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Published: September 20th 2007
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I was very excited about going to Guilin to see the nearby rice terraces. I had seen amazing pictures and I was looking forward to checking them out for myself. The rice terraces of Ping An are over 600 years old, planted by the Yao and Zhuang minority groups.
Longsheng is about two and a half hours away from Guilin. It's not far, but the drive there is tough we went down and up and around mountains. I wondered how tour busses get up the narrow road, Cherry told us halfway through, the people get off their tour bus and separate into smaller mini-busses to drive up. The drive was really beautiful - very green pastures and farmland, clear water, and you could see terraced fields too. I sitting by the window and the drive is scary if you're afraid of heights.
We get further up and it starts to lightly rain. I was still convinced that when we got there we could still see it though. However, when you get to the entry gate (yes, the local people charge for you to see their farmland), you still have to walk up 40 minutes. It was misty and I
Drive to Longsheng
The drive there was beautiful actually had to take out my umbrella. We get up and there are rain clouds everywhere. Couldn't see anything - not even a tree. Cherry suggests we hike to the top anyway, and it was even more depressing from the top. Thank goodness the Huangshan soreness was almost gone at this point.
I was so disappointed. I was really looking forward to it, and we came from Shanghai to Guilin and a 2+ hour drive to see fog! What bad luck we had with the weather. I felt really bad for CL who came all the way from California! What a waste of a day! But then..... I remembered what MMM told me about her hike to Machu Picchu and how they hiked and camped for days to see the Inca Ruins covered in fog, but then they waited it out a few hours and the fog lifted and blew away! The rest of their hiking group missed out on the beautiful sight they saw. My coworker told me a similar story about his experience at Machu Picchu too! Of course I shared this with CL, but it looked pretty hopeless. Cherry suggested we go down to eat lunch
Fog, Fog, Fog
We came all the way to see this!? What disappointment. and then hike back up.
We had lunch at a hotel/hostel restaurant. The food was plentiful and we got to eat the rice that was planted locally! The rice was long grain, not as yummy, but still great to eat the fruits of labor. Our tour guide Cherry ate with us and we chatted in Chinese. Her English was OK when talking about "where we are going next, and if we need to use the restroom, etc" but her English conversation skills were still improving. Anyway, she asked how much my rent was in Shanghai. I told her, "over 4,000" and she then told me her rent is 150 rmb a month, yeap, that's about $20 usd! She said her house is new too. Sheesh. Wow, I sure feel like I'm getting ripped off! She shares a three-bedroom apartment with some girls and the total rent is 450 rmb a month. I realized that she probably gets paid very little. I am guessing she makes around 1,000 rmb a month and supplements with tips from tourists. Guilin is so much cheaper than Shanghai, but also a city totally dependent on tourism.
Ok, back to the rice terraces! 😊
Look at it now!
Same shot a few hours later! What a difference! I kept looking out the window to see if the was getting clearer, and it seemed like the clouds were moving! I was hopeful.
Of course you can tell from the pictures that it cleared up quite a bit. It was such a huge difference. I am glad we waited it out, and I'm thankful that our tour guide was flexible, patient and accomodating. She wanted us to be able to see it. There was a tour group with us in the morning that left after seeing all the fog. They missed out! Anyway, the rice terraces are prettier after the rice has been harvested and raining because the pools of water reflect for a spectacular sight. Nonetheless, the terraces are fascinating, and such a hard way to farm. However, what a great idea to make a hillside arable!
There are terraces in Yunnan I will have to compare with, as well as some of the world's famous ones are in Vietnam.
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