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Published: January 5th 2008
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Hi everyone!! Hope you are all well and in good health!!!
So I will work through the events in a systematic format😊
Shenzhen
Firstly I went to Shenzhen for the weekend a little while ago... I took the bus there with my good friend Ivy and met up there with Max... So not much to tell about Shenzhen except that it is super clean and new... sky scrapers everywhere and the streets are almost shining! They even have a WalMart there... hahah! I spent one night at some Canadians couch and the next night at an all inclusive spa. Again super cheap!!! a 2 hour Japanese massage, whatever that means I don't know... But it was great!! Then a complete scrub down which felt kinda weired but I guess I was all clean after. They have little sleeping compartments too, dinner and breakfast and what not!
The club scene in Shenzhen is definitely great compared with Zhuhai... I went to the same club two nights in a row! The last day I went to a museum called the Mink. It is a decommissioned Russian carrier which had planes, helicopters, lots of missiles with nuclear capabilities and other
cool stuff!
Guangxi Province - Guilin and Yangshuo
So since I am a budget traveler I took a sleeper bus there and back... You may ask yourself, what is that? Well let me tell you... It is a bus which has bunk beds... It wasn't half bad... Although the beds are a little small! You make several stops along the way for the WC but other than that it worked out nicely because it was a night ride! I left at 630PM and arrive the next morning at 7AM. But then again it really is not that comfortable but definitely affordable!
Arriving at Guilin I was very surprised at the level of Chinese who speak English. I suppose this is a hot spot for foreigners! They speak more English here than in Beijing!! Anyhow Guilin is a big city on the banks of the Li River. There wasn't much interest there so if you ever plan on going you can skip out on Guilin and just stick to Yangshuo... The topography here is amazing! Karst peaks throughout the city... That means sharp mountains rising in random spots! Check out the pix!!
Anyway, I met up with
the girls there and the next day my travel buddy Susanne arrived. She teaches law here at the Uni... We took the bus to Yangshuo and believe it or not this place almost did not feel like China! It is a small town that caters to travelers alone! The Mecca for backpackers throughout China!
So what did we do here... Well Yangshuo is well known for its outdoorsy activities which include but are not limited to rock climbing, river cruises, bike rides in the countryside, hiking in the mountains etc.
The weather was ok for the most part. We got rain at night but the daytime was dry, thank God! However, it was freezing!!! the whole time!! and I discovered what Chinese torture really is! I'll get back to that concept in a sec... So I was wearing 4 layers, two pairs of socks, a beanie and gloves and still freezing! brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
So the first day we took a bus to a little village about one hour away from Yangshuo called Xingping.. Just a little village in the middle on no where... Mom called me then and thought from the rattling sound of the bus that it
was going to fall apart in any moment, but nonetheless we made it!
After cruising around for a bit in the village we took a 2 hour cruise up and down the Li River on a motorized bamboo boat! It was super cool and the scenery was magnificent! But here comes the Chinese torture part!!! sitting around cruising on the river for two hours was freezing cold!! I thought I was going to die!!! So Susanne and I devised a scheme that if we should die we might as well go out in a bang and be the first suicide bombers in China!!
The next day we were warm! That wasn't because the weather changed but because we rented bikes and a private Chinese tour guide who spoke perfect English (she studied it all by herself - only completed elementary school)! She took us on a whole day ride through villages, the countryside and to different cool locations. We made a stop at Moon Hill and climbed up the mountain and as the pix explain the name there is a hole in the mountain! Also there was a person rock climbing there which was super cool!
Even
though you could get any type of Western food in Yangshuo the best place was Chinese... we found this super tasty Chinese place called Dynasty Dumplings or something like that. They had the best Veggie dumplings I've had so far!!! So we ordered a few times da bau (takeaway) because we didn't feel like freezing anymore!
Also on the bike ride we were cycling through a village and I happened to stumble upon a farmer killing and shaving off his animal for dinner... from the pix you can understand what was served for dinner.... And no I did not and will not try dog meat grandma!! haha😊
New Years Eve
Lastly for New Years since we are deprived Californians who dearly miss Mexican food we decided to have a Mexican themed NY party!!! The day before I went downtown to the market with Mark and Jackie and bought a lot of the produce... veggies, fruits, meat, etc.... We prepared a feast served with only the best drinks... Margaritas, Tequila, beers, and a lot more plus an assortment of Spanish music😊 Cesadillas, tortillas, beans, nachos, guacamole, cheese, salad, fruit salad with ice cream and Irish Cream! Yum yum
yum!!!
Anyhow,
Happy New Year to you all!!!
Lots of love me!!!
P.S. - I am headed south to Thailand soon and probably won't write a blog until I return... Mid Feb.. Kisses and hugs!!😊
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yan
non-member comment
how nice~~
ohh..**ecological trip**looks awesome^_^ but it's too cold for me ..maybe i prefer to go there in summer~~