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My first experience of sub-tropical conditions. And it was raining.
Undeterred, like any good Brit, I ventured forth - but soon realised that my raincoat was far too hot for the climate, despite the rain, and so invested in an 80p umbrella.
I crossed the River Li which runs through Guilin, and went to the Seven Star Park to look around. The landscape is very green and lush, and dotted with limestone mountains, which form an impressive backdrop.
Guilin was sold to me as a pretty little village, with stunning scenery. The scenery part was bang on: the town itself is nestled between karsts, with national parks galore all within walking or cycling distance. The result is this gorgeous green and mountaineous backdrop to everything, which was well worth the train journey.
'Village'. Hmmm. Maybe with only 4 million inhabitants Guilin is a village by Chinese standards. Frankly I found a full-blown tourist town, crammed full of shops, boutiques and tourist tat, but without any of the history that the other towns I had visited previously (or since) had. Since I had been expecting a village, the reality of Guilin was a bit of a shock, and,
all in all, I wouldn't stay in Guilin itself if I were to visit again.
Still, the Seven Star Park - apparently the first tourist park created in Guilin - was a beautiful spot, with lots of nice natural and landscaped parts.
In the afternoon I headed to the Ming Palace (rebuilt and now used as the teacher training university) and the Solitary Beauty Spot (a single mountain behind the palace). Since it had now stopped raining and was turning into quite a nice afternoon, I climbed the mountain which, frankly, was no great feat as all the mountains here have steps - cheating! And I'm not entirely sure they are mountains, properly-called, but hill sounds silly. Karst?
In the evening, I met up with some of the others from the dormitory and we grabbed some street food and then walked over to Guilin's Waterfall Hotel. So-called because, every evening at 2030, water cascades down one side of the building, accompanied by tasteful classical music. Impressively wasteful, was my initial reaction (tree hugger!) but it was fun to watch.
There was another fountain display behind the hotel - vying for attention, I feel - and, once
we had seen enough of that, we walked down to the River Li and looked at the Sun and Moon Pagodas (one lit gold, the other white) and the lights along the river. It was very pretty at night, all lit up for the benefit of tourists and locals alike.
Making our way back to the hostel, avoiding the touts ("you want a boat trip down the river? I can get you one for 90 RMB - very cheap. Cheaper than hostel! Bamboo boat. Ok, ok 80 RMB") we had a few drinks and headed to bed.
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