and kids like it too

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There seems to be a bit of confusion about Ping An/Long Sheng/Longji, at least in my mind. I was'nt truly sure about where i was when i was viewing the rice terraces....was I in Ping An still? Was this Longsheng or was it Longji I was looking at? No signposts that i could see, no big maps in the hotel, maybe i just wasnt looking hard enough. Anyway, it harldy seems to matter to me now, it was all stunning.
After 3 hours on the road straight from the airport at Guilin, we were not expecting a 20 minute hike at an average incline of 45 degrees with three kids who all needed the toilet. But the minute you got over the souvenir infested bridge (and the ladies selling weren't really trying, just looking at the kids and smiling bless 'em) you see the first mini terraces and the first few wooden houses. Tucked behind bends, just over the brow of each hill, the shops and houses are a real surprise.
There's uniformity in the way they are built, the materials used, but they surprise in the way that they just 'appear'.
Ping An itself is incredibly picturesque and photogenic but the thing that really struck me about the place was that it really does seem to be the place where the farmers live. That might sound obvious but i was kind of expecting it to be a base from which to explore and view the terraces, but its origins are obviously much more pragmatic than that. I was thinking like a tourist but the village really is where the workers live. OK, nowadays it has its hotels and cafe's and trinket shops but that's not it's primary purpose unless i am very much mistaken. From every vantage point the terraces are there. Even though Ping An ihas everything it needs to cater for tourists, it's not over developed, the people seem to just go about their business, you really are walking though a working village.
As someone who is interested in bulidings and culture, i found the place both aesthetically pleasing and interesting.
The hotel (more about this later when i get my diary) was perfect in many ways. Food is not Ping An's high point but at least the stuff we were eating tasted fresh and was obviously made to order. The people were very friendly and interested in the weigouren (foreigner) children especially. For my kids, seeing the local school kids and the local cats was just as interesting as the terraces!

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