Guilin - Removal of the omnipresent red jumper!
Trip Start
Oct 07, 2007
1
12
42
Trip End
??? ??, 2008
Guilin,
China
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Guilin though was a pleasant surprise. Reading the guide book we were expecting to be attacked and forced to hand over our life saving by touts on arrival but really it's no worse than anywhere else in China. Weather was gorgeous as well - can finally ditch the jumpers for the daytime anyway so ye can all hold your comments about Jono and his red jumper! Guilin city centre feels like a Mediteranean tourist resort . The whole city is surrounded by limestone hills and some are even scattered throughout the city itself - it's a bit bizarre looking but beautiful.
The only big tourist site we visited was the Seven Stars park (apparently the seven hills make a formation like the Plough)
Errr, are Stagatites naturally this colour
. It's not a huge park but it's packed full of things to see - waterfalls, caves, lakes, floral displays, etc. We also visited the rock museum inside the park, where the star exhibit is the Yin and Yang rocks - shaped like certain male and female body parts - apparently these rocks are known all over China! Bill Clinton has also been to see them (his photo kept popping up at tourist sites and in restaurants all over town!). One of the best parts of the park though was the underground caves which seemed to take up most of one hill - absolutely huge and definately spectaculare even if the lighting effects were a wee bit garish in places!
