We took a sleeper bus from Shenzhen to Yangshuo, about 10 hours by road. The bus wasn’t quite built for westerners, it had 3 levels with 3 rows of beds small beds (Josh and Matt didn’t quite fit). Although it was a bit claustrophobic we all managed to get some sleep on the journey and arrived at sunrise in Yangshuo. It was a bit early to check in at our hotel so we left our bags with reception and wandered the streets of the town. It’s hard not to be awestruck by the setting, quaint cobblestone streets lined with shops and cafes surrounded by endless karst peaks.
We walked along the Li River and saw a cormorant fisherman. It’s a long tradition that locals have used these birds as they have the ability to dive underwater for lengths of time looking for fish. The bird grabs the fish and brings it to the surface in its beak before eating it. The fisherman keep a string tied around the birds neck which prevents them from swallowing their catch and empty their fish in a basket. Although it’s an old tradition, you can’t help but feel sorry for the birds who are doing all of the work.
In the evening we had a great dinner and started a game of dominos. While we were playing we met Joe, a 10 year old boy from Shanghai. He asked if he could practice his English and after the initial ‘what’s your name’, ‘where are you from’, etc we asked if he wanted to sit down and learn dominos. Joe’s English was perfect, even knowing slang and jokes. We ended up hanging out with him for the next couple hours playing dominos and talking.
It brought some attention to our table and soon locals were coming over and watching the game, taking pictures. That’s when we met David Chin, a man from Guilin, just 1 hour from Yangshuo. He joined our group and then some guys from the US and Hong Kong stopped by to hang out. What was going to be an early night turned into a late one. The Chinese have a saying “Ganbei!” which literally means “bottoms-up”, you cannot refuse to finish your drink if said. Many hours later we said our goodbyes and promised to meet up with David Chin when we traveled to Guilin in the coming days.
The time in Yangshuo was relaxing. We took a long bike ride through the karst landscape, crossing rivers and passing through villages. We stopped to climb
River as it’s stage and the backdrop is anGreen Lotus Peak and Moon Hill taking in the views from above. We arrived back at our hotel with just enough time to get ready for the “Light Show”. The show uses the Li endless karst backdrop lit by lights. The entire show is performed on bamboo rafts and perfectly choreographed to the music. The show highlights the traditional customs of the local community and was beautiful to see.
We went to bed early as we were getting on a bamboo raft at 7am for a tour down the Li River. The area where we board the raft is the setting on the back of the 20 Yuan bill so we took a photo.
We boarded a small raft which took us along the river, passing karst mountains, local fisherman, water buffalo and villages.
We left for Guilin the following day and arrived in the early afternoon. We called David
Chin when we reached our hotel and he came by to take us for a walk around the city. Although much larger than Yangshuo, Guilin is very picturesque. The city is surrounded by a river which encloses the city in a circle. There are small walking bridges crossing the river throughout the city. We stopped at a noodle stand for some food,
David had planned for us to go to his friend’s birthday dinner so he didn’t want us to eat very much. We walked to a restaurant which looked like a banquet hall, but the tables were separated into individual serviced rooms. We sat down at a large round table with about 12 other Chinese guests. No one spoke English so we communicated as best we could, through David.
The stories that came up were funny, one man was saying his son doesn’t like America because of the war, Josh changed the subject and told him that his father fought against the Japanese and they all clapped, laughed and cheered. Then the food started coming…and coming…and didn’t stop. It was endless amounts of food, spicy vegetables, rabbit, beef, baby pork ribs, ducks feet, dumplings, soups, things we couldn’t even identify. It was a great dinner and then came the drinks. Large bottles of beer, wine and baiju (the local rice liquor). Now, we’ve had rice wines throughout south-east asia but baiju is definitely the hardest to drink. It’s over 50% alcohol and the Chinese love the stuff. If one person stood up and leaned there glass to you saying “Ganbei!”, you both had to finish what you were drinking. At one point in the night they wanted Josh to sing an American song, Josh refused and they would not let up on him so he asked if he could dance instead. This is one of those moments that you are really thankful to have brought a camera. The video is below. By the end of the night we were all great friends and it took about 10 minutes of saying goodbyes before we could walk out. We told David we would stop by his home to meet his wife and young son. It was a short visit over tea and we took a taxi back to our hotel, a great introduction to Guilin.
Josh had to fly back to Shenzhen for work but we went back to Yangshuo for an extra night before heading back to Shenzhen on the sleeper bus. We are now back in Shenzhen and booked our rail ticket to Beijing. The train will take about 24 hours to reach Beijing and will traverse through six of China’s provinces. We’ll post again from Beijing.
We took a sleeper bus from Shenzhen to Yangshuo, about 10 hours by road. The bus wasn’t quite built for westerners, it had 3 levels with 3 rows of beds small beds (Josh and Matt didn’t quite fit). Although it was a bit claustrophobic we all managed to get some sleep on the journey and arrived at sunrise in Yangshuo. It was a bit early to check in at our hotel so we left our bags with reception and wandered the streets of the town. It’s hard not to be awestruck by the setting, quaint cobblestone streets lined with shops and cafes surrounded by endless karst peaks.
We walked along the Li River and saw a cormorant fisherman. It’s a long tradition that locals have used these birds as they have the ability to dive underwater for lengths of time looking for fish. The bird grabs the fish and brings it to the surface in its beak before eating it. The fisherman keep a string tied around the birds neck which prevents them from swallowing their catch and empty their fish in a basket. Although it’s an old tradition, you can’t help but feel sorry for the birds who are doing all of the work.
In the evening we had a great dinner and started a game of dominos. While we were playing we met Joe, a 10 year old boy from Shanghai. He asked if he could practice his English and after the initial ‘what’s your name’, ‘where are you from’, etc we asked if he wanted to sit down and learn dominos. Joe’s English was perfect, even knowing slang and jokes. We ended up hanging out with him for the next couple hours playing dominos and talking. 
It brought some attention to our table and soon locals were coming over and watching the game, taking pictures. That’s when we met David Chin, a man from Guilin, just 1 hour from Yangshuo. He joined our group and then some guys from the US and Hong Kong stopped by to hang out. What was going to be an early night turned into a late one. The Chinese have a saying “Ganbei!” which literally means “bottoms-up”, you cannot refuse to finish your drink if said. Many hours later we said our goodbyes and promised to meet up with David Chin when we traveled to Guilin in the coming days.
The time in Yangshuo was relaxing. We took a long bike ride through the karst landscape, crossing rivers and passing through villages. We stopped to climb 
River as it’s stage and the backdrop is anGreen Lotus Peak and Moon Hill taking in the views from above. We arrived back at our hotel with just enough time to get ready for the “Light Show”. The show uses the Li endless karst backdrop lit by lights. The entire show is performed on bamboo rafts and perfectly choreographed to the music. The show highlights the traditional customs of the local community and was beautiful to see.
We went to bed early as we were getting on a bamboo raft at 7am for a tour down the Li River. The area where we board the raft is the setting on the back of the 20 Yuan bill so we took a photo. 
We boarded a small raft which took us along the river, passing karst mountains, local fisherman, water buffalo and villages.
We left for Guilin the following day and arrived in the early afternoon. We called David
Chin when we reached our hotel and he came by to take us for a walk around the city. Although much larger than Yangshuo, Guilin is very picturesque. The city is surrounded by a river which encloses the city in a circle. There are small walking bridges crossing the river throughout the city. We stopped at a noodle stand for some food, 
David had planned for us to go to his friend’s birthday dinner so he didn’t want us to eat very much. We walked to a restaurant which looked like a banquet hall, but the tables were separated into individual serviced rooms. We sat down at a large round table with about 12 other Chinese guests. No one spoke English so we communicated as best we could, through David.
The stories that came up were funny, one man was saying his son doesn’t like America because of the war, Josh changed the subject and told him that his father fought against the Japanese and they all clapped, laughed and cheered. Then the food started coming…and coming…and didn’t stop. It was endless amounts of food, spicy vegetables, rabbit, beef, baby pork ribs, ducks feet, dumplings, soups, things we couldn’t even identify. It was a great dinner and then came the drinks. Large bottles of beer, wine and baiju (the local rice liquor). Now, we’ve had rice wines throughout south-east asia but baiju is definitely the hardest to drink. It’s over 50% alcohol and the Chinese love the stuff. If one person stood up and leaned there glass to you saying “Ganbei!”, you both had to finish what you were drinking. At one point in the night they wanted Josh to sing an American song, Josh refused and they would not let up on him so he asked if he could dance instead. This is one of those moments that you are really thankful to have brought a camera. The video is below. By the end of the night we were all great friends and it took about 10 minutes of saying goodbyes before we could walk out. We told David we would stop by his home to meet his wife and young son. It was a short visit over tea and we took a taxi back to our hotel, a great introduction to Guilin.
Josh had to fly back to Shenzhen for work but we went back to Yangshuo for an extra night before heading back to Shenzhen on the sleeper bus. We are now back in Shenzhen and booked our rail ticket to Beijing. The train will take about 24 hours to reach Beijing and will traverse through six of China’s provinces. We’ll post again from Beijing.
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