The Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces". These terraced mountains cover a height ranging from 300m to 880m and were built 1,000 years ago during the Bigfansofthewhitestuff dynasty.
This area is also Mao Willager territory and for those who haven't seen the discovery channel special, they're the women who maintain 2m of thick black hair on their heads! Bear in mind that most of these women are barely 1m in height. No real good photos of the ladies, those sprites are surprisingly fast, what with the load of hair they're wielding and all.
The terraces were phenomenal but as you can see from the photos, mother nature did not provide us with the best weather for viewing.
P.S. This is what rice looks like, I was expecting to see Orange and Navy "Uncle Ben's" boxes growing from trees.
Speaking of food, I've mentioned in previous posts that we've seen some unique delicacy here in China, this might be a good time to introduce you to our food.
Here is our restaurant.
These guys have stalls all over the place and for less than $1USD you can get a filling and tasty meal any time of day. Assuming you can handle the MSG, you simply point out what you'd like in your stir-fry and they whip it up right in front of you.
Veggies are on the right and there are 15 different types of meat/protein on the left! Let's see, there's Pig, Chicken, Beef, Egg, Tofu... what could make up the other 11 flavors????
Okay, I see Snake, Eel, Fish, Duck, Quail, Turtle, Snail, ROUS'es (Rodent's Of Unusual Size - on the left), Raccoon (Not in photo) and what could be in that sturdy steel cage behind the ROUS'es? I'll give you a clue - Sing with me now, "How much is that Doggie, in the window?" - Prices are in the Upper Right of the Photo.
And just in case those flavors leave a nasty taste in your mouth, you can always wash things down with a nice tall glass of Snake Wine.
Wow! I'm spent after all this blogging. Where's the Snake Wine at?
Guilin'i otsustasime minna 24h-se bussiga,et naha rohkem Hiinat ja kogeda esimest korda magamis bussi.Soit venis aga 5 h. pikemaks kui plaanitud kuna vaanuliste, kaanuliste, uduste magede vahele oli oosel moodustunud autode kolumm, kes plaanisid oodata paikse tousuni, et edasi soita. Nii siis vottis ka meie bussijuht end rivvi ja keeras koos reisijatega magama.Hommikul arkasime autode signaalitamise peale, et siis taas liikuma hakata.
Buss ise enesest oli mugav kuigi Adamil ja mul rippusid jalad yle serva. 30 h-ni jooksul onnestus meil aga Hiina filme vorrelda India omadega. (Yhest India filmist elu jooksul on taiesti piisav, kuid Hiinakad olid paris asjalikud)
Guilini joudes nagime oma esimesi imelisi magesid, mis jooksevad pikalt mooda Li Jiang'i joge vahemalt Yangshuo'ni valja. Et seda koikke sisse votta ja vahe trenni teha jalutasime me mooda kallast yhest linnast teise mis vottis umb. 6h. Need 2 linna on mu lemmikud Hiinas, kuhu ma kunagi (soojematel temperatuuridel) tahan tagasi tullaMolemad linnad voimaldavad vaatamisvaarsusi (hooneid, koopaid, magesid jne), naistele on seal piisavalt shoppamist ja pidutsejatele on baare ja klubisid piisavalt. Ja nagu meie puhul, kuna olime "valged" inimesed, toi klubi omanik meile lauda kingituseks hunnikus alkoholi ja puuvilju ning tutvustas meid oma ohtu tahele-kutile, kes laulis ilusas ja puhtas inlise keeles(poisil oli supper haal ja seetottu algul arvasin, et ta teeskleb ja liigutab niisama suud).
Guilinist 3 h. pohja poole asusid ilusad ja huvitavad riisi pollud/maed, kus meil onnestus ringi hulkuda ja ka lopuks ometi ara naha milline riis taimena valja naeb. Ilm oleks kyll voinud parem olla, kuid siiski saime me toreda elamuse ja ylevaate, mis see suur istandus endast kujutab.
Guilinis onnestus mul katsutud kasside nimekirja pikendada. Vorreldes Cheetat, lovi ja tiigrit voin oelda, et tiiger on neist koige voimsam ja kui need peaksid omavahel voistlema, siis minu panus oleks tiigri kasuks. Nii kui ma olin roomsalt tiigri otsa hypanud, taipasin kui kiirelt mu elule voiks lopp tulla ja arvatavasti see ei olnud mu elu koige targem tegu. Nii siis tegin kiisule veel moned paid ja laksin teda teisele poole puuri imetlema.
posted by aiechter at 6:01 AM
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