Osmanthus Flower Hotel Guilin

... and there are several large sculptures of elephants playing in the Li River and on the riverbank. All of them are very cute, and excellent photo ops. <br><br>Elephant Trunk Hill <br>Elephant Trunk Hill is the main feature of the park, and is located on the river. The hill is a natural Karst rock formation that is naturally shaped like a giant elephant drinking from the Li River. I think the ...

... show (Y150-we think the price change with the place you sit: we sat at raw 18 in the middle-good enough, there were about 4000 people in this open theatre) on the river Li - it was amazing! We have never seen such a performance before: The show takes place on the river and on the 2 banks: They light the river &amp; mountains around from time to time, many actors, kanus on the river, costumes, songs - fantastic music.<br><br>26.8.2009 <br>Today's tour ...

... find the Yangshuo farmers' market. Dogs in cages, eviscerated dogs hanging up by their snouts, intestines everywhere. I know it's just another culture, but it really was one of the most disgusting things I've seen. But still not as horrific as the monkey show.<br><br>Going to wander around seven star park now, hopefully I'll be able to find somewhere fairly off the beaten track when I'm there. Then on to Guangzhou tonight.

... of the bridge with twin babies. I gave them each a "Hello Kitty" band-aid. We stopped for a bit at the Ancient South Gate and took a couple of pictures. We were not allowed to cross the Rongxi bridge, it belongs to a five star hotel. So, we carried on to Lize Lake and then the largest lake, Baoxian Lake. At the end of this lake we turned up the street and walked by a Church. There were lots of old people exercising in groups or on their own. We also saw a ...

... deciphering why people had links to certain pictures... But I think on my way out that people were blessing or praying to the image that represented their birth year. From there we hiked up the hill that gives the park its name- Solitary Beauty Hill. I found it a little onerous with my knee, by slowly made my way up, and enjoyed the view and prayed flags all the way up. Once at the top we stopped for photos, and it was the first time ...

... China, but we did our best to make it an American Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving night, we had a huge group of westerners gather at the nearby Xinjiang (NW Chinese province) restaurant because they were having a goat roast. We filled the entire restaurant with our 30-some-odd party, and ate until we couldn't handle anymore for the for-China outrageous price of 44 kuai per person ($7). The following night was a little more traditional as we shopped ...

... my and he invited me to join the local Friendship Club. It is made up of local business people and foreigners. Since I was the only foreigner there this time I was the center of attention. During the meeting I was introduced to the Fire Chief and he asked if I could do him a favor. They we doing a new book on fire safety and needed to also have an English Version. He wanted ...

... cards under shading bamboo trees and children running and playing peek-a-boo behind lifesize Pokemon sculptures. It was the size of Hyde Park but with small waterfalls, lakes, picnic areas and a zoo. The zoo made my teeth curl. The panda enclosure was ok, they had space to sleep, eat &amp; **** and the bird sanctary was ok - there was a parrot who repeated 'Ni-how' (hello in Chinese) to you but our efforts to try and make him repeat Bum ...

... Hill is located at the confluence of Li River and Peach Blossom River in the southwest of Guilin city. It looks like a huge elephant stretching its trunk drinking water hence the name.

... those stories, this water-eroded cave, bathed from inside in surreal multi-coloured lights, is a spectacular realm of stalactites, stone pillars and rock formations. Roughly one hour later we were out in the open again. Around the cave they built a park with zigzagging paths, pavilions, ponds, bridges, plants and other ubiquitous garden structures. But we had no time for it any more. The dark was getting closer, so we sought out our cab driver. When we found him, the guy was calmly ...