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Hi everyone. Just back from an incredible adventure in China. Have descriptive "journal" of our favorite area Guilin and Yangshou. Happy to e-mail it if requested. Also, in response to questions re: tours vs independent travel.
We started out trip with a small group of 11 people, a national guide and we were joined in each locale by an additional local guide. Later we took off on "our own" to Guilin-Yangshou with a personal guide and driver. China is not easy to get around without help. We stood in Yu Yuan garden area within feet of the site and walked in circles never finding it, even though the hotel's concierge had written in Chinese "Please show these people to Yu Yuan Gardens." Or perhaps he wrote; "Let's see how long we can keep these people moving in circles".
Anyway we were most fortunate to have our guide, Fannie Mo. A fantastic young lady who helped us to see the "real" China. She speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, English and Japanese and her love of China and of people in general really works for those lucky enough to have her as a guide.
After such fantastic experiences in Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, the Yangste, Suzhou and Zhou Zhang we were concerned that we would feel let down by the extension to Guilin and Yangshou. Boy were we happy from the moment the airplane started to descend over Guilin.
The karst mountain scenery is spectacular, unique, and includes both the unusual mountains set almost one upon the other, and pastoral old world rice paddy and water buffalo flatlands which are nestled between them. Rainy season starts in April, but our arrival on March 19 was greeted by a moist haze that was fairly prevalent throughout the visit. Fortunately the area is so exciting that this wasn't a deterrent to our enjoyment of the scenery or the exciting things we did there. Temperatures were short sleeve amenable.
The flight was on a modern craft, and we were greeted in Guilin with a wide, excited grin, by our most wonderful guide Fannie Mo (pronounced Maw), a lovely, sweet, very attractive 22 year old young lady, who escorted us throughout with our own personal car and driver as well. Mo is a recent university grad who works for CTS, another major China tourist organization, though Pacific Delight also made this arrangement for us. She speaks Japanese, English, Cantonese and Mandarin. She is very bright, personable and eager to show off her lovely section of the country. She was always upbeat and knowledgeable, but more than that personal as well. We learned a lot about the lifestyles in China as seen from her perspective. Her dad owns a factory, and she has an older sister, and she told us that so far her life has been without any major trauma. She spent a lot of time talking about how to decide on which boy she should allow to get closer to her, though she indicated that since her dad is old fashioned, she dated, but had not yet held hands or kissed a boy. Given how adorable she is, the Chinese boys must have some restraint. Mo told us that one thing she would have enjoyed growing up in china was American style cheerleaders. She loves to dance and sing both Chinese and American numbers, and even sang us a beautiful chinese folk song in the car one day. Chen, if you are reading this, start tuning up your voice.
Like Chen, she looked after our every need and anticipated our possible wants, offering us options for the days activities based on our specific interests.
After a hotel lunch where Ginny and I were swamped with delicious dishes just like when there were the original 11 of us, we headed out for the Reed Flute Caves. While I had read that they were beautiful, references to artificial lighting had me wary of schmaltz. The caves were spectacular, the best I have ever been in. Magnificent formations, huge cavernous openings with depths both in front of us and below, filled with huge stalactites/mites. A still pond reflected the formations creating the appearance of a major city's skyline. A great site to see, though crowded with tour groups. Since we were only the three of us, we were able to avoid the crush and enjoy the serenity.
After we left the cave, a farmer and his herd of water buffalo were walking along the road beside us on the way to the car. I tried to pet a couple but they veered away form me. I then tried to pet some water buffalo, but with the same result.
Our Guilin hotel, the Royal Park Garden, was the fanciest one we enjoyed in China. Our room, which we did not upgrade (Ginny tried to, but they told her we were already in the best one in the house) looked immediately down over the Li River, where boaters on bamboo rafts poled by all day, often stopping to chat with each other just under our window. Directly across from us just a 1000 feet or so away was the prominent Fubo Hill and rice paddies were visible just beyond that. WOW.
Mo offered to take us to a fine, local restaurant, not frequented by tourists, but rather by the wealthier locals. We understood that there were some "exotic" foods on the menu (which we could not read), but Mo assured us the foods which we would prefer not to see served were usually brought to small groups in private dining rooms. Snakes swam with fish in the tanks near the reception area. We had our choice of a private room, but opted to eat with the other local diners. Mo did the ordering for us, and I started getting nervous after the waitresses started delivering huge servings of soups, appetizers, 4-5 main dishes, desserts, etc. How much was this feast going to cost? For the 3 of us, less than $40 bucks with tips and drinks. In addition to delicious foods that we gobbled down (peking style duck but with the skin only, a whole fish, tofu, among many others,), we had a huge plate of small seasoned prawns with head, tail and shell all intact. Mo explained that we were to eat the whole thing. Well, as tempting as the aroma was, I wished Henry was with us.
I balked at eating the prawns, casually waiting until I saw our gentile, petite new friend, Mo, take in the first one. She was still smiling and chatting pleasantly after she swallowed a couple, so Ginny and I indulged. They were delicious, but still a few for each of us was enough. At the end of the incredible meal we defined "doggy bag" for Mo, and she was able to bring her parents some fine foods to enjoy.
Mo asked us if we would like to hop on one of the many motorcycles with side cars for a tour of the countryside with a stop at a local peasant village, hopefully with a vist to a farmer's home. We could not wait to get started. (Mo told us that "peasant" was not a perjorative term, but simply meant small farmer.) Mo hopped on the back of the bike and Ginny and I sat in a covered side car. The small cycle did not exactly race through the countryside.
We rambled over small unpaved country lanes, through the most magnificent scenery imaginable. We passed grandma's and children walking with their water buffaloes, stopped to pet a buffalo and take pictures with the family. The little buffalo did not want to stand still for a photo, and I think the shot will show me stretching, holding on to his "collar" to keep him in the frame. We passed people hanging out together in the timeless way their ancestors had, small farms with rice paddies, peasants working hard in the fields, until we came to an old bare bones village with narrow cart width lanes between clay brick and straw buildings. We passed the pigs, chickens etc. as we cycled into the small village of perhaps ten to fifteen homes. The village, Brave Village, was empty as all the people were working in the fields or the few children were in school. We saw an old woman sitting by herself in front of her home and stopped to ask if we could see her home. Our motorcycle driver, Annie, had to do the talking as the old woman only spoke in a dialect. Once inside we chatted with Ginny and I talking to Mo who talked to Annie who talked to the woman.
She told us that she was 85, had lived in the village her whole life, that noone had left the village nor had anyone moved in, in her entire life. There were posters of Mao, and other party leaders on the wall, faded and torn, along with school certificates from her Grandchild's elementary school. The room was damp, hard packed dirt floor, one dim bulb for light, no soft furniture. Only a few wooden chairs like in a kindergarten and a couple of woven basket seats. When I asked her how life was now compared to the past she said it was better now. Why, I asked. Because she was happy now that we have enough food.
We did not see any means of heating the small, damp building and she told us she has an iron bowl that she can put stalks into and burn if it gets chilly. There was no chimney, just open spaces in the roof and walls.
She was afraid to allow us to take a photo. She had only had one taken in her life and had trouble understanding that we could not show her the picture immediately. After Mo and Annie reassured her it would be OK she consented to one photo, which we promised to send to Mo to deliver to her soon. Her whole life is sitting in front of the house. Her son and his family live next door and cook for her.
It is difficult to share the feelings and impact of the experience of traveling back in time like this, to an ancient village still working the fields with ancient tools. with few modern amenities.
That evening after dinner and perusing the local shops, including cafes we declined to patronize with dog as well as snake on the menu, we relaxed by a pond overlooking the moonlit Karst mountain in the village of Yangshou, which is lit at night. In the a.m. Mo met us and we travelled through the countrytside by car ro the Guilin airport. We were sad to have to say good-bye to Mo, but happy to have gotten to know her and to have shared some time with our new friend.
We flew to Shanghai, where we visited the YuYuan markets, Huaxington tea house (didn't enjoy it), and in the evening we strolled the Bund and took the ferry across the river for a view of the Bund and Putong areas from the perspective of the water. A beautiful sight.
One other item. In Yangshou we met some Americans who were going to sponsor tuition for Chinese children who could not afford it. The tuition for a full year is only $40 per child. I thought we might consider sponsoring a few children for a few years, in the names of Chen Bai Ping and Fannie Mo as a thank you for the Wonderful experiences our guides (and friends) brought us to.. If you would like to join Ginny and I in doing so, let us know and we can make the arrangements.
Hope to hear from you all.
Steven and Ginny |