Greetings from Sunny Guilin

We were treated to an entire day of tourist opportunities. Guilin is a city famous for its limestone karsts in the Province of Guagnxi. What the pictures don’t tell you is there is a million people in this town and they have built right up to the karsts. We have not seen any Americans here so another day of getting some really good second looks from the locals. Kids in particular just stare and often shout out “Loawai, which means foreigner in Chinese. There are many Chinese tourists here and we have a feeling that this is a pretty big party town. The hotel we are staying in is hosting two huge weddings tonight and the place is noisy and busy. Brides in China wear two dresses, the Western white one and a red more traditional dress later in the event. Thanks to my Mother’s astute social interviewing techniques, we discovered that the groom’s family is responsible for paying for this event as well as securing lodging for their son and his bride when he becomes an adult. Having a daughter in China was described as being a lot more inexpensive! This is clearly a prosperous city and a destination location for celebrations.

We started the day by climbing Fubo Hill, a Karst with a cave in the bottom filled with Buddhist carvings that were over a thousand years old. It looked out on the City and the Li River. It was a steep stair climb. There were lots of Asian tourists here, some from Korea and this place had many of the trappings reminiscent of American tourist destinations right down to the place you could get your pictures taken as the Emperor and his Concubines! 

Next we went to Reed Flute cave which is also inside a karst. It was filled with a unique collection of unusual stalactites and stalagmites all lit up with brightly colored lights. This cave must have been something to have happened upon many years ago. It is where the townsfolk hid from the Japanese during WWII. There was a huge gathering area with a high ceiling and some amazing formations. 

Lunch was a mixture of local dishes. Citrus is very commonly grown here in the sub tropics so we have seen piles of mandarins and they use that flavor in their food… very pungent. That Christmas music is blasting absolutely everywhere. There are trees, Santa’s and lots of decorations. Our guides have shared that young Chinese people are now celebrating this holiday but not for religious reasons. We have heard that it is the gifting, gathering part that is being replicated.

Our afternoon saw us on a winding drive to a tea plantation and research center. Our driver took us through some “real China” neighborhoods which was my favorite part of the day. Busy, narrow streets with two lanes of traffic, Vespa’s, bikes, carts and pedestrians. Shops in the ground floors of three story buildings (with residences upstairs), selling retail and wholesale, people going about their business, young and old. There is a franticness to these street scenes but not in an aggressive way. It is more the way of a lot of people living in a small space and just figuring it out. Anyway, the tea plantation was beautiful and serene. We learned a lot about tea today and I was interested to find out that all teas white, green and black all come from the same plant. We picked some tea and then went inside to participate in a traditional tea ceremony. We learned the formal traditions and tasted some delicious tea drunk from some interesting vessels. We were also able to purchase tea and beautifully made ceramics in a little shop.

Our hotel (The Waterfall) is a busy place right near a pedestrian street that is a retail adventure. Coco learned how to street bargain today and purchased lots of trinkets for friends and teachers by haggling back and forth with the vendors, communicating through a price on a calculator. She got the walking away part down to a science and made off with some real deals. How fun to watch. She was definitely enjoying herself.

We ended our evening (well at least some of did) with a lake cruise, waterfall show and dinner. Carolyn and I were nodding off on the boat ride… the jet lag caught up with us today. So to bead early. Up in the middle of the night again. Coco told me I missed the offering of Snake Wine with dinner (dang). I am missing my news as many of the American Internet news sites are banned here. What is happening there? I wonder!

Lastly before signing off I need to thank Paul and Suzanne who are posting this blog from the US due to lack of Google access here. They are the reason that you can read about our trip… thanks you two. And also a shout out to Coco Mei-Ya who has been an absolute trooper. She has weathered a cold, jet lag and a pretty hectic touring schedule and has had fun and is “all in” enthusiastically! 

Tomorrow we head out for a day cruise on the Li River to look at the karsts up close. A day of looking at rocks our guide Dragon says! We are just soaking up the sunny days and blue skies and little visible pollution before making our way to Beijing.