Jess and I woke up a little late after our late night of shenanigans, but after a restorative breakfast (featuring a large American style spread plus glorious coffee) we were ready to try to find the swimming hole the Americans reccommended to us the day before. We rented bikes from our hostel (10 yuan) and got a local area map. We had been shown where the place was on a different map so I figured out where we needed to go and off we went. We headed southwest out of town about 5km and turned north on a one lane paved road that followed the Yulong River. The river winds through rice parties and villages, with mini Yijiang style dramatic scenery. We saw rice patties, peasants farming, water buffalo and the like. It was gorgeous. The bike ride took us about an hour and a half and we were getting pretty sweaty. The map was ok but not exact and we got mildly lost at one point when we discovered the paved road takes you most of the way but actually leads to a bamboo rafting launch point that had a lot of touts.
Retrekking to a dirt road led us to another paved road that was the right one and also went back to Yangshou! We decided to try that one on our return.
The directions told us to turn left at the sign for the Outside Inn and head through the rice patties to the river. We passed several cute little Western-owned guesthouses that looked really pleasant. The directions were good and we found the sign, turned left and bikes through the fields past a farmer leading her water buffalo. The swimming hole was idyllic, with a nice, clear river, a ruined archway and a small outcropping of rock on the other side.
There was one other person there, an American who owned some stone factories in China and was touring around. He chatted with us and gave us some great tips for what to do in Chengdu. The water was perfect, cool and refreshing! We could see many kinds of fish in the river, kinds I have never seen before. The bottom was a bit mucky with some plants, but there were large, flat rocks to stand on. We could see farmers working the fields beside us and a man across the river letting his buffalo graze. It was ridiculously scenic and we took many pictures.
The bike back was much quicker, only 45 minutes. We took the other road back and it was more direct. We've just finished eating a snack and will catch the bus back to Guilin and then to the airport. We're very sad to leave, this place is pretty magical.
Showing posts with label GUILIN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GUILIN. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Mini UN at Monkey Jane's
Last night Jess and I tried a pizza place recommended by a classmate of ours who spent a lot of time in Yangshou. The place was called Karst Pizza and it also featured rock climbing tours. We wanted to get a half cheese, half Hawaiian pizza, but we were told that we would have to pay MORE than the cost of the Hawaiian pizza (normally this request is accommodated but we usually have to pay the higher cost of a full Hawaiian) "because the cook has to do extra work." This sounded very fishy to us, since he still would have to put cheese down for a Hawaiian pizza, hence the incremental cost is negligable, and we knew from managerial accounting that this would resut in a favorable direct materials and direct labor efficiency variances. On principal we refused and just got a margarita pizza. Jess and I have great plans to special order everything when we get back to the states. The pizza was good, but not as good as the Kro's Nest in Beijing.
We met an American couple, young and just out of college, who had been teaching English in China. They reccommended a bike ride to a swimming hole as well as a rooftop bar at a nearby hostel called Monkey Jane's. We decided to check the place out. The guy said a lot of westerners hung out there and we were ready for a little western company. He wasn't kidding with the rooftop descriptor, we had to climb 6 flights of stairs to get up there! The bar was pleasant and airy and featured a beer pong table! Jess and I were very excited for beer pong.
The patrons were a typical mishmash of internationals, with Scots, Swedes, Danes, French and Brits. We defeated some Swedes and the Brits in rapid succession, and then lost in a nailbiter to different Swedes. Later on I teamed up with one of the Brits to defeat some of the same Swedes again. Truly global cross cultural communications!
Everyone was just kind of traveling around China, the Brita were hitting all the countries in Southeast Asia and then heading to Australia to find work and live on the Gold Coast. They invited us to join them and I was seriously tempted to join them! Alas, I have things like summer jobs and responsibilities to keep me from tio-ing off.
We met an American couple, young and just out of college, who had been teaching English in China. They reccommended a bike ride to a swimming hole as well as a rooftop bar at a nearby hostel called Monkey Jane's. We decided to check the place out. The guy said a lot of westerners hung out there and we were ready for a little western company. He wasn't kidding with the rooftop descriptor, we had to climb 6 flights of stairs to get up there! The bar was pleasant and airy and featured a beer pong table! Jess and I were very excited for beer pong.
The patrons were a typical mishmash of internationals, with Scots, Swedes, Danes, French and Brits. We defeated some Swedes and the Brits in rapid succession, and then lost in a nailbiter to different Swedes. Later on I teamed up with one of the Brits to defeat some of the same Swedes again. Truly global cross cultural communications!
Everyone was just kind of traveling around China, the Brita were hitting all the countries in Southeast Asia and then heading to Australia to find work and live on the Gold Coast. They invited us to join them and I was seriously tempted to join them! Alas, I have things like summer jobs and responsibilities to keep me from tio-ing off.
Monday, May 4, 2009
A Host of Funny-Shaped Mountains
Jess and I had our Lijiang River cruise today and I must say it is spectacular. We caught our bus at 8:30 am and were driven to a location downstream. We were the only two non-Asian people on the bus (there was one Japanese guy as we found out later). In typical Chinese style, there was a guide blabbing into a microphone the whole time. Everyone seemed to ignore it. We got off at the ferry terminal, which of course included a huge jewelry store (because when you go boating, you should get jewelry too) as well as some stalls where I got a cheap bucket hat and a sticky rice steamed thing that had beans and chestnuts. Pretty good.
The tour guide made me explain to the Japanese guy that the boat did not include a return bus to Guilin and that if he wanted to he could take bus #36610 to get back or he could call her. I was not too pleased at being roped into being translator, since the comprehension was slow going. Luckily someone else spoke some Japanese so I got off the hook.
The cruise boats are flat bottomed ferries with a lower deck where you eat lunch, and then an observation deck with no sun shade and no chairs. Some boats (like ours) have a small room up top with a few tables and chairs. The downstairs area kind of sucks because it's crowded, smoking is allowed and of course, Chinese people fear the sun like vampires so a bunch of people immediately closed the window curtains! When I complained that we couldn't see, they opened it slightly but it still sucked.
Jess and I headed up to the observation deck as soon as the boat pushed off. We took some chairs out of the room up top and sat at the front, underneath a roof overhang to get a bit of shade. The weather was sunny and pleasant again but we didn't want to spend 4 hours in the noonday sun. We were having a nice time until one of the boat staff came and kicked us off the chairs. The reason given was that some people were coming up to eat in the room. I argued a bit but they were adamant so we acquiesced and spread out my sarong in the same spot.
The scenery was of course fabulous, with fantastically shaped limestone karst formations lining the river, crowned with leafy green tops. We could see farmers tending the fields, fishing cormorants, grazing water buffalo and smaller boats as well as bamboo rafts. Several enterprising fellows even tied up to the side of the boat and hawked "jade" pigs and cows through the window! Another ferry got a food delivery via small moterboat.
We were mostly left alone except periodically, whenever a famous formation came up, a passel of Chinese passengers would rush in and crowd our area, taking the requisite portraits with the V for victory sign. I swear they must have gotten the same photo at least 50 times! They reacted to our presence much like the rest of China, ranging from bemusement to outright blatant staring. We just stare back and that solves the problem. Lunch was served about 2 hours in, so the crowds left after that.
Jess and I agreed that if we had to do it again we'd just take the bus straight to Yangshou, where the ferries terminate, and just hire a small bamboo raft with a roof and a simple outboard motor and take us upstream. The cruise is lovely, but sharing a boat with 30 other passengers who don't appreciate the beauty of nature in the same way is considerably less lovely.
We are spending the night in Yangshou, which is a small village on the bank of the river with gorgeous peaks surrounding it. The air here is fresh and pleasant and Jess and I can't help but feel refreshed after 7 weeks of Beijing pollution and smog. We're staying at a hostel/hotel called Riverview; we have a view of the river, a balcony and air conditioning in our private room. The owners are pleasantly un-pushy.
Yangshow is kind of a westerner hang out so I have promised Jess pizza for dinner. We plan to go for a quick hike and then maybe hit the pub later. We hope to rent bikes and go for a bike ride tomorrow morning before taking the bus back to Guilin.
The tour guide made me explain to the Japanese guy that the boat did not include a return bus to Guilin and that if he wanted to he could take bus #36610 to get back or he could call her. I was not too pleased at being roped into being translator, since the comprehension was slow going. Luckily someone else spoke some Japanese so I got off the hook.
The cruise boats are flat bottomed ferries with a lower deck where you eat lunch, and then an observation deck with no sun shade and no chairs. Some boats (like ours) have a small room up top with a few tables and chairs. The downstairs area kind of sucks because it's crowded, smoking is allowed and of course, Chinese people fear the sun like vampires so a bunch of people immediately closed the window curtains! When I complained that we couldn't see, they opened it slightly but it still sucked.
Jess and I headed up to the observation deck as soon as the boat pushed off. We took some chairs out of the room up top and sat at the front, underneath a roof overhang to get a bit of shade. The weather was sunny and pleasant again but we didn't want to spend 4 hours in the noonday sun. We were having a nice time until one of the boat staff came and kicked us off the chairs. The reason given was that some people were coming up to eat in the room. I argued a bit but they were adamant so we acquiesced and spread out my sarong in the same spot.
The scenery was of course fabulous, with fantastically shaped limestone karst formations lining the river, crowned with leafy green tops. We could see farmers tending the fields, fishing cormorants, grazing water buffalo and smaller boats as well as bamboo rafts. Several enterprising fellows even tied up to the side of the boat and hawked "jade" pigs and cows through the window! Another ferry got a food delivery via small moterboat.
We were mostly left alone except periodically, whenever a famous formation came up, a passel of Chinese passengers would rush in and crowd our area, taking the requisite portraits with the V for victory sign. I swear they must have gotten the same photo at least 50 times! They reacted to our presence much like the rest of China, ranging from bemusement to outright blatant staring. We just stare back and that solves the problem. Lunch was served about 2 hours in, so the crowds left after that.
Jess and I agreed that if we had to do it again we'd just take the bus straight to Yangshou, where the ferries terminate, and just hire a small bamboo raft with a roof and a simple outboard motor and take us upstream. The cruise is lovely, but sharing a boat with 30 other passengers who don't appreciate the beauty of nature in the same way is considerably less lovely.
We are spending the night in Yangshou, which is a small village on the bank of the river with gorgeous peaks surrounding it. The air here is fresh and pleasant and Jess and I can't help but feel refreshed after 7 weeks of Beijing pollution and smog. We're staying at a hostel/hotel called Riverview; we have a view of the river, a balcony and air conditioning in our private room. The owners are pleasantly un-pushy.
Yangshow is kind of a westerner hang out so I have promised Jess pizza for dinner. We plan to go for a quick hike and then maybe hit the pub later. We hope to rent bikes and go for a bike ride tomorrow morning before taking the bus back to Guilin.
Greener Pastures (and Mountains) in Guilin
Jess and I finally set off for our junket to southeastern China with great anticipation. We took a cab to the airport and checked in for China Southern Airways flight to Guilin. The flight was about 2 hours 40 minutes and the service was fine. They even had announcements in English.
Upon arriving in Guilin, we could already see some funny shaped mountains. The sky was noticably clearer compared to Beijing and the weather was pleasant in the high 70's. We took an airport bus for 20 yuan, foregoing the approximately 80 yuan taxi ride in. The bus dropped us off on the south edge of town so we decided to walk to the area where there were a few hotels recommended by the guidebook. The tourist map we had gotten was just terrible, with no recognizable landmarks. The fact that there are very few street signs compounded the problem. Finally we got a bike rickshaw driver to take us, he said it would be 10 yuan. However, the jerk only took us about 2/3 of the way and then said it would be an extra 40 yuan to keep going! I was so pissed we just gave him 10 yuan and got out, but I gave him a piece of my mind first. He was unconcerned.
We walked the rest of the way but it was pleasantly shaded and by the riverbank so it wasn't too bad. We had planned to look at a hostel behind the Sheraton, but I saw an Eva Inn right next door that looked nice. Eva Inn is a Taiwanese chain and I figured we would get decent rates. Their posted standard rate was 688 yuan (ha!), they quoted us 488 yuan, and then when we did the old walkaway trick they went down to 280. The room was spacious, clean and was on the top floor so we were happy.
We booked our riverboat cruise through a travel agent next door. The river is still a bit low so you have to be bussed downstream about 20k and then the boat journey begins. The price is 250 for Chinese language boat, 450 for English language boat (includes lunch). I'm sure I don't need to tell you which one we picked (Chinese boat)!
As the sun was setting we hiked up Elephant Rock, a large rock formation by the river that looks like an elephant taking a drink. The entry fee (25 yuan) included a little park too. It was pleasant by the river, watching people fish and punt by.
We were super hungry, so we walked around looking for a good place to eat. We found a street with a bunch of restaurants with great big buckets of live fish, crabs, crayfish and turtles, as well as cages with chickens, rabbits and ducks. I felt bad for the turtles (who kept blindly trying to push through the netting covering their baskets) and Jess felt bad for the rabbits and ducks so we kept going. We walked down a hutong with more restaurants, almost all featured outdoor seating. We picked one place that was hopping, but they didn't have English menu or a big picture menu so we pressed on. We then came upon a cluster of restaurants with plates of fresh ingredients out front that you could point at to choose. They had crayfish (what I really wanted plus Jess eats fish and shellfish) as well as tons of fresh veggies. We got the crayfish, along with eggplant and broccoli. When the food came we were so happy; it was delicious! The crayfish were fried in a garlic soy sauce, the eggplant was sauteed so it was kind of squashy and the broccoli was nicely steamed. Yum!
Our neighbors were a group of Chinese who were playing a Cantonese drinking game that involved toothpicks, hand signals and shouting numbers (which was how I knew it was Cantonese). Jess and I just could not figure out the rules! Interestingly, they were not Cantonese because when speaking otherwise they used Mandarin. Odd!
After eating, we strolled along the town's main drag checking out the night market. I had foolishly left my hat in Beijing so I was hoping to find a hat of some kind (preferrably Boston Red Sox to match Jessica's) but was out of luck. There weren't even any Yankees hats to be found (not that I would have bought one), surprising since they are the world's most recognizable sports brand. Jess did find some fake Kappa socks, however.
We stopped at a supermarket to get some food for the boat ride the next day and then walked back to the hotel.
We weren't that tired so we stayed up playing playing cards (we were mildly entertained by a sort of Iron Chef competition, but for manicurists). We played Crazy Eights, poker and blackjack, wagering with my collection of perfume samples), it was pretty fun. We went to bed at midnight, since we had to catch the bus to the boat at 8am.
Upon arriving in Guilin, we could already see some funny shaped mountains. The sky was noticably clearer compared to Beijing and the weather was pleasant in the high 70's. We took an airport bus for 20 yuan, foregoing the approximately 80 yuan taxi ride in. The bus dropped us off on the south edge of town so we decided to walk to the area where there were a few hotels recommended by the guidebook. The tourist map we had gotten was just terrible, with no recognizable landmarks. The fact that there are very few street signs compounded the problem. Finally we got a bike rickshaw driver to take us, he said it would be 10 yuan. However, the jerk only took us about 2/3 of the way and then said it would be an extra 40 yuan to keep going! I was so pissed we just gave him 10 yuan and got out, but I gave him a piece of my mind first. He was unconcerned.
We walked the rest of the way but it was pleasantly shaded and by the riverbank so it wasn't too bad. We had planned to look at a hostel behind the Sheraton, but I saw an Eva Inn right next door that looked nice. Eva Inn is a Taiwanese chain and I figured we would get decent rates. Their posted standard rate was 688 yuan (ha!), they quoted us 488 yuan, and then when we did the old walkaway trick they went down to 280. The room was spacious, clean and was on the top floor so we were happy.
We booked our riverboat cruise through a travel agent next door. The river is still a bit low so you have to be bussed downstream about 20k and then the boat journey begins. The price is 250 for Chinese language boat, 450 for English language boat (includes lunch). I'm sure I don't need to tell you which one we picked (Chinese boat)!
As the sun was setting we hiked up Elephant Rock, a large rock formation by the river that looks like an elephant taking a drink. The entry fee (25 yuan) included a little park too. It was pleasant by the river, watching people fish and punt by.
We were super hungry, so we walked around looking for a good place to eat. We found a street with a bunch of restaurants with great big buckets of live fish, crabs, crayfish and turtles, as well as cages with chickens, rabbits and ducks. I felt bad for the turtles (who kept blindly trying to push through the netting covering their baskets) and Jess felt bad for the rabbits and ducks so we kept going. We walked down a hutong with more restaurants, almost all featured outdoor seating. We picked one place that was hopping, but they didn't have English menu or a big picture menu so we pressed on. We then came upon a cluster of restaurants with plates of fresh ingredients out front that you could point at to choose. They had crayfish (what I really wanted plus Jess eats fish and shellfish) as well as tons of fresh veggies. We got the crayfish, along with eggplant and broccoli. When the food came we were so happy; it was delicious! The crayfish were fried in a garlic soy sauce, the eggplant was sauteed so it was kind of squashy and the broccoli was nicely steamed. Yum!
Our neighbors were a group of Chinese who were playing a Cantonese drinking game that involved toothpicks, hand signals and shouting numbers (which was how I knew it was Cantonese). Jess and I just could not figure out the rules! Interestingly, they were not Cantonese because when speaking otherwise they used Mandarin. Odd!
After eating, we strolled along the town's main drag checking out the night market. I had foolishly left my hat in Beijing so I was hoping to find a hat of some kind (preferrably Boston Red Sox to match Jessica's) but was out of luck. There weren't even any Yankees hats to be found (not that I would have bought one), surprising since they are the world's most recognizable sports brand. Jess did find some fake Kappa socks, however.
We stopped at a supermarket to get some food for the boat ride the next day and then walked back to the hotel.
We weren't that tired so we stayed up playing playing cards (we were mildly entertained by a sort of Iron Chef competition, but for manicurists). We played Crazy Eights, poker and blackjack, wagering with my collection of perfume samples), it was pretty fun. We went to bed at midnight, since we had to catch the bus to the boat at 8am.
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