Today we went on a 52-mile cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, passing 50,000 limestone (karst) peaks along the way. Many classical Chinese paintings depict the beauty of this area. Water buffalo, bamboo groves, misty mountain peaks, and fishermen on small rafts create beautiful scenery. Many Chinese people spend their Sunday afternoons picnicking along the riverside or taking rides on small rafts.
We arrived in Yangshuo after lunch and checked into our hotel. We opted to go for a ride in a tuk tuk. A tuk tuk is a tiny open-air van that seats about six people comfortably and is named for the sound the diesel engine makes. Our driver was very informative and stopped at picturesque spots so that we could take pictures of the mountains and people working in the fields and rice paddies. We saw people harvesting peanuts, soy beans, squash, rice, corn, and these huge pear-looking things. We also had the opportunity to visit a farm house and the family welcomed us in with pears and peanuts. They raised pigs as well as fruit trees and vegetables. The house was simple and they let us browse through each room. They did have a TV as well as pictures of Chairman Mao and Deng Xiao Ping. We definitely felt like we had an authentic experience visiting with local people and were super glad we went. On the way back we stopped on a bridge and were amazed to see about 100 rafts carrying tourists down the river. We bought some boba tea on the bridge, but instead of pearls, they put pudding in the bottom. Val definitely prefers pearls to pudding!
We didn’t have much time for dinner before our next adventure so we opted for a not-so-authentic meal at KFC. After dinner we went to watch a fisherman and his trained cormorant birds. The fisherman trains the birds and puts a ring around each of their necks so that they can only swallow the small fish. When they catch big fish, he hauls the birds onto the raft and takes the fish from them. Cormorant fishermen usually fish at night with a light on the front of their boats to attract the fish. They use rafts that are made of four or five large bamboo poles strapped together. After he was done fishing, the fisherman came to shore and we volunteered to have the birds hop on our arms so that we could take pictures with them (check out how excited Jessica was to have a bird on her arm in the picture to the right).
After our cormorant jaunt, we shopped til we dropped in the village market. The markets in this area of China stay open until 11pm or 12am and we hung in there til the end enjoying the sights and sounds. When it got to be about 9pm a whole bunch of clubs opened up and the sleepy streets became loud with dancing music. Crazy! We tried some porridge called “Tea of Eight Treasures” that is made using a huge dragon pot. The main ingredient has the consistency of hot hair gel to which they add sugar, nuts, sesame seeds, and some other mystery items. Once you stir it together it becomes black. We didn’t like the taste very much, but it was very interesting to see the process.
We arrived in Yangshuo after lunch and checked into our hotel. We opted to go for a ride in a tuk tuk. A tuk tuk is a tiny open-air van that seats about six people comfortably and is named for the sound the diesel engine makes. Our driver was very informative and stopped at picturesque spots so that we could take pictures of the mountains and people working in the fields and rice paddies. We saw people harvesting peanuts, soy beans, squash, rice, corn, and these huge pear-looking things. We also had the opportunity to visit a farm house and the family welcomed us in with pears and peanuts. They raised pigs as well as fruit trees and vegetables. The house was simple and they let us browse through each room. They did have a TV as well as pictures of Chairman Mao and Deng Xiao Ping. We definitely felt like we had an authentic experience visiting with local people and were super glad we went. On the way back we stopped on a bridge and were amazed to see about 100 rafts carrying tourists down the river. We bought some boba tea on the bridge, but instead of pearls, they put pudding in the bottom. Val definitely prefers pearls to pudding!
We didn’t have much time for dinner before our next adventure so we opted for a not-so-authentic meal at KFC. After dinner we went to watch a fisherman and his trained cormorant birds. The fisherman trains the birds and puts a ring around each of their necks so that they can only swallow the small fish. When they catch big fish, he hauls the birds onto the raft and takes the fish from them. Cormorant fishermen usually fish at night with a light on the front of their boats to attract the fish. They use rafts that are made of four or five large bamboo poles strapped together. After he was done fishing, the fisherman came to shore and we volunteered to have the birds hop on our arms so that we could take pictures with them (check out how excited Jessica was to have a bird on her arm in the picture to the right).
After our cormorant jaunt, we shopped til we dropped in the village market. The markets in this area of China stay open until 11pm or 12am and we hung in there til the end enjoying the sights and sounds. When it got to be about 9pm a whole bunch of clubs opened up and the sleepy streets became loud with dancing music. Crazy! We tried some porridge called “Tea of Eight Treasures” that is made using a huge dragon pot. The main ingredient has the consistency of hot hair gel to which they add sugar, nuts, sesame seeds, and some other mystery items. Once you stir it together it becomes black. We didn’t like the taste very much, but it was very interesting to see the process.
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