Day Three of Tour (Guilin to Yangshou)

Day Three – Guilin to Yangshou

Our morning started at 8:30 with Eva, our much beloved tour guide, and Mr. Li, our driver, taking us to cruise the Li River.  Wow!  The view became increasingly more beautiful around every bend and turn.  We saw farmers with their water buffalo, countless families of ducks, waterfalls, cave entrances, small bamboo boats carrying baskets of fruit, and tiny mountain goats.  It was just ridiculously beautiful.  Lisa commented that it brought back memories of the scenery from the movie, “Apocalypse Now,” but without the business of war. Indeed, it felt like we were floating through a movie set. 

 This little raft pulled up alongside our boat, selling fruit to the passengers on board.

A lunch buffet was provided on the boat, complete with chicken wings, French fries, and shots of snake liquor (which we did not try).  We ate with a lovely family from North Carolina who were nearing the end of their 3-week stay in Taiwan and China.  Such fun to swap stories and share photos!  English speakers have a way, it seems, of finding one another.  Being constantly surrounded by so many foreign sites and sounds, it was comforting to find the familiar and marvel at the beauty together.  All of the Chinese on the boat, however, seemed no less impressed than us by all the we saw. 

snake liquor

kitchen at the back of passing boat, like the one on ours

Water buffalo!!

Nearing the end of the tour, Eva made sure that we were on the top deck of the boat to see and take pictures of the same scene that is pictured on the 20RMB bank note of China - - there Li River mountains are on this denomination of money.  It was kinda cool to try to line up our view with that seen on the money we’d been handling every day, and we worked it until we think we got just the right shot, mirroring that seen on the 20RMB.  Oh, it was beautiful - - the rounded green hills along the beautiful river.  What a great morning it was.

We disembarked after nearly 4 hours of cruising, and stepped into what Eva called the Hello Market.  We soon came to find why “Hello.”  Vendors at every turn entreat you to make a stop in their shop by catching your attention with, “Hello. Hello!” There was a mix of feelings in terms of wanting to just experience the moment and take in all the sights and sounds, of which there were so many, unsullied by commercial transactions, while also realizing that, though we saw stall after stall of duplicate items, which made many things seem mundane, that out of context (back at home) many of these mundane trinkets would become little treasures.  And so the bargaining began…  A purse, a t-shirt, little carved Buddha head, a tiny cricket cage…  We became more and more adamant about holding our ground on a price, walking away, and not yielding to the disgust or award-winning feigned grievous affront the prices our counter-offers incurred.  Oh, the histrionics.  But in the end, we learned, if we pull out and showed the money in the amount that we wanted to pay, a bird in hand for the merchant, so to speak, wins the day.  Our biggest bargaining effort took place in a shop of antiques, where first the husband and then later, when we returned for round two, the wife, both drove a hard bargain.  The shop had so many beautiful masks and dolls.  It was an Antiques Road Show treasure trove.

Towards the end of the market row, Eva was quite insistent that we step into a shop of a minority people called the Yao.  She actually spoke a great deal about this group - - how the women cut their hair only once in their lives, leave it covered until they are married, and how it grows to their knees.  They are also knows for their needle work, which is what the shop displayed and sold.  Amazingly fine work.  Clothing covered in intricate designs, skirts covered in tiny accordion pleats made, we were told, by pressing the garments with rocks, and then, most amazing, embroidered “paintings.”  The work was simply astonishing – the fine detail and the patience and skill necessary to create such items.  Eva, though these weren't “her people,” so to speak, was definitely satisfied at our wonder.  Too bad we were not allowed to take any photos in this shop.  None of us purchased anything because everything was so expensive, but given the time involved in creating each piece, the cost was understandable.  Eva had us cracking up as she quietly pointed out a garment or two that had “only” the neckline and shoulders covered in embroidery, rather than much of the front and back, whispering that the young woman who did this work must have been lazy and was less likely to get a man. 

We had a moment of making quite the scene in the market, when Lisa pulled out Number Bear (Lisa, like her sister DeAnn, teaches preschoolers, and brought with her a stuffed bear who is their math mascot, so to speak, so that her students will get to see him visiting the sights in China.) for a photo shoot of us “holding hands” with Number Bear in the middle of the market walkway.  So many of the young women shop keepers stood about giggling, and others approached to check out and comment on Number Bear’s snappy little knit vest that Lisa made.  It was funny to have them marvel at her knitting as we were thinking about the amazing workmanship of the embroidery in the shop up the way.

It hasn’t been mentioned, yet, but the heat was absolutely insane.  Thoroughly and unimaginably oppressive.  DeAnn, uncharacteristically, was dying for a Coca Cola, and appropriately so.  We all settled for water.  We were ringing wet, heated through to a core meltdown.  By the end of our Hello Market experience when we met up at our designated spot, the local KFC, we were rung out, limp, and ready for a spa interlude.  Eva was having nothing of it, though.  She was determined that we were to see all that she had to offer us under her supervision.  She was the epitome of energy, enthusiasm, and information.  Nonetheless, she started to get some push-back from us.  As we reconnected with our driver, Mr. Li, and our luggage, in the van, we began discussing the merits of either not going on that afternoon to see the Silver Cave (at Eva’s behest) and just doing the Impressionist Show that evening (the nature of which we didn’t quite understand), and also cutting from our list the bamboo raft tour scheduled for the next morning.  Suffering from extreme exhaustion (which is a pathetic thing to say, given that we are having the most amazing of life experiences) we were resistant to agree to the “grueling” schedule of getting up to go on a bamboo raft ride on the Li River, because we wanted to catch up on a bit of sleep – worried, literally, about getting sick from being so tired. Foregoing the morning boat ride for the sake of sleeping in sounded like a little bit of heaven.  In the end, though, after much lament and debate, we kept with the program to go to the evening show and then get up “early” to go on the Li River bamboo rafts. We absolutely made the right decision and are so glad that we didn’t acquiesce to our fatigue.  The haze of exhaustion not withstanding, both the Impressionist Show and the river raft trip still remain highlights of our trip.

At least, we thought, it’ll be cool in the cave.  Well, the cave wasn’t as cool as the ones we have at home.  Was it because it was populated with a zillion warm sweating bodies, or because of all of the lights that were directed on the amazing stalactites and stalagmites and other tremendous rock formations? (Could we use the word “amazing” any more frequently?)  This was definitely a commercialized cave, and a tourist attraction extraordinaire.  We didn’t see any other foreigners other than ourselves, but there were people everywhere we turned.  Or maybe it’s just that the average temperature of the caves here is warmer, given the climate.  Who knows, but we sweated it out, making our way through the enormous underground beauty.  At one point, we stopped at a spot where it looked as if people were stepping precariously off onto the edge of an abyss.  At first glance, it was horrifying.  But upon closer examination, we saw that there was a huge rock formation rising up into a vaulted area from a pool of water so clear that the rock’s reflection “down” made it look like one was looking into the endless and cavernous depths of the cave.  So beautiful, and definitely the coolest part of the cave.  At one point along the way, there was a photo opportunity (classic touristy situation) where you queued up to have your picture taken in front of beautiful curtain-like rock formation.  In the end, you could opt to purchase your photograph.  The most fun, really, was watching other tourists pose for their pictures.  The peace sign along with the tilted head seems to be the pose of choice for so many Chinese.  Too bad we couldn’t have people watched there for a while.

Arriving at the hotel, though, was like being dropped off in Shangri-La.  The Yangzhou Mountain Retreat is most certainly the most AMAZING hotel EVER (at least that we’ll ever see the likes of).  It was a sanctuary of unimaginable comfort and beauty and such a gift above what we’d already experienced.  Upon arriving there and seeing the lush and tranquil accommodations with views out of a travel brochure, we REALLY wanted to spend time just walking around the grounds and soaking in the scenery.  Nonetheless, we pressed on, per our tour guide’s instructions.  We took quick showers, cleaned up, prepared for a mosquito onslaught that evening at the outside show (as we were warned by Eva) and set out with her to the Impressionist Show.  We really didn’t know what to expect of this.  We learned from Eva that the director of the show is the same man who created the opening show for the Beijing Olympics, so expectations were high, but we didn’t know for what.

 Our only stop on the way to the show was for a quick dinner in the bustling (which is truly an understatement) “downtown” Yangshuo.  We were truly amazed and a bit nervous as our driver pushed the van through what appeared to be a pedestrian only street.  Dinner was relatively nondescript (Surprising, we know!).  But one observation worth noting was that once Eva got us all settled around the enormous table and lazy Susan piled high with dishes, and our one allotted beverage, she and Mr. Li retired to a table across the restaurant.  We, of course, invited her to join us, but she politely yet adamantly declined.  Interesting this separation between guide and guests.

Back to the Impressionist Show - Again, there were oodles of Chinese tourists.  Eva, as was her way, whisked us through the throngs and to the front of the line.  There seem to be special entrances designed for tour groups, even little groups of five, like our own.  We entered a huge amphitheater, like the Muny on steroids, which faced the water.  Our seats were cushioned bamboo chairs.  We were handed some bottled water, and then Eva disappeared, telling us where to meet her after the show.  And then the show began.  Jaw dropping madness.  Words simply cannot describe the spectacle.  Remember the opening ceremonies?  Well, combine the wonder of it all, and then put it in and on water surrounded by mountains.  So hard to explain, but there was a huge screen on which there were projected images, hundreds of dancers, hundreds of musicians, people on boats, performers IN the water manipulating immensely long pieces of fabric, floats that looked like they were out of the Rose Day Parade, singers, drummers….oh, my, gosh, it just went on and on.  Our mouths hung open the entire time, and the choreography, the precision, the beauty, and the cast of thousands (well, really “just” a cast of 600).   As we left the performance, we couldn’t stop raving and recounting, as each feature of the performance was more amazing than the next!  What a unique extravaganza.  How entirely special - - and with those roundy mountains looming dark and mysterious as the backdrop to such a performance.  Outta control.  Exhausted and supremely satisfied, we returned to our mountain retreat, making note of the Big Dipper hanging in the starlit sky above our little sanctuary.  Seriously?! 

LOVED this part!  Dozens of performers on bamboo fishing boats, pulling themselves back and forth across the lake using giant stretches of red fabric.  Hard to explain, crazy cool to see!

The singers in the foreground are huge groups of torch bearing men and women singing back and forth to one another.  The singers in the background are in the water on bamboo fishing boats.  

This was the grand finale.  Notice the huge video screen in the water to the right.  This was showing credits, we believe, at this point.  The singers in the far back were wearing light up dresses.  Wish this all was clearer for you to see!