Guilin - Amazing Landscape
Today, August 2nd, we checked out of our Hotel after breakfast. Having been duped by the unmetered taxi once, I was not going to try anything other than a regular Beijing Meter Taxi. The Hotel�s driveway had plenty of these waiting for customers. We left our heavier luggage at the hotel and only took two carry-ons for the rest of our trip. This time the fare to the airport was only 60 Yuan by the meter. We got off at the domestic terminal which was quite crowded. There are a number of domestic airlines in China and all these airlines seems to be organized and managed very well by the private sector. They all had brand new Boeings or Airbuses. We were taking a flight from Beijing to Guilin by China Eastern Airways. The flight itself was only about two hours and took us all across China to the south. Guilin is in the Guangxi province which borders Vietnam in the south.
When we got off Guilin Airport, we just could not believe that we were far away from the showcase of the capital Beijing. The airport was brand new, having been constructed only about 5 years ago, and can easily rival or beat any airport in USA in terms of its design and construction. It was all shiny stainless steel and glass exterior. We were met at the airport by our Chinese guide with a car and a driver. We were driven straight to our hotel for us to have some lunch first and freshen up. The guide told us that the day�s program consists of a visit to the Red Flute Cave since we only had half a day today. Tomorrow, we will take a boat ride on Rive Li to see the amazing limestone formations.
Some of the most spectacular scenery Guilin has to offer, is underground at Reed Flute Caverns. Here the multi colored lighting and fantastic stalactites and Stalagmites resemble a set from �Journey to the Center of the Earth�. The most beautiful tourist spot is the Crystal Palace of Dragon King, in the Reed Flute Cave , a subterranean water landscape, which resembles the landscape around Guilin and the Li River There is an underground auditorium which can accommodate almost a thousand people comfortably. During the war, the caves were used as an air raid shelter.
Since most of the Chinese tour guides derive a great deal of their income from commissions from tourist shopping, our guide made sure that she took us to the largest tourist shopping were we were shown fantastic amounts of Jade carvings, Chinese silk and other handicrafts. Chandra being a compulsive buyer ended up buying some jade carvings. We returned to our hotel, after dinner at a very quiet restaurant. Another curious practice with Chinese tour guides is they never eat with you. Although we invited our guide to join us for dinner, she politely refused and had her dinner with the driver of the car. After dropping us at the hotel, we were asked to be ready after breakfast promptly at 8:00 am for our boat ride on the River Li.
Landscape of Guilin at sunset is one of the most breath-taking sites in China. Guilin by the banks of the Li River in southern China is justifiably considered to be one of the most beautiful in China. Today, Guilin attracts innumerable tourists because of its unique landscape. Until the end of the 1970s, it was a quiet, sleepy area. Since then, Guilin and the settlements along the Li River have undergone an incredible development through tourism. This town with over 400,000 inhabitants acquired its name from the Cassia trees, whose blooms carry their sweet scent through the whole town in autumn. Guilin literally means "Cassia Tree Forest". Guilin is said to be founded in 214 BC. At that time, the Lingqu Canal was built under the regency of the first Chinese emperor, Qin Sin Huangdi. It still connects the central Asian plain with southern China, and South-East Asia, via the Yangzi, the Lijiang and the Pearl river. Guilin and its surroundings are still mostly agricultural, but this is limited by the numerous mountains which pose a problem in the whole of Guangxi region. The landscape is characterized by terraced rice paddies, water buffalos, and bamboo groves, and peasants with turn up trousers and cone-shaped straw hats. Guilin is famous for it spicy Guilinjiang, a type of pepper sauce. From the Mountain of Colored Layers, a 223 meter high mountain on the north, visitors can get a wonderful view of Guilin and Lijiang..
A boat trip on the peaceful Li River is the absolute high point of any visit to Guilin. A cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, visitors will experience the winding and twisting Li River, goes past the many bizarre mountains whose shapes have inspired and fired the Chinese imagination, the Elephant Trunk Mountain, Old Man Mountain, Pagoda Mountain and Hole Mountain. Cormorant fishermen in narrow bamboo boats, bathing children, water buffaloes, small settlement and women doing their washing on the banks of the river can be seen along the way. Yangshuo, at the end of the boat journey is today a developed village that thrives mainly on tourism and seems to have nothing but tourist shops.
When we got off the boat at Yangshuo, the driver of the car had driven there and was waiting for us. The return drive to Guilin Hotel took about an hour. Tonight, we will be attending a cultural show featuring the many minority tribes of Southern China. After dinner, our guide took us to the theatre. The show was spectacular in its color , choreography, music and the dancing and lasted for almost 90 minutes. We took some photos with the performing artists at the end of the show. The guide dropped us off at the hotel. Tomorrow, we will leave Guilin and fly to Chongqing, which is the largest city in China on the banks of the mighty Yangtze River to board our luxury cruise ship the " Eastern Queen" for a 4 day cruise down Yangtze river. More on Yangtze river in my next episode.
