"Oh you must visit Guilin!" It was no longer a reply,
but more of a mantra, the only reaction to my plans of visiting china that I got from my Chinese friends.
Oh and "you'll love it".
The people in Guilin are friendly, a bit too friendly, within an hour we had a tour guide in tow, and
where scaling one of the peaks that overlook the town. The one we climbed had the poet's tunnel
with writing dating back to 14 century including the poet, chairman Mao.
Like other places in China
I visited, the sunset it was very disappointing, as the sun was lost in the results of the industrial prosperity.
At the summit we met a fortune-teller practicing tai chi, who couldn't resist foretelling the future of my friend
and interpreter Kit Wai (which he now assures me has come to pass, at least the bits he remembers!) After our
descent we discovered the night markets selling antiques, (most items need export approval, but I
think this was lost on the lady buying two 70cm high vases), snuff bottles (no snuff to be seen) and chairman Mao things
(I personally fell in love with the small urine yellow plastic piano bust). The stall owners were charging prices that were
less than Australia but enough to give them mightly pay packets equal to that of a doctor for a month (ie $Au126)! Kit Wai's
cousin who was my Ghangzhou guide is a Doctor, so I was willing to live as well as her but no better, so thus the haggling
commenced. The Mao bust started at $Au36 but I laughed at her and said $Au3.60, I moved on, so she ran up the line on
someone else's table and offered it for $Au18, I repeated my offer and said I could buy it Australia cheaper! After a lot of
persistence, indeed three more stalls I bought it for $Au4.50. As I walked away, I still felt cheated.
Kit Wai insisted that we find a local restaurant to try sweet and sour Li river fish. This is when we started to understand the
motivations of our persistant local guide, we were shown the town's three most
expensive restaurants, a upmarket Karioke bar, three discos and a massage palace. We found a little restaurant
opposite the Li River hotel which, by the shock/amusment on the hostess' face I think we were the first foreigners in
some time. The food was brilliant, the highlight of our eating in China. After dinner we tried to join in the
noisiest and most obvious night activity, that of the outdoor disco rollerskating! However the $10 entry was a bit steep,
we guessed that it was nearer to a dollar for locals.
We settled into the Li River hotel which had been rewarded with four stars. I was most fascinated by the pale pink,
Art deco style bell boy uniform! (Some people collect spoons I collect uniforms.) But he could not sell it! The only
off putting thing about the hotel was trying to get back in after a night out. Outside
were many young ladies offering their company by the hour, capitalism has reached china in a most laissez-faire way.
The paramount reason to visit Guilin is to do the river cruise. We went in winter when the river levels are low but we
didn't find out that our trip was to be less than half the summer run (beware the people selling the tickets lie), until we
arrived to
get on the boat (which was in fact a bus for a long drive). Then when we were on the boat we were told that because it was
shorter we were going to visit the new tourist caves, at additional expense. (This suggestion gained us an insight into the
temper of two of the Germans. I skipped this to climb hills and photograph workers and paths). There was an inclusive meal,
but boy did it take some convincing to get it, they were very determined (I was asked four times) to sell us the much more
expensive local specialty. I found the best way to deal with this is to go to the front of the boat and be amazed! The
advantage in winter is there are less tourist boats on the river. This is truly the most spectacular scenery I have ever
witnessed. Photographs speak so much better than my words could.
The air smelt good, the river was clean! the mountains rose up on both sides, and in the river
were bamboo canoes with local traders and travellers standing and pushing them along with bamboo poles. it was a scene
that could have been anytime in the last few centuries.
In Sydney I was told to work out how much film I thought I needed then treble it, it was good advice, also as widest lens
possible! As the boat only went so far we caught a bus back to the highway (a road really). Here we waited for a very
packed local bus to take us to Yangshuo. (It was as packed as a Tokyo subway but without the smell of this month's hip
aftershave.) Guilin is famous in tourist circles, but in backpacker circles Yangshuo gets the guernsey, it is up there
with Byron Bay and Kathmandu. It is a small town that has got used tothe idea that westerners are not Mr/Ms Moneybags
waiting to be fleeced (oh it sounds like old Australian attitudes to Japanese tourists!)they just get on with their
lives and do not stare. The scenery is much better than Guilin and the people nicer and you can eat in
'Mickey Mao's', the 'Paris Cafe' or even the 'Hard Seat Cafe'. The hotels fall into two categories, good backpacker
and not so good backpacker. Some folk had been here holidaying for months (though two weeks would probably be enough.)
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The next night we signed up for another river cruise, this time to see the cormorants in action,
this is as much of the image of the Li River, as the mountains. We met with other cheap tourists and went with
the young lad to a boat. The boat set sail out past the fisherman's area and then the boy began shouting to the
fishermen... one obliged by gathering his birds and a riding his canoe out into the river. We watched as
the cormorants dived into the water and brought back fish. The story of the birds has been told in a thousand
articles and docos. Our boat turned off its motors and floated down stream with the canoe, leaving us
spectators in stillness and crispness (although the winter days were pleasant 20°C the nights were much nippier.
After 40 mins of watching the fishing our boat was run up to the bank to wander over and look at the catch of
the night, (and pat the birds).
Yangshuo is not expensive, even the bicycle hire is cheap which is recommend it as the best way to see the place.
Be careful if you have not been riding for some time, probably the most humorous moment of all our adventures was watching
Olivier get out of control in the main street, with more flair than the average American slapstick sequence. After
avoiding several unorthodox vehicles and many pedestrians, he crashed into another bicycle rider and her dog, well half
a dog, which was her family's dinner!
We set out on the road to half moon mountain, one camera over my shoulder,
ready for any decisive moment. The ride was pleasant and it was fun to be in the countryside, I am not
sure how far we rode but the scenery was so good, so why worry. We passed many odd sites. The butchers
on the side of the road with the meat on trestles... the young men breaking rocks by hand... the old lady
chasing us so she could pose for me (for a small fee)... the tourist viewing area in the middle of a paddock, with
a view no better than the one from the road... I took many photos as we were riding, and surprisingly a few are ok...
Upon arrival at half moon mountain, I was staggered by the height, relieved that I had
aborted a plan to lug 30kgs of camera gear up at dawn! Ten meters up the path from the bike park their is a delightful
old man, pointing tourists to the track! 1000+ steps later we reached the half moon.
Half moon is a reference to the hole under the summit! Fortunately there was a enterprising local who trekked up there with
water and coke along with little red books and Mao badges.
This is a job to keep one fit! Then we sweating 'big noses' struggled to the summit.
It is recommended that you do this on a clear day. On the way home we were stopped by a road
block, our first, I quickly questioned myself, had I been subversive?
One morning I awoke rather early, or as I thought at the time, maybe its raining, but no it was dawn, without any glory.
A couple of cameras and a quick change later I was off in search of early activity in the village. I wandered down
near the river and photographed some old folk doing tai chi. I noticed a boat unloading, photographing the
processes I noticed that the lady who was manning (if I may use this word) the boat was waving me down.
She then offered (non-verbally) to take me across the river to the fishing village. It was so quiet as
she used a pole to guide the boat across, just the babble of the river and the occasional distant conversation
of fisherman or towns folk. I thank her with 5 yuan. I remember the feeling of privilege to be on that
side of the river and to be wandering along the shore photographing the boats that the cormorant fisherman call
home. I did not see many of them just one or two washing dishes in the river. Everything was
still and old, old in the sense that I was witnessing something that seemingly had gone on for generations
without change. Then an old man approached me, I hoped that I had not done anything to upset him,
no he was offering himself as a model, for a small fee. I believe his name was Mr Wang, (all cormorant
fisherman are Mr Wang according to an ABC doco). I was very generous with payment for it was people like him
that I had come to China to see not the tourist merchants. As the sun rose higher I went in search of a way
back to the village... I found the same lady, having no doubt done many more trips back and forth.
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