Imperial China Day 20
Imperial China
OAT Day 2-16 - Friday, April 25, 2008 - Fish Boat Journey River Li - Guilin, China
We had a very nice buffet breakfast in our hotel atrium and then met Matt and our driver, Mr. Ma for our 45 minute drive to the river cruise. It was cool today, 68 degrees and the humidity was 59%. Matt described the weather here as very changeable because of the influence of the mountains.
As we got on our Fish Boat for our journey on the River Li, it was raining quite heavily. We were shown to our seats and then waited until more passengers arrived to join us. There were tables and benches for 8 people so a couple from Melbourne, Australia joined our group.
Our river cruise began at the wharf of Zhujiang and then steamed along to the port of Yangshuo. “The river winds like a blue silk ribbon, while the hills erect like green jade hairpins” according to Han Yu the great poet in the Tang Dynasty.
The ship left the wharf at 9:30 AM and the sun started to peek out of the clouds. Many of us decided to go up on the deck and get some fresh air and stretch our legs.
The views from the decks were incredible. The limestone peaks covered with the heavy green vegetation have been named by the fishermen and boat pilots over the centuries.
For most of the formations, you really had to use your imagination. Apple Rock, Cat’s Ears, Five Fingers, and Nine Horses were just a few of the ones that were easy to see.
The crew served us lunch at 11:30, about halfway through our voyage. Although it was still raining, we went back up to the upper deck after our meal.
We met a couple from Greece and had an enlightening conversation. He is a professor of microbiology and she was a chemist working in Drug Administration in Athens.
Our tour ended in the small town of Yangshou. The people here were originally farmers, but many of the residents now work in the tourist trade since China was opened to the world in the late 1970’s.
We had 90 minutes to enjoy a stroll in the rain around this historic village. Many of the vendors were very aggressive and would open their jackets to tempt us with DVDs, CDs, and more genuine Rolex watches.
At 2:00 PM we met back at our designated meeting place, a coffee shop, to share our discoveries. Matt purchased tickets for all of us to ride on a community sponsored “Golf Cart”. The driver took us on a very scenic back route to the bus parking area.
Our driver Mr. Ma was waiting for us at 2:45 PM and we started back to Guilin. As we were driving back we saw many rice paddies with the farmers transplanting the tiny rice shoots to a bigger pond so they can get more sun and grow stronger. What back-breaking work!
As we were entering the city, the driver in front of us stopped for a red light and our bus hit him from behind. Another learning discovery - both drivers talked together calmly, exchanged information, took photos with their cell phones, and we were on our way in a few minutes. No police or lawyers were involved! Interesting!
We arrived back at our room and had enough time to take a quick shower and go through our photos for the day. We had to meet for dinner at 5:45.
Our dinner tonight was at a local restaurant on the other side of the river. Matt always orders for us and we had another variety of different foods, many typical of this area.
After dinner we came back to the hotel and found our room to be cooler and much more comfortable. Matt reported that the manager told him that even here in Southern China where it is so warm, the hotels turn off the A/C at night!
Accommodations: Guilin Royal Garden Hotel - - - Meal: B, L, D
Picture 1 - Li River Boat - Fish Boat
Picture 2 - Li River Karst Mountains
Picture 3 - Water Buffalo
Picture 4 - Yangshou Waterfront
Picture 5 - Bridge Over Li River
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Comments
Post a Comment!The night shot of Giulin was incredible. Great work, as usual. Thanks again for doing this.
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