After leaving Xi'an, we caught a plane to Guilin. But this was not our final destination. We still had a ways to go. We drove through the mountains then had a 45 minute hike uphill to near the tops of the mountains to see the rice terraces and the Yao people, one of the minority groups of China. They are the group that have the women grow their ...

The shadow show or leather silhouette play is a type of drama which has its roots in China. Legend has it that Emperor Wudi (156-87 B.C.) of the Western Han was depressed with the death of his favourite concubine Lady Li. To help him get over the sadness, an occultist sculptured a wooden figure in the likeness of the lady and projected its shado...

We flew into Guilin to do another cruise down a river. This one was a tad smaller than the Yangtze but otherwise fairly similar although we did see more wildlife so the river must be cleaner. The boat's own literature said "the jade river wound its way through grotesque karsts of limestone", a tad harsh perhaps! I think you'll get the picture w...

Today is our last full day in Guilin. Guilin is the city that stares. When we walk down the street, the majority of people we pass give us a blank stare, like they have never ever in their lives seen people like us before. Which is surprising for a city that is built on tourism. It's getting the point of annoyance. It's not a small stare either,...

The flight to Guilin was smooth + painless. We took the shuttle bus to the town center, and on the way noticed the obvious change in scenery! Green mountainous spikes dotted the horizon in every direction. After getting to our hostel and settling in, we went for a wander around the city. It was an amazingly touristy city! And a concrete+neon jun...

Its kind of weird waking up on a train not exactly sure where you are. Also by now I am beginning to smell a little rough, perhaps thats why the women sleeping accross from me still looks ******. After fumbeling around on the train for a while we got off at around 7 and walked into Guilin. By far the worst thing about getting off trains, boats, ...

We flew to Guilin yesterday. We stayed at the Jade motel. It was a great place that had an amazing lobby. It was not a brand new place and looked a little tired but it was very different and unique. The lobby had a huge skylight with red ribbons (about 6 feet wide) running from different points in the roof and ending at the skyligfht. It was nea...

Our plane sails through some clouds as we touch down at the airport. We are greeted by our local guide, Joanna, shortly after we collect our luggage. Joanna suggested that we alter our city tour slightly by foregoing our visit to Fubo Hill and just visit the neighbouring (and taller) Silk Hill. She said that since we only have a short time here ...

Ni hao from Guilin, China. Been a whirlwind few days -- lots of mountains, lots of caves and lots of rather oily chinese food. We landed in Macau (former colony of Portugual) directly from Taiwan, and crossed into the scary town of Juhai where we were warned that thieves were abound, and immediately a pickpocket grabbed the wallet of one of our ...

Checked out of hotel, 2 hr drive to boat for a 4 hr cruise down the Li river to Longsheng. This is where we saw lots & lots of limestone hills exactly like the hills you see in typical Chinese paintings. Longsheng itself seemed to be a back packers paradise, in fact we stayed at the paradise hotel 4 1 night.