China - Part 1: Guilin (桂林)
With less than one year until graduation, it was time to go somewhere in Asia during summer vacation. Without time and money to do something crazy like a round the world trip, I decided to settle for a country that I promised myself I'd visit while in Japan.
So, from September 14th to 20th I went to China.
This time, I went alone without speaking the local language (like in Korea), but there I'd meet Fang (a.k.a. elfinjp), who was in China doing research.
That made things A LOT easier...
After meeting at the airport in Beijing (we'll return to the airport, so I'll save my comments for that time), we flew to Guilin... via Xian! I only realized later that we would go through such a famous place. Unfortunately, it was just a temporary stop and we never left the airport. Well, the terracota warriors will have to wait...
Arriving in Guilin, the hostel we booked sent someone to pick us up. After a day flying, realizing you have a room with a great view to the river is an excellent way to end the day...
Second day, and as work comes before the fun, Fang went to look for some interviews for her research. I followed and even joined one that happened to be in Japanese. Still, I don't know how much I can disclose here, so I am not giving details.
After eating some real Chinese food for dinner, we still had time to visit the Sun & Moon Pagodas (日月双塔). The 41m high Sun Pagoda is also the tallest copper pagoda in the world. The pagodas are said to be built by Jianzhen, one important character in Sino-Japanese cultural exchange, during the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, these are not the original structures, but rather a reconstruction. And that's why I guess these towers are not usually listed as one of the "main atractions" of Guilin.
Nevertheless, the towers are beautiful. Especially at night. We managed to join a guided tour (in Chinese) to the pagodas; and walking around Fang managed to find a place with local traditional clothes to rent. Girls dresses only. Better for me who was free to take pictures.
September 16th. Cloudy weather with occasional light rain. Perfect for a cruise on Li River (漓江). Guilin area is famous for its natural topography - especially its hills - and it's during a cruise on Li River that characteristic may reach artistic/dreamlike levels. A Chinese saying even states the scenery in Guilin is "the best under heaven" (桂林山水甲天下).
And that's not for nothing. Of course, being surrounded with boats carrying tourists takes some of the magic away, but the foggy scenario thanks to the cloudy weather made the hills look like some painting. And there's even a hill they can "the pen of God", which He used to draw the Guilin landscape.
Talking about the shape of the hills. They have figures for many of them. One of the most interesting is one that resembles a panel. And it is said that nine horses are pictured on that panel, but only smart people can see all nine.
... Well, I saw only four...
The boat arrived in Yangshuo, and from there we could join a paid tour or explore for ourselves. Guess which we chose?
We took a quick walk at West Street, the oldest street in Yangshuo and also called the "foreigners street", because the number of foreigners there sometimes outnumber the number of Chinese (and after being in China, I recognize that as a great feat), and many stores and hotels in the area have English signs. Then, we rented a bike with two seats (for the sake of experience) and cycled with a local guide to the Butterfly Spring Park.
The park got this name because of a butterfly-like stalactite found inside a grotto in the park. The grotto also has some other forms, including one that resembles a couple embracing each other. For those reasons, the place is also often associated to the story of the Butterfly Lovers. The park also has a butterfly garden, although we could see very few when we were there.
After the park, we had planned to go to some other place, but the lack of time made us return to the rendezvous point and return to Guilin.
As a side note, we made our reservations through our hostel. But guess what... The tour in Chinese was less than half the price of the English one. We took the Chinese tour, as did two German tourists staying at the same hostel, even though they can't speak Chinese. The only problem was that the final meeting point to go back to Guilin changed, and Fang called the guide to check the new place. I guess the Germans couldn't do that, and they were left behind (we also didn't have means to contact them)... They at least knew how to get back, fortunately.
Fourth day and the last in Guilin. We had planned to see the Elephant Trunk Hill in the morning. But Fang was very tired (she had been walking around for her research for days before we met), so we thought better to stay put and rest in the hostel. For lunch, we had time to eat one typical food in Guilin. This time in a popular restaurant, meaning eating what the locals really eat. The dish was Guilin mifen (桂林米粉), or rice noodles. The noodles came with some meat and vegetables that were unexpectingly tasty... and unbeliavebly cheap.
After four days, we went to the airport and from there to Beijing.
The Chinese saga continues...
So, from September 14th to 20th I went to China.
This time, I went alone without speaking the local language (like in Korea), but there I'd meet Fang (a.k.a. elfinjp), who was in China doing research.
That made things A LOT easier...
After meeting at the airport in Beijing (we'll return to the airport, so I'll save my comments for that time), we flew to Guilin... via Xian! I only realized later that we would go through such a famous place. Unfortunately, it was just a temporary stop and we never left the airport. Well, the terracota warriors will have to wait...
Arriving in Guilin, the hostel we booked sent someone to pick us up. After a day flying, realizing you have a room with a great view to the river is an excellent way to end the day...
Second day, and as work comes before the fun, Fang went to look for some interviews for her research. I followed and even joined one that happened to be in Japanese. Still, I don't know how much I can disclose here, so I am not giving details.
After eating some real Chinese food for dinner, we still had time to visit the Sun & Moon Pagodas (日月双塔). The 41m high Sun Pagoda is also the tallest copper pagoda in the world. The pagodas are said to be built by Jianzhen, one important character in Sino-Japanese cultural exchange, during the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, these are not the original structures, but rather a reconstruction. And that's why I guess these towers are not usually listed as one of the "main atractions" of Guilin.
Nevertheless, the towers are beautiful. Especially at night. We managed to join a guided tour (in Chinese) to the pagodas; and walking around Fang managed to find a place with local traditional clothes to rent. Girls dresses only. Better for me who was free to take pictures.
September 16th. Cloudy weather with occasional light rain. Perfect for a cruise on Li River (漓江). Guilin area is famous for its natural topography - especially its hills - and it's during a cruise on Li River that characteristic may reach artistic/dreamlike levels. A Chinese saying even states the scenery in Guilin is "the best under heaven" (桂林山水甲天下).
And that's not for nothing. Of course, being surrounded with boats carrying tourists takes some of the magic away, but the foggy scenario thanks to the cloudy weather made the hills look like some painting. And there's even a hill they can "the pen of God", which He used to draw the Guilin landscape.
Talking about the shape of the hills. They have figures for many of them. One of the most interesting is one that resembles a panel. And it is said that nine horses are pictured on that panel, but only smart people can see all nine.
... Well, I saw only four...
The boat arrived in Yangshuo, and from there we could join a paid tour or explore for ourselves. Guess which we chose?
We took a quick walk at West Street, the oldest street in Yangshuo and also called the "foreigners street", because the number of foreigners there sometimes outnumber the number of Chinese (and after being in China, I recognize that as a great feat), and many stores and hotels in the area have English signs. Then, we rented a bike with two seats (for the sake of experience) and cycled with a local guide to the Butterfly Spring Park.
The park got this name because of a butterfly-like stalactite found inside a grotto in the park. The grotto also has some other forms, including one that resembles a couple embracing each other. For those reasons, the place is also often associated to the story of the Butterfly Lovers. The park also has a butterfly garden, although we could see very few when we were there.
After the park, we had planned to go to some other place, but the lack of time made us return to the rendezvous point and return to Guilin.
As a side note, we made our reservations through our hostel. But guess what... The tour in Chinese was less than half the price of the English one. We took the Chinese tour, as did two German tourists staying at the same hostel, even though they can't speak Chinese. The only problem was that the final meeting point to go back to Guilin changed, and Fang called the guide to check the new place. I guess the Germans couldn't do that, and they were left behind (we also didn't have means to contact them)... They at least knew how to get back, fortunately.
Fourth day and the last in Guilin. We had planned to see the Elephant Trunk Hill in the morning. But Fang was very tired (she had been walking around for her research for days before we met), so we thought better to stay put and rest in the hostel. For lunch, we had time to eat one typical food in Guilin. This time in a popular restaurant, meaning eating what the locals really eat. The dish was Guilin mifen (桂林米粉), or rice noodles. The noodles came with some meat and vegetables that were unexpectingly tasty... and unbeliavebly cheap.
After four days, we went to the airport and from there to Beijing.
The Chinese saga continues...
2 comments:
Wow Mad! That is VERY nice! Are the japaneses in the known Silver Week in Japan? I see you went to China before this "holidays", right?
So nice to see you travelling around! Kankoku and Chugoku in the same year (even if it's not that far away compared from here), huh? And not including your world trip to here in Brazil, London and other places (that I don't remember now, sorry)!
China looks like an exotic country to visit (in my concepts, more than Japan).
Well then, hope to see you till 2011, then, right?
See ya!
It was exactly because of the silver week that I couldn't stay longer in China... no seats available.
China is surely exotic. And quite an adventure. But thinking about it now, it was fun. Good to get rid of some Japaneseness for staying too long in Japan.
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