The cold weather of Beijing was definitely following us south and after heavy snow at Xian airport and sitting on the plane for 3 hours awaiting the runway to be cleared, we finally got underway. Arriving in Guilin at around midnight on Wednesday 10th February, it had been an un-seasonal 28c that day, however the following day it dropped to a windy and cold 10c.
View from our plane with 4" snow being cleared and awaiting jet defrosting
The following morning we got up early, had breakfast and met Li Zhao Wei, a tourist guide recommended by the hotel. We had to act fast in booking and seeing Guilin as we were due to fly out at 6pm the following night. Every Chinese person we spoke to about Guilin, in both Beijing and Xian, all conceded that it was the most beautiful place in all of China! Guilin resides in Guangxi province, in the Southwest, a mere 90 minute flight from Hong Kong. The landscape is dramatic and unusual due to its 'Karst' weathered limestone formations. Now in 1977 I took my GCE O'Level Geography, and failed so badly I received 'unclassified' (The Clash, The Stranglers, The Jam and The Sex Pistols seemed more relevant then), so i've just learned about Karst peaks and sink holes...hmmm interesting... The warm wet climate speeds up the weathering of limestone by acid rainwater and chemicals in rotting plants. Surface streams lose water to cave systems developing in the limestone. Surface drainage is diverted down sink holes to below the water table. Peaks develop from the land left after erosion by the streams. The cave system gets larger as fast-moving subsurface streams bore through the limestone, and the water table drops. much of the limestone has eroded past the caves down to a layer of shale. Limestone peaks remain, many fractured with small, waterless caves. Ah, so rather than being pushed up from underground, the peaks have been left by the rest of the landscape dropping, well well well! Lets take a look at some pictures..
Sweet Baby Jesus - the view from our hotel room!
We landed in the dark, so it was waking up that we saw these views
Fubo Hill ('Wave subduing Hill') with a crumbling temple on its peak
Vee and Stef feel the ice cold breeze on the Guilin Liberation Bridge
Most excellent trees
I bet the Fortune Teller says we'll go on a river cruise...
So, we booked with Li (Zhao Wei) to go on the Guilin City River Li cruise - no relation. After the cruise, Li would take us on a walk around the city sites. Then the following day we would go on a longer river cruise from somewhere outside Guilin down to Yangshuo (see Blog Update 18).
The locals were on the river Li banks doing their washing
The dam from Li River to the lake
Before we left the UK, there was an excellent HSBC advert explaining how some people get their fish from rivers in some part of the world, it all looked too unfeasible to be true, well guess what ? The Lijiang River is one of the places where cormorant fishing takes place, well well well... The Chinese have used tame cormorants to fish for thousands of years, and this technique is still practiced in southern areas. Fishermen set off on bamboo rafts after dark, with cormorants wearing collars to prevent them from swallowing their catches. The birds swim just below the surface along-side the raft towards a light hanging from the bow. When a bird has made a catch, the fisherman pulls it from the water and retrieves the fish from the bird's beak. The cormorants are rewarded with bits of fish from time to time once the collar is removed.
Song City- great name but eerily quiet there...
Map from our river cruise transfer to lakes
The impressive ancient Banyan tree
Many different bridges from around the world on our boat cruise
The river cruise finished up at the Rong Hu and Shan Hu conjoined lakes right in the heart of the town, where two Pagoda's stand in the lake, The Sun Pagoda and The Moon Pagoda. The two pagoda's are, amazingly, joined by a tunnel under the lake.
The Sun Pagoda is the tallest copper pagoda in the world
The Sun and The Moon Pagodas- I think you can guess which is which..
Apparently 'your life is complete once you take the lift up to the top of the Sun pagoda' - so we did, but it's not!
Inside The Sun Pagoda
Shame about the crane
Entrance to the park
Some good Chinglish in the 'notes' and things not to do..
The Cormorant workers relax
Lovely plumage!
..and again with Pagoda Hill in the distance
Foreground Cheng Yun Palace, background The Solitary Beauty Peak
The Solitary Beauty Peak rears up behind the buildings and trees
As mentioned previously, Vee wins the entrance exam!
Carlo about to enter the tunnel into the 4th dimension
Inside The Sun Pagoda
Top of the Moon Pagoda
Shame about the crane
The underwater tunnel between the two pagodas
After the pagodas we walked to the most famous of the city's rock formations, the 100m high Xiangbi Shan (Elephant Trunk Hill), with a whole through one end, which resembles an elephants trunk drinking from the Li River.
Layout of the park
Some good Chinglish in the 'notes' and things not to do..
The Elephant drinking
The Cormorant workers relax
Narrow boats aren't they?
Lovely plumage!
That elephant again
..and again with Pagoda Hill in the distance
After the Elephant Hill Park we walked to the Jinjiang Prince's Palace- like a miniature Forbidden City, it's encircled by a wall and four gates. Built for the Ming prince Zhou Shouquian in 1372 it pre-dates Beijing's palace by 34 years. it has housed 14 Ming princes and later served as Sun Yat-sen's headquaters in the 1920s. Today it houses the Guangxi Teacher Training College. We were all put through an entrance exam for the college and Vee came out on top, she now attends 6 days a week, traveling from Nottingham every day.
Entrance gate to The Prince's Palace (Stef and Li Zhao Wei)
Plans of the Palace
The Cheng Yun Palace
The Resting Palace
The Solitary Beauty Peak rears up behind the buildings and trees
Some good advice!
As mentioned previously, Vee wins the entrance exam!
The scholarship is hers!
Carlo about to enter the tunnel into the 4th dimension
We walked back to the hotel and finished the day off with an aperitif and an excellent Chinese meal with a big lazy susan, we were feeling quite tired also. Tomorrow would be our final day of this trip and an early start. We would need to take our packed suitcases with us on the Li River boat trip to Yangshuo and then straight to the airport.
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