SPECTACLE

Every night in Yangshuo there are numerous lights that light up nearby peaks, the banks of the river and some of the most interesting architecture. However the town’s best light show is one you have to pay for. The director of the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics (and the movie “Hero”) had put together a lightshow involving almost a thousand actors and the use of six mountains as backdrops. Needless to say we decided to shell out a few hundred yuan to go and see this spectacle.

The lights of Yangshuo

The experience was so incredibly Chinese. We booked our tickets through the hotel, which involved two tour desk employees and the day manager trying to figure out what we were saying in our broken Mandarin and responding to us in broken English. Eventually we got the tickets and were picked up by another person (no English) who drove us in a minivan (full of other people) to the show. There we were handed off to another person who along with a second guide corralled about fifteen people together. We all had to line up and follow our guide’s “hello Kitty”-stuffed-doll-on-a-telescoping-stick through the teeming masses of people who were following other guides’ telescoping sticks into a holding area. There we were given our tickets and found our way to our seats. Altogether there must have been four or five thousand  people in the huge, open air theatre.

The real Chinese theatre experience

A Note: Chinese theatre goers are incredibly rude by Western standards. They answer their phones and talk (loudly) for as long as they feel like it during performances. They use flash photography. They get up and move to positions that benefit their picture taking. They yell and wave to their friends. They get close to the stage so that they can be in the pictures alongside cast members who are performing. In general they do things that would get you kicked out of a western theatre. In China, this is normal. Not a cause for comment or stress. It definitely made for an entertaining evening, as audience watching was as fun as watching the show at times.

The show was an incredible spectacle. Torches, bamboo boats, LED light suits, mountains being lit up as backdrops, hundreds of cast members on floating stages, wild costumes, traditional Chinese folk music, hundreds of children singing at once... the list goes on. There were definitely some moments that were very cheesy and there were some things that we wanted to suggest to the director (like “more pyrotechnics”) but overall, it was extremely interesting and a seriously GRAND  performance. Our favourite part was when fifty or so young women dancers all pretended to take off their clothes (they were wearing nude bodysuits) because of the reaction of the crowd. Many people in China do not have adequate access to optometrist services so the nearsighted men (and women?) in the crowd were wildly entertained.

"Impressions" lightshow

LED light suits and traditional fold music... a match I wouldn't have predicted.

Our visit to Yangshuo ended with and early morning busride back to Guilin, an amazing race type navigation of the streets of Guilin, the boarding of a shuttle bus to the airport, two airplane rides and a “black taxi” (non-licensed taxi arranged by one of the Chinese teachers for us) back to our apartment. The week was wonderful, relaxing, stimulating and food for thought. I am sure we are going to be thinking about this trip for a long, long time.

To be a sybarite... or not to be sybaritic

Coming into this break, we knew that we only had a week to see as much as we could in the Guilin area. We also knew that we only had this time to recharge our batteries before heading into the stretch run of the school year. With that in mind, we tried to strike a balance between cramming as much as we could into or itinerary and taking time to just sit and soak in the view from our balcony.

We spent a bunch of time wandering the town of Yangshuo itself, ignoring the touts and admiring the wares of the vendors. In particular Paul was interested in the purple jade carvings and the musical instruments (Chinese oboes in particular) while Kristen was more taken with the beautiful textiles on display. In the end we did some bartering (Kristen got a wonderful “peacock” sundress – the vendor started at 180 and we ended up paying 45 yuan which was definitely the best bartering we have done so far) while Paul bought a pair of hand knit shoes from an extremely elderly homunculus (DEF.: Homunculus- N. Tiny, perfectly formed, human).

We saw the cormorants and the coir raincoated fishermen, but declined the offers to go with them to watch them fish (hugely expensive and from all accounts extremely staged). We weren’t able to do any rock climbing because of the slippery, wet conditions (well one day we might have been able to but we were out on a bike ride for most of the day), but we consoled ourselves by enjoying almost four hours of spa treatments over the last four days. We found one really great traditional Chinese therapy place that specialized in acupressure, meridian line massage and “cupping” (like reiki). We had two hour long foot massages as well as back massages there. Sitting, sipping ginger and osmanthus flower tea while reclining looking out the window onto the small river flowing beside you, and having someone apply ancient Chinese relaxation techniques to your feet for over an hour was hard to take.

To balance out the sybaritic massages, we also hiked up a bunch of the hills in town, and headed out on another bike excursion. This one was down the Li river towards the historic village of Fuli (a fishing village built over seven hundred years ago and known for its fan painting artisans). We biked our way along backroads without seeing any other tourists. Instead we saw small village after small villages, weaved our way between rice paddies, frog ponds, fish ponds and vegetable gardens, passed water buffalo herders and were passed by all manner of motorized vehicles (usually with their engines exposed and the belts repaired with glue and leather).

We got lost a few times and had to ask for directions, but the ride was pretty gentle and it only took a few hours to get to  the river crossing. There we negotiated with the boat owners and got them down to 5 yuan for each of us (with the bikes coming for free).

We wandered around Fuli for a while, admiring the old town feel, trying not to feel too upset about some of the poverty we saw and eventually made our way to one of the many painting workshops that were set up around the village. The artisans work mostly in family groups, passing on their skills to each new member, so that most shops have distinctive styles. The paintings (on fans, wall hangings, etc) are almost all sold in Yangshou and Guilin by brokers who come and buy from the artisans in bulk.  We hadn’t expected to buy anything, but after seeing so many beautiful paintings we decided we really wanted one. We negotiated (not too hard) and bought a five foot long painting of the scenery near Fuli for a little over $15 Canadian.

Maoist graffiti? An old advertisement?

Frog pond where they raise frogs for the market in Yangshuo.

This look is "intrepid Kristen"

To get back we decided to take one of the main roads (it saved us about an hour of biking). Looking back we realize this was probably a bad decision. Although there were plenty of other bikes on the road, the traffic was well... typical Chinese traffic. In other words unpredictable and poor. We also had to cross through a tunnel at one point, and even though we walked our bikes on the narrow sidewalk, it was a bit of a harrowing crossing. In any case we rode cautiously and defensively back into town and made it back without any incident.

The Tour de Yangshou

To get a chance to see more of the countryside around Yangshuo we rented two “Giant” brand bikes. Paul found a (heavy) downhill bike in good condition and Kristen found a cross country bike that was also `tip top`. After some bargaining, we rented both bikes and two locks for a little under 5 dollars Canadian for the day (from 9:30 until 7:00pm). Armed with a really poor map of the area and a small segment cut out of our guidebook we set off through the crazy traffic to try and find a trail that would take us up the Yulong river.

The Li river is big and fast. The Yulong is the Li`s much smaller cousin. It meets up with the Li just South of Yangshuo and to find it, we cycled some back roads and paths beside decaying apartment buildings until we found a small track that took us through aquaculture ponds and rice paddies. We were given directions by `helpful villagers` that turned out to lead us to a dead end on the bank of the Yulong. To get across, we had to negotiate with one of the many bamboo raft polers who were waiting for us there. It was really cool actually, and a pretty worthwhile experience.

Getting the bikes on was the hard part...

At least for us.

For the next few hours we cycled through some amazing countryside, only encountering other tourists a very few times. Rice fields, water buffalo and staggering karst peaks were the norm, and we passed through a number of small back country villages. Finally we came out of the paths onto a main highway, which we negotiated with our hearts in our mouths. After stopping to ask a few people for directions with our limited Mandarin, we made it to another track that took us to Yulong Qaui (Dragon Bridge). The bridge is six hundred years old and was a wonderful spot to stop and have some noodles and dumplings for lunch.

Getting through the peleton was easy... Kristen had a great support team and a wicked domestique...

Sweaty Paul in front of the rice paddies.

traffic jam.

"Dragon Bridge" in the guidebook. However, if you want to find it, best to say Yulong Quai to the people you are asking directions from.

Eventually we set off again, and not long after we had left the restaurant made a fatal error. Instead of turning left down a dirt track along the river, we continued on the more road-like path to the right. For the next three hours we cycled up and down hills through some of China`s back country. It was incredibly beautiful semitropical forest, high peaks of karst, and orange groves, rice fields and vegetable gardens as far as the eye could see. But no signs, no people, no villages.

We passed under the main highway several times and even saw some road signs that showed us we were heading north (towards Yangshuo and the nearby town of Gaotian). However, after following the highway towards Yangshuo for about an hour, the track turned sharply and went in the opposite direction. It was at this point that the heat, the lack of water and the fact that we had truly no idea where we were going all kicked in. We had a moment that involved some swearing, kicking rocks and the throwing of sticks. Just as we were about to tear into one another or take the long ride back towards the first turn off by the bridge a man on a beat up scooter showed up. As best we could make out, he thought it was hilarious that we were looking for Yangshuo, and pointed out the direction we should take.  We soon found out why it was so hilarious.

We had come up one valley, towards Yangshuo, but there was no way for us to actually get to Yangshuo from where we were. Even though the town was less than two kilometres away, we had to cycle back the other side of the valley, through tiny (and I mean TINY) Chinese villages where we were considered to be 11`s on the freak scale. Some of the kids had clearly never seen a white person. Eventually after making it through the footpaths that led through the orange groves and surprising countless old women carrying their loads on the backs through the fields, we found the pass through the hills that took us back to the Yulong river. In essence we added about twenty kilometres of serious, hilly cycling to a trip that was only supposed to be twenty kilometres in total. We definitely took those bikes up and down some paths that tested them to the fullness of their capabilities.

Grave markers were everywhere in the hills. Well looked after and often with incense in front of them.

This is what rice looks like in the early stages.

Not exactly the lazy bike ride most tourists to Yangshuo get up to.

However, we made it back to town without any injuries, only a slight sunburn and a wealth of sights, smells and experiences to think about. We dropped off our bikes with the lady we rented them from and received a huge sigh and a disapproving glance from her when she saw just how covered in mud and dirt they were. She shook her head and gave us back our full deposit without any haggling.

Which was a nice surprise.

Yangshuo

Yangshuo has some of the most amazing scenery around and also boasts a tonne of character. To get a chance to see more of it, we spent the day walking around town, and exploring some of the parks as well as the little known back alleys off the main tourist strips.

We have been told that Yanshuo has less than 700,000 people living in the town and surrounding countryside, but that it has more than 15 million visitors  a year. The economy is focused entirely on tourism, and everywhere you go on the main strips you are greeted by countless people saying “hello Bamboo,”  “Hello, Light show” “hello, you look,” etc. We have learned that a firm “bu yao” (don’t want) and a slight smile is the best way to get them to leave you alone. However, even armed with this knowledge and a reasonable level of patience, walking on some streets can fry the nerves.

A typical Ynagshou Street

An artsy shot from the Pagoda on top of "Man Hill"

Paul let Kristen climb out to an unsafe spot without peeing his pants, this is a first!

Posting out

Zoom in on this one and look over Kristen's left shoulder you will see an entire skinned dog hanging upside down, yes it is for sale, no Kristen didn't throw up, but it was close.

Baby chickens are allowed to run free on the streets.

Paul with the Urine smelling tea.

To get away from this, we climbed one of the hills in town (Man Hill- so called because it is supposed to look like a man bowing towards another hill... known as Lady Hill. Go figure.). It was raining slightly, and the marble steps up the hill were slick, so very few other people were venturing up with us. Also the guide books all steer people towards the more accessible (and expensive) parks around the wharves where the tourist boats park. It was wonderful to see the city and surrounding hills from such a great vantage point, and fantastic to have it to ourselves.

From there, we wandered around back roads and through the farmers market. It was a bit of a shock to see skinned dogs and snakes (even though we have seen them on the menus around town). There were buckets of live eels, crayfish, frogs, fish, snails and the like all over, and weird and wonderful fruits and vegetables. We didn’t stay too long (Kristen wasn’t too excited about looking at dead dogs) and didn’t really get any pictures (we got dirty looks every time we even thought about taking out our camera) but we did buy a big bag of tea from a cute little old lady at one stall.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, getting foot massages, enjoying the view from our hotel room and exploring the night market, looking at the “antiques,” jade, t-shirts, crafts, and local fashions.

I always thought our first cruise would be booked through Lynn

After a long discussion with the ``Emperor Chamberlain`` (for some reason that was the name given to the concierge at our hotel) we had booked a Li River cruise. This was something that we had recommended to us by everyone who had been to the area. Also, we felt we couldn`t travel in China without participating in at least one guided tour. I mean, what could be a more Chinese experience

We set out bright and early, and had to listen to `Trudy` (our English speaking guide) tell us about Guilin and the tour we would be taking. For the half an hour it took to get from the hotel to the wharf, she regaled us with circular stories, jokes that no one laughed at (and I mean NO one) and asked rhetorical question after rhetorical question. Sigh. Kristen is an avid observer of Chinese tour groups at home, and has always wondered (sometimes aloud) what the tour guide could possibly be talking about the whole time. Now we know that it is as likely to be a sales pitch as information about the sights.

We made it to the wharf, and followed Trudy to the boat. To distinguish us from other groups, Trudy gave us all stickers, and to guide us to where we were going, she told us to look for the stuffed animal at the end of a telescoping pole that she would be carrying. Not joking.

The boat held 120 people and was full, but had enough space that once we got underway, we could all spread out. Throughout the day we saw maybe 150-200 other boats the same size on the river, and hundreds more bamboo rafts that ply the river with two to six passengers. I say bamboo but they are all made of pvc pipe now, some of which has been cleverly disguised as bamboo through the addition of a sign that says BAMBOO RAFT to the top of the vessel.

 We cruised for four hours down the river through some of the most gorgeous (or if you believe the tourist brochures- grotesque) scenery imaginable. However, the scenery was somewhat moderated by the touts on board talking at us for hours, trying to get us to pay them to take pictures of us using their fancy high powered cameras. Also the dirty water. Also the guides trying to get us to book more tours with them.

Li river scenery.

"Cruiseship" just like the one we were on.

Herd of water buffalo (from far away so click on the picture if you want to see them)

We are in the spot that they have painted on the back of the twenty yuan video. Had to do it.

All in all, it was a very cool trip, and worth doing for both the scenery and the chance to observe the Chinese tourism experience firsthand.

When we arrived in Yangshuo,  both Kristen and Paul somehow missed the boat turning around and were extremely disoriented when they stepped off the boat (somehow the water had just changed direction- or the boat turned around without us noticing. One of the two). In any case it took a while to figure things out...

Video explanation.

They didn’t have our room ready for quite a while, so we ended up getting comped some free drinks and sitting in the hotel lobby. Eventually we made it up to our room, cleaned ourselves up and went out.



In the land of the Ozmanthus...

Landing in Guilin was like walking into the Amazon exhibit at the Vancouver aquarium. All that was missing were some very big fish. The humidity was intense, but the city smelled like clean earth and flowers rather than sweat and rotting sewage. Which was a nice change from Beijing.

Guilin is in Southern China in Guanxi province. Guanxi borders Vietnam, and the flora and heat in Guilin had us muttering Viet-f’ing-nam under our breaths a few times. When we got our bags, we boarded a bus into Guilin city (about half an hour away). On the bus ride in, we were looking out both sides of the windows at the people wearing bamboo hats, water buffalos and rice fields and of course the mountains.

The mountains are karst (look it up) and are absolutely gorgeous. It is what the area is famous for. In fact the Chinese have a saying that Guilin has the best waterways and mountains in China (the saying has connotations that since China has the best of everything, these are the best rivers and peaks in the world). We have seen a lot of mountains, and these ones are definitely top five!

When we got into town, we fended off the touts and walked around for a bit (made easier by that fact we were carrying only small bags).  Eventually we had enough and took a taxi through the crazy traffic to the hotel we were staying at. NOTE: the traffic in this area is freaking crazy. Way worse than what we were dealing with in the North. Every time you cross a road you take your life into your own hands.

Once we had freshened up we headed out to folded brocade hill which was one of the many parks in Guilin. We knew we wouldn’t have a tonne of time in Guilin and wanted to spend it somewhere really cool. So we put our seventy kuay towards a visit to the park with “arguably the best views of Guilin”- Lonely Planet.

View from the top of fuyu hill in Folded Brocade Hill Park in Guilin.

Budhist prayer cards hanging in front of a Buddha shrine.

Budhist etchings inside a cave in Folded Brocade Hill Park. So cool!

No need for a stairmaster.

Sweaty, but happy!

After we had been in the park for a few hours we descended back to the street level and went exploring.

Paul doing his best to carefully get across the scariest wooden bridge in Asia. Of course, Kristen skipped across like the littlest billy goat and stopped to admire the scenery....

Kettle containing some sort of treacle-ish substance that when poured over a glutenous substance makes one fine dessert.

The rivers and hills of Guilin are lit up at night for the enjoyment of the tourists. And to f%*k with migratory birds.

 

Up, up and away!

Finally a break. We have been going pretty steady at work now for a few months, and we are extremely ready to head out and do some relaxing, resting and most of all exploring!

This week seemed really long, and was made longer by the fact that we had to work Saturday. Paul was lucky enough to finangle freedom from work by 9:30 in the morning, so he spent most of the day showing off the Jinshitan market to Cameron’s parents who have been visiting for the last week or so. Its always fun to see peoples’ reaction to the chaos and energy of the market. Not to mention the pig trotters and mummified remains of unidentifiable animals.

Kristen was not so lucky. She had to work until 4:00 and was pretty tired by the time she made it home. None the less, she vailiantly scooped herself up and we left to take the qingway into Dalian- the first step on our journey to the airport. Unfortunately for us, most of the students, teachers and support staff were also making their way into town, accompanied by the hordes of day trippers visiting the beaches, sights and of course the theme park (Discoveryland is only a few blocks from our school).  Kristen battled her way in front of the crowd in order to get through the doors, just seconds before uniformed guards shut the doors on everyone still outside (Paul, and traveling partners Lauralee and Ryan included). Paul managed to talk his way inside (with the help of student translators) and they met up with Kris who had procured four tickets from the harassed kiosk attendant. In any case we made it to train, and even got seats!

Oh and Paul secured some treasure when he found a patch from one of the guards uniforms-obviously ripped off in the crowded maelstrom.

From then on, it was smooth sailing. We had Chinese KFC for dinner with Lauralee and Ryan, got through security and had a minute to say goodbye to Cameron and family just as they were calling us to board the plane.

When we landed in Beijing, we managed to find our bags (although Paul’s was wet, and covered with something that smelled suspiciously like urine) and the shuttle bus that would take us to another terminal. From there we tracked down our second shuttle bus that would take us to the hotel we had booked, which turned out to be just a few minutes away from where we caught the first bus. And so a new travel game was formed: Shuttle bus ping pong.

We had some drinks in the little coffee shop and fell asleep to Chinese announcers calling an English football match.

The next day we were up early for some breakfast in the hotel before catching our flight to Guilin.

Hotel bathroom sign in the best "transient" hotel in Beijing