Li Jing Hotel Guilin

... br>

As you walk through the village you get asked to pay 1 yuan to see how long their hair is out!!! There was also a song/dance show for 60 yuan each but we passed as the day had already cost 125 yuan each ( about $25) . Instead we wandered around the village & sat by the river in the quiet while the multitudes watched the show.



Further up the mountain we ...

... sky and the sun. The village is built in the valley and the dark wooden houses contrast against the green and golden rice paddies. We are feeling a bit peckish,but aware of our time restraints we start our hike hoping to stop at a village along the way.

The uphill climbs were tough on our legs but the views were worth it and we were grateful for the clouds which softened the strength of the sun. Tom was in photography heaven taking hundreds of ...

We arrived in Guilin to find ourselves greeted by a Chinese-speaking tout who led us to a fair and fairly cheap hotel and arranged two packaged trips for the next two days. Normally we would've avoided her and her ilk but the tours she was offering were about half the price noted in our guidebook.

The same day we arrived in Guilin we took a taxi to a hill in the city noted for it's views. Upon arriving and being greeted by a 50 Yuan entry fee, we did a quick ...

... area, and past the seats and bunks. We got to our spot and some lady was on my bed so I told her that was mine. We set our stuff on our beds, and started to read. Caroline had the bottom bunk, I had the middle, and the lady that was on mine had the third. On the other side of the bathroom-sized area were three more beds, they were so close to mine I could reach my arm out to the other second bed. We got dinner on the train, and then had to listen to this attendant ...

... baked by the local western restaurant in Guilin. Combined with the imported barbecue sauce I got here in Guilin to put on the chicken and mashed potatoes, it certainly ranks as one of my top meals in China! Finally, saving the most interesting for last, last week I made my first TV appearance and newspaper front page. Things started several weeks ago when my teacher asked me and two Russian classmates if we would go downtown, put on some ...

... I don't speak mandarin, let alone Yao, so I didn't really know, except for the gestures. One thought I had very big calves as she proceeded to bend down, and grab my calf! They really appreciate strong calves as they are constantly walking up and down. Anyways, it was beautiful area.Very peaceful. The rice is a bit more adevanced, so it was closer to being ripe, which means we had some nice golden colour and could see the terraces even better.

... energetic' - seemed nice and lively anyway, so all is ok. Slept for abit, then had breakfast of rice noodles with beef and crispy pork. WOW! Its only 20p a bowl and its FAB! Walked trhough Guilin town, its only a 'small town of 600,000 people' according to Damian, though I would call it a city! Found out Damian's fave sport in pool and snooker, so he took us to his regular hang out ...

Not much happened here. It biked amongst the carst and the water buffaloes. It was pretty indeed. *** WORLD CHANGE STARTS WITH EDUCATED CHILDREN! Give a girl the life long gift of ...

... Kim has decided that she misses Ryan more than she'll miss her mom and dad so part of the day was making alternate travel arrangements. We'll all set out this evening to Guillin. Cheryl and I will continue on to Chengdu; Kim will fly to Shenzen then cross the border early tomorrow morning to Hong Kong, Newark and Ottawa. Because she gains a day that direction she'll arrive only 6 hours after she starts but it'll be 30 hours from her first flight. We ...

... of different varieties of bread (rolls hot) Each got a basket. Bacon (greasy_ eggs (sunny side down for Mel and I asked for fried and got scrambled), 1 cherry tomato and a few thin strips of purple cabbage for decoration and either cold coffee with hot milk (did get hot coffee after we asked and hot milk was hot powdered milk) and orange cordial (supposedly orange juice!!). We caught a free bus to some caves. We were adopted by 2 Chinese ladies who made sure we went to right ...