|
|
| Our first stop in China was the smallish tourist town of Guilin. This is a tourist destination for Chinese and foreigners alike. Guilin is in southeastern China about 1 hour by air from Hong Kong.
Elephant Head Park
Right in the heart of town is this lovely park along the edge of the river. It is named for the rock formation that looks a little (if you look cross eyed) like an elephant dipping it's trunk into the river. When we arrived people were still celebrating the Lunar New Year.
The River Li
Guilin has become a tourist destination because it lies in the heart of the most amazing landscape! As a child one of my favorite things to do at the beach was to make sand towers by letting very wet sand dribble on one spot. These resulting towers are very vertical, and look like fingers. This is what the mountains look like all along the Li River between Guilin and Yangshou. Add to that some mist or haze and the vision is haunting. We floated down the Li River on just such a day. The trip was about 5 hours, and these rock formations were continuous!
The boats on the river Li are many and
varied! We particularly like this bamboo job, although if offered a ride,
I am not certain I would be up for it. We saw 8 and more people being
ferried on this sort of boat, but it really does look a bit precarious!
There was a place where it appeared these boats were being made. The ends
of the bamboo were sitting in the water, to soften them up before bending them
upwards.
These are traveling salesman, targeting our boat. Look, these boats are large enough for an entire family! Good thing China has a one child policy.
^ This was a strange sight!
The fellows on the right were having a bit of a stand off with this bull. They thought he should follow them into the water. He seemed to have other plans. By the time the trio was out of sight, it was not clear who would win this battle of the wills, though my money was on the ornary bull!
Tasha and Anika knew right away what was going on with these birds sitting on the log (right image). They are cormorants, kept as captive fishers. They catch some of the most desirable fish and bring them back to their owners. Due to a ring around their necks they are unable to eat the fish themselves. Their owners feed them mashed up fish at the end of the day. Strange idea, huh?
Yangshou
This is another town along the Li River, and the ending point for our cruise. Notice, the beautiful mountains are still everywhere! If we were to visit this area again, we would stay here. This is a lovely, if touristy, quaint little town! |
|
Send mail to
WebbedOne@ArvaMont.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
Aro
