We awoke at 7 and had breakfast in the hotel cafe. We met our tour group and leaders at 8:45 and loaded on a bus for a 30 minute ride to get the river boat. They showed us osmanthus trees which are indigenous to Guilin - apparently there are thousands of them here and they make an osmanthus wine from it which we tried later in the day.
We had a private deck on the river boat and left right on time for a 4 hour ride on the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo. The peaks of limestone along the way were beautiful - many shrouded in mist and clouds. We had rain off and on that added to the mystisim.
They also brought out Snake Wine - a huge bottle of fermented liquid that tasted like brandy (according to one of our tour companions) - but the bottle had 3 or 4 large snakes curled up in the bottom. Apparently, this is popular with the men to improve virility. I didn't need to try that - and there is no way I could have kept it down anyway!
The ride on the river was beautiful. We say water buffaloe on the banks and in the water eating from the bottom of the river. Also we saw a fisherman with a cormarant - a bird that they use to fish - the bird grabs the fish out of the water and then the fisherman takes the fish from the bird. That was neat.
We had a box lunch and spent a lot of time on the upper deck. There was a college group from Michigan on another deck of the boat and we talked to many of them. The boat ride was beautiful and fun.
We walked through a market in Yangshuo where the merchants were selling everything and hawking their wares to the tourists. We took a 60 minute bus ride back to Guilin where they took us to a Chinese hospital. We got to see patients being examined by Chinese doctors and the doctors and nurses talked to us about alternative forms of medicine that they practice in China - acupunture, cupping, herb treatment, and reflexology. I guess they don't have HIPA laws in China as there wasn't much that was private.
Then a special treat. We all got a reflexology foot massage from licensed therapists. Yuang Xei Mai was my therapist and Huang Xing was Tim's. Yuang was fabulous - such strong hands and the experience was a special treat. It ended with a shoulder and neck massage, but I've never had such a wonderful foot massage. Highly recommend this. Her massage also told her that I had no major medical problems - so comforting to know!
We took the bus back to the hotel and some people went to the Pearl Musuem to see and buy pearls but Tim and I came back to the hotel.
Tonight - a groudinner at the Sheraton Guilin followed by a "night cruise" on the Li River to see the sites of Guilin. The dinner was Chinese family style again with a turntable (lazy Susan which the Chinese don't understand!) full of beef, duck, corn soup, tarrow, bok choy, fish, eggplant, and fruit for dessert. (Leslie - Lincoln probably wouldn't like the food here!). Tow Chinese musicians played for us - one on a Chinese harp (2 strings) and another a 4-stringed instrument. The Chinese music was delightful.
We then took a short walk to the River Li (5 minutes most) for a night cruise on an open air boat. There was an extra cost for this but well worth the 250 yuan each. The river was lit up all along the route and beautiful. There were 19 bridges many replicated on a small scale other famous bridges like the Golden Gate - one was like the Arc de Triompe in Paris. There was a glass building built with no nails. There were several stages along the route with Chinese opera being performed. The city and hills were also lit making it breath taking. There were caves and waterfalls. The highlight was the stop with the 3 fishermen on bamboo rafts with their cormarants. We got to watch up close as the birds caught the fish and the fishermen took the fish from the bird's mouths. Truly amazing.
There were several large pagodas all lit up that were beautiful. A delightful one hour boat ride to end the day. It was a bit chilly on the water at night but we enjoyed it just the same.
Chinese lesson: Ni Hao = "knee how" - Hello or Good Day
Larry
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