Great Cruise - No Li

After a short flight from Chongqinq to Guilin and a good night's sleep we hopped on a boat for a (4)hr cruise down the Lijiang River. The cruise got off to a rough start, but after insisting that we be upgraded to another boat we were on our way. The city of Guilin and the Li cruise was the highlight of our China visit. Guilin is regarded in China as the country's most picturesque city with two crystal-clear rivers whinding through the city, which is encircled by mountains with unusual & bizarre rock formations and caves. Guilin is a small city by Chinese standards and is a breath of fresh air after being in the concrete jungles and polluted cities that dot the landscape of the vast land of China. Guilin's major roads are lined with trees and run along the river

The Li cruise started in the city of Guilin and finished in Yangshuo. The journey downstream to Yangshuo offers 30 miles of breathtaking scenery and the chance to see several villages along the way. The scenery was amazing, albeit a wee bit hazy, but the timing was perfect. Given another week and we would not have been able to do the entire (4) hr cruise as the water level of the river was already extremely low. We bottomed out serveral times which was entertaining, but certaintly not as much as the the men and women that floated down the river on bamboo rafts to raft up to our boat and try to hawk "touristy" souvenirs.

Finishing in Yangshuo puts an explamation point to the cruise. Having had (4) hours to relax and breath in the fresth air the old stone village is a perfect end to the trip. Unfortunately we only had a few hours to spend here, but if we were to do it over again we would stay a few days. The place is nestled in the moutains along the Li River and has loads of cafes, backpacker accomodations and the market is full of knock off goods.

As the old saying goes , "Guilin's scenery is the most beautiful in the world, Yangshuo 's scenery is far more superior to that of Guilin's". From this, one can know that the natural scenery of Yangshuo is unique and surely not to be missed on any visit to China..........

After catching a short flight from Guilin to HK, we spent a day in HK sorting out our "new" Bank of Bermuda debit cards so we could continue our journey without having to beg for cash. After rubbing shoulders with Monty (didn't ask for a swing lesson), in the premier centre we headed down to our favorite little dumpling restaurant to restore our faith in "Chinese Food". Needless to say, Cantonese Food wins the battle hands down - in summary, stay away from Mandarin food with the exception of Peking duck!

We are now off to Nepal to hopefully see Everest and the surrounding mountain ranges.

Lijiang River:
The Lijiang River originates from Cat Mountain in Xing'an County north of Guilin. It flows 437 kms down Guilin, Yangshou, Pingle and Wuzhou in the West. Between Guilin and Yangshuo, the Lijiang River travels 83 kms like a jade ribbon winding among thousands of limestone peaks.

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