Guilin
Guangxi Autonomous Region
Our first out-of-city excursion -- so exciting!!!
The kids had a three-day weekend because of a teacher prep day so we started at the top of our list of "places to see" and headed out to a gorgeous area in Southern China. We started in the town of Guilin and began our journey on a boat ride down the Li River and ended in the town of Yangshuo.
The journey took about 4 hours. We ate, we played, and we experienced this gorgeous area. Check out the scenery. This is why the area is so well known...
Fun stuff along the way. Not sure what these people are finding in the river, but we would see them when the water was shallow picking things out of the rocks.
At one point we were just chilling down stairs and this guy appears on the edge of our boat. He was selling souvenirs. Another guy was selling fruit. Once they were finished they hopped back on their little raft and made their way to the next boat where they would tie up their raft to the boat, hop on and try to sell their stuff :)
The limestone mountains jut out all over - it's such unique scenery. Very glad we got to see it!
Here are just a couple of the many water buffalo we saw. The local farmers use them to plow their fields.
The Chinese money 20 Yuan bill has a picture from this river. We passed the same spot!
Look how busy the river is! So many tour boats and rafts!
Yangshuo
Once we arrived in Yangshuo of course to get into town you have to walk through the pit of people trying to sell you stuff . There was some very cool, cheap stuff mixed in with the junk :)
The first activity on our list was to ride bikes through the countryside. The boys really wanted Dad to ride this triple seater :) Dad was thrilled. I can't tell you how long I've tried to get him to ride a tandem bike with me and it's never happened. And after this experience I doubt it ever will ;)
I thought this bike would be perfect for the three of us. It has a little seat and handle bars in front for Jake. Boy was I wrong!! The position it forced me to pedal in was very awkward, good thing we only rode 10 MILES!! And of course it was during nap time so small fry was lulled to sleep by my gentle peddling :) I had to hold him on the seat with one arm while kicking his limp legs with each peddle, and trying to steer this awkward bike with flat tires... fun times :)
Beautiful countryside and many rice fields along the way.
The kids became more of an attraction than the tree. They are sitting on the fence in their little china man hats while a crowd forms around them taking turns posing with them for pictures...fun times.
West Street in the evening. So much activity! (and a KFC! Chinese people love their KFC!)
That evening in Yangshuo we saw a show called "Impressions Liu Sanjie" The show was created by the man who also directed the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics. Six hundred performers put on a great show on the Li River with the peaks illuminated in the background. I *think* it was about the same love story the movie at the banyan tree was about :)
Shopping in Yangshuo
We really enjoyed the town Yangshuo the best. Back in Guilin we went to Reed Flute Cave. This cave put Timpanogos Cave to shame :) Many stalactites and stalagmites illuminated in beautiful colors, and the cave was HUGE. Like football field huge inside!
Inside the Crystal Palace of the Dragon King. This huge room was used as an air raid shelter during wars.
We had a great time!! Can't wait to plan our next excursion!!
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