guilin-yangshou, day 2

sigh, the day started wet wet wet again.

as soon as we finished our chinese style buffet breakfast at the hotel, we had to open our umbrellas to get into the van to move to our next destination- yangshou. yangshou is a smaller town outside guilin and the ride there took us about 40 mins. it was really bumpy and all vehicles only know how to drive and swerve. there is no slowing down in their head.

back to our breakfast, it is not really for us. steamed man tou, guilin vermicelli, porridge, coarse cakes, soya bean milk that is very watery and salted vegetable. luckily i had my instant coffee and an apple and muesli bar.

before going to yangshou, the guide brought us to visit 2 famous pagodas and a park in guilin first.

the first pagoda- moon is made of ceramic glass. the second- sun is made entirely of copper including its floor and pillars. the pagodas are situated on a lake and there is no way to go from one pagoda to the other on the surface of the lake. the only way through is a tunnel under water.

there is a lift going all the way to the 7th floor of the sun pagoda and then stairs up to the top floor-9. there you will have two taoist masters reading your face and palm lah.....free of charge. but wait, at the end of the reading, they will give you an oil lamp and you can light it up for a fee to ask for more blessings. they put a price to light the lamp- rmb100. that is exorbitant! in malaysia, one is free to pay how much one wants. anyway, my reading was ok lah. said i have luck, i just need to put my heart into doing all my things and take things slowly in whatever thing i am doing because the road has been paved for me.

as for lighting the lamp, sorry lah, i don't even light it in malaysia so why do i want to donate to a temple in china now.




love this photo. really shows the dull and gloom that morning and the bell on top gives it a kind of serenity.
on the left, moon pagoda, on the right sun pagoda. you can't see the copper shine because of the gloomy weather.

next, the last place we visit in guilin before heading to yangshou is a park. haha....i can't recall the name of the park....so it is just known as just another park in my head.

there is also a cave in the park and you need to pay to enter. ours in included in the package. you will get a guide too.
the founder of chinese chess.
another pagoda ;P

then it was lunch.
the shrimps are very small that you can swallow the whole thing. but i only had one. dun like eating soft shells.

now, some bad news. because of the heavy rain we had to cancel the impression of liu sanjie. damn it!!! the performance is on a river, so now that the river was swollen, the stage was also flooded and the show would be called off for a few days till the water subsided. they were releasing water from the dam, hence rising the water level higher. boohoooohooohoooo!!

the tour company replaced it with other visits to few more parks in yangshou for us.

yangshou is really the place to see all the limestone peaks. they are really gorgeous!!! so many peaks huddled closely together. this is where all the famous chinese paintings depicting jutting mountains and river come from.

but it is kinda depressing too in the rain and mist. i really missed the sun.

the first park we were brought to is this- to see a very old banyan tree...about 1400 years old. this is also the location of the famous chinese movie liu sanjie was filmed. we are talking about films in the 60s here.


the branches of the banyan tree do not grow upwards, instead they grow to the side and they have to use man-made pillars to support the branches.
this is the whole banyan tree. yes, only one tree.


my favourite photo taken here. can become a wallpaper.
we saw many cycling tourists in yangshou. it is a good way to enjoy the fresh air and breathtaking views. so if you have the time in yangshou, this is something you should do. look at all the peaks in the photo.

next park- to see ancient people or aborigines and they only converse in their own language. we were brought through what look like a village and shown their lifestyles and dance.

lots and lots of luck on these heads. anyone?

a typical house on the left and a welcome dance.
the view from their village.
the aborigines performing their dance. lots of swinging and head banging.

next up, a cave which is soooo huge!!! it was around 5 plus already by then and the weather had turn a bit chilly. the cave is as deep as 16 storeys of a building so imagine the uncountable steps i had to trod on. it was wet in the cave because of dripping water and we even had to open our umbrellas at some parts. but the formation of all stalactites and stalagmites is something i have never seen before. it was really amazing. oh, the shoes were wet and the socks were already soaking then. squish squish.



at the exit of the cave. take a deep breath of the fresh air.

dinner was at a small restaurant beside the river. lots of mosquitoes here.
the water is scary huh? it was very swift and really high. we finally understood why the impression of liu sanjie had to be cancelled.

yummy yam. again we had leftover vegetables but we finished the fish and yam.

our hotel for the night was situated right across the road from the liu sanjie performance main gate. oh the heartache upon seeing the gate.

again the bed was hard but it was clean because it had just been renovated.

again, another see-through bathroom.

we only put down our bags and then we headed straight to western street in the centre of the town. this is where you will find kfc and mcdonalds restaurants, lots of bars and pubs and lots of stalls and shops selling souvenirs and gifts. the bargain is quite good too.....but make sure you bargain first!!!

i think it is called western street because it is where all foreigners like to be for their drinks and meals.

thank god it was not that crowded.

i had plum juice with pearls to quench my thirst. rmb6.

oh, i had the opportunity to try on short cheongsams too in one of the shops. very nice...and i can fit them......L size lah. but i did not buy any. i don't know where i am going to wear it to. it might just end up as a relic in the wardrobe. so better not waste that rmb200 just to collect a dress.

the guide had gone back to the hotel, so we had to hail our own ride back. we got one which was like a tut-tut in bangkok. only rmb10 for the whole vehicle back to our hotel. so each of us pair rmb2.50 only. cheap.

and that was how we ended a wet and gloomy second day in guilin.