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| Yangshuo |
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| Rice Terrace Fields |
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| Holidays in Beijing |
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Showing posts with label Yangshuo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yangshuo. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Forgotten Photos
So now that I'm home and finally have a good internet connection, I've realized I forgot to put up some pictures. The oldest were the pictures from Yangshuo, the night we went to the water show. It's not much but I figure I had better put them online anyway. The second album is from the rice terraces. I can't belive I left that album out! I forgot to post the pictures from Thanksgiving and I also have the pictures from Tokyo to put up too, so here they all are, late but up nonetheless. I'm not quite ready to wrap up my blog yet, so keep checking back for the final post.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Picture This!
I hope everyone is happy. I've been procrastinating all weekend and look at the results. I finally got Brittany's pictures, which are spectacular by the way, and I've made all of my Guilin albums. I really owe a shout out to Jeff, Brittany, and Ryan for their contributions to the photo albums. Jeff and Ryan had their cameras during the river rafting (the album is created but my internet connection is too slow to upload it right now). Brittany has spectacular pictures of the karst, the village people (funny I know, but the Dazhai village is a different album yet to be posted) and many others. I think well should thank them. Further, I have been calling my trip the Guilin trip just because the TBC itinerary says Guilin Trip on the front. Actually, a majority of our trip took place outside of Guilin, in smaller towns. Yangshuo (阳朔) was the village we spent a majority of the time in. The village school was located in Dazhai, Guangxi Province, China (大寨，广西，中国). Anyway, most of that stuff is nominal, here are the pictures:
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| Guilin |
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| Li River Cruise |
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| Cooking Class |
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A Postcard in Words
Ok, so my last entry was long, but rushed. This is probably going to be another long one, just to throw that out there. Where did I leave off? After the fun river rafting down the Yulong (Green Dragon) River and the water show we went to bed to prepare for the mud cave diving. The next morning we woke up and ate another great breakfast. Our group walked down to the bike rental shop and got our bikes. They weren't the best quality, but a bike is a bike. We started off out of town and soon were biking our way through rice fields and beautiful mountains. The mountains, I've learned, are karst topography, or karst mountains. These weathered limestone formations are formed from fossilized prehistoric sea floor sediments, brought to the surface by geological upheavals. The exposed limestone is then eroded by rain causing the mountains to form. Underground water flows and subterranean rivers carve out long, interlinked caverns which have beautiful and interesting rock formations. The bike ride through the karst was amazing. The villages we passed through were small and isolated. The old people worked in the fields, the water buffalo grazed alongside the road and the fog began to fade away as the sun emerged. The bike ride was a decent length but we made it to the cave. This is where the fun began.
Having been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, I knew what it's like to be in a cave. Being the US, touching formations is strictly prohibited. But in China...rules do not apply. Actually, the rule should be touch, explore, and climb! We began our decent to the mud cave by climbing in and out of stalagmites. We turned around corners, into smaller chambers, crouching through tunnels and emerging into larger rooms. Sometimes we descended by steep metal stairs into a lower chamber and other times we would use ropes to climb up steep inclines. The trail was dimly lit and the upper regions of the larger rooms disappeared in the darkness. We explored some rooms and walked around the caves before going the mud cave. There were two ways to enter the trail to the mud cave, we could turn back and retrace our steps, or we could get on our stomachs and army crawl through a crevice no taller than a half meter. Everyone joked about the crevice. It was a really tight squeeze for some, but mostly it was a mental obstacle. Most people freaked out when they got their body in and had to army crawl out. It wasn't longer then 8 feet but to some I'm sure it felt like a mile. When we arrived at the mud cave the water was cold, but before we knew it we were knee deep in murky mud. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much. Picking up oozing globs of mud and slathering it on my shoulders and head was something I haven't done since the preschool playground. I had a blast. Once the relaxation got boring we of course had to make things interesting. People were falling into the mud, pushing each other around, and slinging mud across the cave. At one point it was a free for all and everyone was defending their vision. Mud was flying in front of your face, blobs were hitting me in the ears and I could barely open my eyes. It was too much fun. On the way out, our mud began to dry and a huge drop of mud fell from my forehead and landed right in my eye. Lucky for me, someone forgot their water bottle at the mud cave so my friend poured it in my eye to wash out the mud. At the cave entrance there were a few ice cold showers to wash ourselves off in and everyone who wore white into the cave came out with camel colored swim suits.
The night of the mud caves was a night to remember. The other group was in town so everyone had a huge feast and went out to a local bar for pool, drinks, and some much needed catching up. It was a little too much fun for most of us because the next morning's 7 AM wake up call woke all of us up on the wrong side of the bed. We began the next day with hours and hours of driving. Not any driving. Mountain driving. The scenery was beautiful, but the rain began to pour and made the bus humid. The mountain driving was curvy and winding, up long narrow dirt roads. The potholes and giant rocks made me think that within no time we were going to be pushing the bus out of a muddy mess. This didn't help for people's hang overs and reluctant to say there were quite a few students wishing that they hadn't stayed out so late and drank so much. I wasn't in too bad of shape and I'm not just saying that to say that, I was just tired. When we finally got to our village, Xiaozhai, the rain had lulled to a drizzle. Because of the rain, the hike to the village school was optional. As much as I wanted to sleep, I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I headed off for the hike.
This was a great scenic hike. Two hours up and over the rice terraces. The clouds covered the peaks of the lush green mountain peaks and the terraces were full of water that reflected the grey overcast sky. The Yao people are an ethnic group in Southwest China. They are mostly an agricultural community relying on hunting, fishing, and rice cultivation. They are especially skilled in embroidery, weaving, and dying. The women traditionally keep their hair long as a sign of beauty, and by long I mean to the floor. Besides the hair on their head, they also keep every strand that falls out. They comb their hair every morning to keep tidy. The rice terraces took the local Zhuang and Yao people over 650 years to complete and they were awesome. I wish the weather had been better but I can take what I get.
When we arrived at the school, I was a little bummed to find out that most of the children were sent home because of the rain. There were a few kids left to play with us and all of us had a blast playing basketball and soccer and giving them gifts. Jimmy had a great time and he really did well with the kids. They loved him the most because he picked them up and twirled them around. He even let the kids shoot hoops from his shoulders. We walked back to the village and relaxed. We were all really tired. I ate dinner and waited for the night time village party. Around 8 pm, the entire village gathered in the center of town and lit a bonfire. The kids were out in full force and I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to let my inner child run free. These kids were monkeys. Before I knew it, we were in a vicious tickle fight and I was being attacked on all sides. The laughing children were climbing up my side, hanging on my arms and jumping on my back. At one point in time I had at least five children on me. One on my right arm, two on my back, one hanging on my left leg and another in front of me. I wasn't about to lose this war though. I called in reinforcements and with some help (my other friends were being attacked too at the same time) we managed to turn the tables. It was easy to pick one up and tickle them so much that they were nearly squirming out of my hands. I had a blast. I gave one boy a red hat I had bought in town and he wore it all night long. When it came time to watch the talent show, he climbed on my back and together we watched the show. After the show, the children showed us their school room. I picked up my kid's Chinese textbook and couldn't even read it. He was only 10 years old, but he for sure knew a whole lot more Chinese than I did. I thought it was amazing.
When it was time to go to bed, we departed from the village center and retired to our guest house. Everyone was exhausted and the night was dead silent by 11 pm. The next morning I woke up early to the sound of rain pattering on the rooftops of nearby houses. The cool morning breeze had made its way into our non-heated guest house and the air was chilly. I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it up for the day hike, so I went back to bed in the comfort of the warm blankets. I was happy to hear that the day hike was cancelled and we were leaving early to go to the hot springs hotel. We spent the rest of the morning, and almost all afternoon weaseling out of the village. The roads were even more treacherous than the day before but we finally made it.
The hot springs were amazing. It was a perfect way to end our trip. After the past couple days of partying, hiking, and physical activity we were ready to relax. The hot springs were natural and beautiful. Tucked away in between to mountain slopes, the hot springs ranged in temperature from 30°C to 50°C. 50°C is over 100°F and I could barely dip my feet in the 45°C pool without feeling a burning sensation on the bottom of my feet. The 45°C pool was incredibly hot and made your skin red after you pulled it out, I couldn't imagine what a dip in the 50°C pool would do to you. We all hung out for a few hours in the 42°C pool and took a dip in the medicine bath, which had large natural tea bags floating in the water. After dinner, everyone lined up for massages. They had a large array of massages ranging from Traditional Chinese Massage, Thai Massages, Korean Massages, and even an special Ovary Massage for the ladies.
The next day was the same old same old. We got the airport, took a plane back to Beijing, and here I am. I finally got internet in my room, so I should be able to post more often and get things done faster, but no promises. I have to go to class now but I'll post more later and the pictures are coming up.
Having been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, I knew what it's like to be in a cave. Being the US, touching formations is strictly prohibited. But in China...rules do not apply. Actually, the rule should be touch, explore, and climb! We began our decent to the mud cave by climbing in and out of stalagmites. We turned around corners, into smaller chambers, crouching through tunnels and emerging into larger rooms. Sometimes we descended by steep metal stairs into a lower chamber and other times we would use ropes to climb up steep inclines. The trail was dimly lit and the upper regions of the larger rooms disappeared in the darkness. We explored some rooms and walked around the caves before going the mud cave. There were two ways to enter the trail to the mud cave, we could turn back and retrace our steps, or we could get on our stomachs and army crawl through a crevice no taller than a half meter. Everyone joked about the crevice. It was a really tight squeeze for some, but mostly it was a mental obstacle. Most people freaked out when they got their body in and had to army crawl out. It wasn't longer then 8 feet but to some I'm sure it felt like a mile. When we arrived at the mud cave the water was cold, but before we knew it we were knee deep in murky mud. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much. Picking up oozing globs of mud and slathering it on my shoulders and head was something I haven't done since the preschool playground. I had a blast. Once the relaxation got boring we of course had to make things interesting. People were falling into the mud, pushing each other around, and slinging mud across the cave. At one point it was a free for all and everyone was defending their vision. Mud was flying in front of your face, blobs were hitting me in the ears and I could barely open my eyes. It was too much fun. On the way out, our mud began to dry and a huge drop of mud fell from my forehead and landed right in my eye. Lucky for me, someone forgot their water bottle at the mud cave so my friend poured it in my eye to wash out the mud. At the cave entrance there were a few ice cold showers to wash ourselves off in and everyone who wore white into the cave came out with camel colored swim suits.
The night of the mud caves was a night to remember. The other group was in town so everyone had a huge feast and went out to a local bar for pool, drinks, and some much needed catching up. It was a little too much fun for most of us because the next morning's 7 AM wake up call woke all of us up on the wrong side of the bed. We began the next day with hours and hours of driving. Not any driving. Mountain driving. The scenery was beautiful, but the rain began to pour and made the bus humid. The mountain driving was curvy and winding, up long narrow dirt roads. The potholes and giant rocks made me think that within no time we were going to be pushing the bus out of a muddy mess. This didn't help for people's hang overs and reluctant to say there were quite a few students wishing that they hadn't stayed out so late and drank so much. I wasn't in too bad of shape and I'm not just saying that to say that, I was just tired. When we finally got to our village, Xiaozhai, the rain had lulled to a drizzle. Because of the rain, the hike to the village school was optional. As much as I wanted to sleep, I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I headed off for the hike.
This was a great scenic hike. Two hours up and over the rice terraces. The clouds covered the peaks of the lush green mountain peaks and the terraces were full of water that reflected the grey overcast sky. The Yao people are an ethnic group in Southwest China. They are mostly an agricultural community relying on hunting, fishing, and rice cultivation. They are especially skilled in embroidery, weaving, and dying. The women traditionally keep their hair long as a sign of beauty, and by long I mean to the floor. Besides the hair on their head, they also keep every strand that falls out. They comb their hair every morning to keep tidy. The rice terraces took the local Zhuang and Yao people over 650 years to complete and they were awesome. I wish the weather had been better but I can take what I get.
When we arrived at the school, I was a little bummed to find out that most of the children were sent home because of the rain. There were a few kids left to play with us and all of us had a blast playing basketball and soccer and giving them gifts. Jimmy had a great time and he really did well with the kids. They loved him the most because he picked them up and twirled them around. He even let the kids shoot hoops from his shoulders. We walked back to the village and relaxed. We were all really tired. I ate dinner and waited for the night time village party. Around 8 pm, the entire village gathered in the center of town and lit a bonfire. The kids were out in full force and I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to let my inner child run free. These kids were monkeys. Before I knew it, we were in a vicious tickle fight and I was being attacked on all sides. The laughing children were climbing up my side, hanging on my arms and jumping on my back. At one point in time I had at least five children on me. One on my right arm, two on my back, one hanging on my left leg and another in front of me. I wasn't about to lose this war though. I called in reinforcements and with some help (my other friends were being attacked too at the same time) we managed to turn the tables. It was easy to pick one up and tickle them so much that they were nearly squirming out of my hands. I had a blast. I gave one boy a red hat I had bought in town and he wore it all night long. When it came time to watch the talent show, he climbed on my back and together we watched the show. After the show, the children showed us their school room. I picked up my kid's Chinese textbook and couldn't even read it. He was only 10 years old, but he for sure knew a whole lot more Chinese than I did. I thought it was amazing.
When it was time to go to bed, we departed from the village center and retired to our guest house. Everyone was exhausted and the night was dead silent by 11 pm. The next morning I woke up early to the sound of rain pattering on the rooftops of nearby houses. The cool morning breeze had made its way into our non-heated guest house and the air was chilly. I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it up for the day hike, so I went back to bed in the comfort of the warm blankets. I was happy to hear that the day hike was cancelled and we were leaving early to go to the hot springs hotel. We spent the rest of the morning, and almost all afternoon weaseling out of the village. The roads were even more treacherous than the day before but we finally made it.
The hot springs were amazing. It was a perfect way to end our trip. After the past couple days of partying, hiking, and physical activity we were ready to relax. The hot springs were natural and beautiful. Tucked away in between to mountain slopes, the hot springs ranged in temperature from 30°C to 50°C. 50°C is over 100°F and I could barely dip my feet in the 45°C pool without feeling a burning sensation on the bottom of my feet. The 45°C pool was incredibly hot and made your skin red after you pulled it out, I couldn't imagine what a dip in the 50°C pool would do to you. We all hung out for a few hours in the 42°C pool and took a dip in the medicine bath, which had large natural tea bags floating in the water. After dinner, everyone lined up for massages. They had a large array of massages ranging from Traditional Chinese Massage, Thai Massages, Korean Massages, and even an special Ovary Massage for the ladies.
The next day was the same old same old. We got the airport, took a plane back to Beijing, and here I am. I finally got internet in my room, so I should be able to post more often and get things done faster, but no promises. I have to go to class now but I'll post more later and the pictures are coming up.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Guilin
Well, I am in Guilin. It is much more beautiful than any other place I have been to in China. Let me start from the beginning. We all started our weekend with a bang, going out and having a great celebration to begin our week long vacation. Without any worries of school work or errands, everyone had a blast. Waking up Sunday morning to pack wasn't the most logical thing to do, but I made sure that I was not forgetting anything. Except for my phone charger. So now, I have no phone and some pretty scarce internet in Guilin but I'm managing to get by. The 22 hour train ride was a great time. My friends and I successfully entertained ourselves for the entire ride and I would even go as far as to say that it went by quickly. When we arrived in Guilin, we had this weird notion that things were going to be warm and sunny, but that didn't start until yesterday. It was kind of cold, a little overcast, maybe foggy or misty, but in any case it was still beautiful. The mountains here are spectacular and we began our trip going straight from the train station to Lao Hill. We ascended the tallest peak, Lao Hill, on a "gondola" aka ski-lift. With shorts, t-shirt, flip-flops and backpack, I pretty much froze to death the entire ride up, the 45 minute summit rest, and on the way down. The view from on top of Lao Hill was awesome. The mist and the fog swallowed up the hilly mountains one by one until they faded into whiteness. The mountains were larger and more prominent the closer they were to Lao Hill, but beneath us we could see the farm lands and small buildings of the town beneath the looming giant mountains.
When we were done looking from on top, we took the toboggan ride down and headed back to the hotel. We were all starving. Taking a 22 hour train, there isn't much to eat besides instant noodles and fruit. No one had eaten lunch, we were all a little confused by the cold weather, and the hotel was on the opposite side of the river away from the bar street and restaurants. When we got to the hotel, I had to register for classes, shower and then meet everyone for dinner. Not having a phone, a few of us were separated from the group that had left for dinner. The cab driver dropped us off at a main avenue, but we couldn't find out where our friend had gone to dinner. It felt like hours searching for our friend's restaurant and I was fuming with frustration being lost and hungry. Trying to find people in China is a very difficult task. All of the restaurants have flashing colored neon lights, the signs are in Chinese (obviously) and every street looks very familiar. When we finally found the restaurant, it felt like an hour had gone by. We arrived to empty plates and not so good food. I have to say, I was pretty irritated. I knew that the food was going to be eaten and generally speaking no one likes being lost and hungry. We ordered a few more dishes and I scrounged off the remaining plates. Once I had a little food in me, the night went on and we had a great time exploring Guilin. This town was equally beautiful at night as it was during the day. The rocky mountain hills were lit up and lush. There were a few streams running through the city that reflected the mountains and street lights and the ambiance was just right. We had a pretty late night out meeting locals and bar hopping but we all made it home safe, sound and ready to start another day.
Yesterday, we woke up early to take a bus ride to Yangshuo. Yanghuo is a smaller town just outside of Guilin. It is spectacular. When we arrived, we checked into our hotel and ate lunch. This town has some major pros and cons. First off, it is a tourist town. Tons of westerners, western food, beautiful scenery, warm weather, accommodations close to the main part of town, and so much more. But the same things that make me love this town, make me strongly dislike it. First and foremost, there are too many westerners. This means that everything is touristy and unauthentic. The food is slow, service is mediocre, and the people just aren't as nice. Besides these things Yangshuo is a great town. We left lunch and headed off for an hour and a half Li River cruise. This was amazing. In groups of four, we headed down the Li River weaving along and around the majestic mountains. The mountains are shaped exactly how the pictures look. They are even more lush and green than the pictures and look like melted wax dried after years of dripping and running. The river is fairly rapid but you can still see the reflection of the mountains in the waves. The sun had begun to set and the light streaked through the rolling hills filling the river valley with rays of light. Passing in and out, in between and around the mountains was overwhelming. This was the rawest and most purely Chinese thing I have seen. I wish I could have taken everyone on this cruise. It is here, in the south of China, that I have seen the typical Chinese farmer, bent over in the fields, rice hat to shield the blinding sun and water buffalo grazing in the background. The people rely on nature for everything and you can tell by their culture they are still awed by the surrounding landscape. The people fish with large nets and it is here that they have specially trained river birds to catch for them. By tying string around the birds throat, they release the birds to catch fish from the river and being unable to swallow, the birds return to the boat to give the fisherman their meal. It is a spectacular relationship between bird and fisherman.
The river cruise ended and we headed back to the hotel for dinner. We ate at a noodle bar and got ready for the "Impression Liu Sanjie" night show. This show was 100% not what we expected and for a hefty Y200 price tag, I can't help but say I was a little disappointed. But, before I give you the wrong impression let me explain what I expected and what it turned out to be. Directed by Zhang Yimou, the famous director of the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (the one I accidentally fell asleep to in the sweltering heat), the show depicts the life of the Guangxi people. Guangxi is the province that Guilin and Yangshuo are located in. The production has a natural mountain background and has over 600 local fishermen and women working together with ethnic minority people. Even though I was expecting shooting fountains, flashy light shows and yea, a few fireworks, I wasn't shocked that the entire production was in Chinese making it hard to understand. Lucky for me, I was sitting next to John, our TBC leader and he translated a few key parts for me. There was a love story, a depiction of a typical day as a fisherman, a night scene depicting the stars and moon, and a few other things I can't recall. It was a good show, not what I was expecting but that was OK.
Today, we woke up early to get American breakfast and with the slow service, I didn't have enough time to eat at the restaurant. It wasn't an issue because today was my cooking and river rafting excursion. We arrived at the cooking lessons shortly after 9 am and I was surprised to walk into our tour guide's house. And what do you know? Our tour guide, Richard, was also the master chef who would teach us how to make dumplings, kung pao chicken, spicy sauce (lajiu), fried noodles, and beer battered fish (a local delicacy). Free food. Master Chef Teacher. What more needs to be said? We were stuffed. After making dumplings, steaming them, frying some and eating all of them I was ready to start my day. It got better. The spicy sauce, no joke, is definitely going to be made for everyone at home to try. I'll do whatever I have to do to get the ingredients, but something this good can't be left here in China. The fried noodles were fried noodles, but the over all experience of cutting the peppers, bamboo, ginger, garlic, and everything else was a blast. Not to mention, this guy had a penthouse on the sixth floor overlooking fields and more mountains. The kung pao chicken was my favorite to cook. Adding in spices and throwing in vegetables, it was not only a lot of fun to make, but especially delicious to devour. When we finished eating and cooking we made our way to the Dragon River rafting.
For this experience, everyone came prepared for fun in the sun with our swimsuits and all. It was a blast. The best part about the whole trip was that on the way down to the boats they were selling water guns. Two people. One raft. It was war before we got on board. Jim and I got on a boat together and we were off. Within five minutes, my water hose cracked and leaked and within the first half hour Jim's was broken in half. It was hilarious to ride down the river shooting the other boats, avoiding getting hit in the face and just having a great time. Balancing on the boats was hard, but we coordinated with our drivers to sneak attack people from behind. The Dragon River has about 8 or 9 small waterfalls that added a little excitement to the trip while we were not squirting water at eachother. The waterfalls were more like mini plunges but no one's boat flipped over. At one point along the trip, it was full fledged pirating and pillaging. Boris, my friend from Fairfield University, is a member of the swim team. He started the piracy by jumping off his boat and pushing people off their boat. When this happend, it was all of themselves. Jim got in and took over a neighboring boat. While he was gone, I was attacked from three sides and had to abandon ship, jumping off and heading toward a third boat. On Jim's conquered vessel, he took their weapons and tried to reclaim our original boat, but somehow everyone ended up on eachother's boats. By this time, we had given our raft drivers quite a show and they told us to sit down for one of the waterfalls. We were soaked and the water was pretty murky but we were living the good life. A few of us got mouthfuls of river water, but hopefully none of us get sick. No one really knows what things live in those waters but our boats got this mysterious foam on them and there were some dead fish floating along with us.
The boat ride was great. The Dragon River was so still that the reflection of the mountains was perfect. Like I said, I can't even explain how beautiful this scenery is and my pictures can't even do it justice. Hopefully I'll be able to write soon and tell you about the mud diving we're going to do tomorrow.
When we were done looking from on top, we took the toboggan ride down and headed back to the hotel. We were all starving. Taking a 22 hour train, there isn't much to eat besides instant noodles and fruit. No one had eaten lunch, we were all a little confused by the cold weather, and the hotel was on the opposite side of the river away from the bar street and restaurants. When we got to the hotel, I had to register for classes, shower and then meet everyone for dinner. Not having a phone, a few of us were separated from the group that had left for dinner. The cab driver dropped us off at a main avenue, but we couldn't find out where our friend had gone to dinner. It felt like hours searching for our friend's restaurant and I was fuming with frustration being lost and hungry. Trying to find people in China is a very difficult task. All of the restaurants have flashing colored neon lights, the signs are in Chinese (obviously) and every street looks very familiar. When we finally found the restaurant, it felt like an hour had gone by. We arrived to empty plates and not so good food. I have to say, I was pretty irritated. I knew that the food was going to be eaten and generally speaking no one likes being lost and hungry. We ordered a few more dishes and I scrounged off the remaining plates. Once I had a little food in me, the night went on and we had a great time exploring Guilin. This town was equally beautiful at night as it was during the day. The rocky mountain hills were lit up and lush. There were a few streams running through the city that reflected the mountains and street lights and the ambiance was just right. We had a pretty late night out meeting locals and bar hopping but we all made it home safe, sound and ready to start another day.
Yesterday, we woke up early to take a bus ride to Yangshuo. Yanghuo is a smaller town just outside of Guilin. It is spectacular. When we arrived, we checked into our hotel and ate lunch. This town has some major pros and cons. First off, it is a tourist town. Tons of westerners, western food, beautiful scenery, warm weather, accommodations close to the main part of town, and so much more. But the same things that make me love this town, make me strongly dislike it. First and foremost, there are too many westerners. This means that everything is touristy and unauthentic. The food is slow, service is mediocre, and the people just aren't as nice. Besides these things Yangshuo is a great town. We left lunch and headed off for an hour and a half Li River cruise. This was amazing. In groups of four, we headed down the Li River weaving along and around the majestic mountains. The mountains are shaped exactly how the pictures look. They are even more lush and green than the pictures and look like melted wax dried after years of dripping and running. The river is fairly rapid but you can still see the reflection of the mountains in the waves. The sun had begun to set and the light streaked through the rolling hills filling the river valley with rays of light. Passing in and out, in between and around the mountains was overwhelming. This was the rawest and most purely Chinese thing I have seen. I wish I could have taken everyone on this cruise. It is here, in the south of China, that I have seen the typical Chinese farmer, bent over in the fields, rice hat to shield the blinding sun and water buffalo grazing in the background. The people rely on nature for everything and you can tell by their culture they are still awed by the surrounding landscape. The people fish with large nets and it is here that they have specially trained river birds to catch for them. By tying string around the birds throat, they release the birds to catch fish from the river and being unable to swallow, the birds return to the boat to give the fisherman their meal. It is a spectacular relationship between bird and fisherman.
The river cruise ended and we headed back to the hotel for dinner. We ate at a noodle bar and got ready for the "Impression Liu Sanjie" night show. This show was 100% not what we expected and for a hefty Y200 price tag, I can't help but say I was a little disappointed. But, before I give you the wrong impression let me explain what I expected and what it turned out to be. Directed by Zhang Yimou, the famous director of the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (the one I accidentally fell asleep to in the sweltering heat), the show depicts the life of the Guangxi people. Guangxi is the province that Guilin and Yangshuo are located in. The production has a natural mountain background and has over 600 local fishermen and women working together with ethnic minority people. Even though I was expecting shooting fountains, flashy light shows and yea, a few fireworks, I wasn't shocked that the entire production was in Chinese making it hard to understand. Lucky for me, I was sitting next to John, our TBC leader and he translated a few key parts for me. There was a love story, a depiction of a typical day as a fisherman, a night scene depicting the stars and moon, and a few other things I can't recall. It was a good show, not what I was expecting but that was OK.
Today, we woke up early to get American breakfast and with the slow service, I didn't have enough time to eat at the restaurant. It wasn't an issue because today was my cooking and river rafting excursion. We arrived at the cooking lessons shortly after 9 am and I was surprised to walk into our tour guide's house. And what do you know? Our tour guide, Richard, was also the master chef who would teach us how to make dumplings, kung pao chicken, spicy sauce (lajiu), fried noodles, and beer battered fish (a local delicacy). Free food. Master Chef Teacher. What more needs to be said? We were stuffed. After making dumplings, steaming them, frying some and eating all of them I was ready to start my day. It got better. The spicy sauce, no joke, is definitely going to be made for everyone at home to try. I'll do whatever I have to do to get the ingredients, but something this good can't be left here in China. The fried noodles were fried noodles, but the over all experience of cutting the peppers, bamboo, ginger, garlic, and everything else was a blast. Not to mention, this guy had a penthouse on the sixth floor overlooking fields and more mountains. The kung pao chicken was my favorite to cook. Adding in spices and throwing in vegetables, it was not only a lot of fun to make, but especially delicious to devour. When we finished eating and cooking we made our way to the Dragon River rafting.
For this experience, everyone came prepared for fun in the sun with our swimsuits and all. It was a blast. The best part about the whole trip was that on the way down to the boats they were selling water guns. Two people. One raft. It was war before we got on board. Jim and I got on a boat together and we were off. Within five minutes, my water hose cracked and leaked and within the first half hour Jim's was broken in half. It was hilarious to ride down the river shooting the other boats, avoiding getting hit in the face and just having a great time. Balancing on the boats was hard, but we coordinated with our drivers to sneak attack people from behind. The Dragon River has about 8 or 9 small waterfalls that added a little excitement to the trip while we were not squirting water at eachother. The waterfalls were more like mini plunges but no one's boat flipped over. At one point along the trip, it was full fledged pirating and pillaging. Boris, my friend from Fairfield University, is a member of the swim team. He started the piracy by jumping off his boat and pushing people off their boat. When this happend, it was all of themselves. Jim got in and took over a neighboring boat. While he was gone, I was attacked from three sides and had to abandon ship, jumping off and heading toward a third boat. On Jim's conquered vessel, he took their weapons and tried to reclaim our original boat, but somehow everyone ended up on eachother's boats. By this time, we had given our raft drivers quite a show and they told us to sit down for one of the waterfalls. We were soaked and the water was pretty murky but we were living the good life. A few of us got mouthfuls of river water, but hopefully none of us get sick. No one really knows what things live in those waters but our boats got this mysterious foam on them and there were some dead fish floating along with us.
The boat ride was great. The Dragon River was so still that the reflection of the mountains was perfect. Like I said, I can't even explain how beautiful this scenery is and my pictures can't even do it justice. Hopefully I'll be able to write soon and tell you about the mud diving we're going to do tomorrow.
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