Glories of China Tour - Guilin to Yangshuo

---

DAY 3 cont - After arriving in Guilin late afternoon, we had another wonderful dinner followed by a wander around the local streets. Plenty of activity as there is a festival in full swing, with dancers and displays in the major park of Guilin. We found an Irish Pub in an alley, where you'll not be surprised to find, all the Aussies eventually accumulated.

DAY 4 - A short coach trip to the Li River, boarding our cruise boat for a 4 hour trip to Yangshuo. Amazing scenery again as we wound our way through high peaks of limestone. Arriving in Yangshuo, we checked into our hotel and went for a casual stroll through the local streets. Plenty of colour, music and the smells of the local delicacies were abundant, some chilli, blue claw and noodles in many eateries.

DAY 5 - An early start and off on the coach to a nearby village, very rough road out to our destination to visit a typical countryside. We left the coach for a walk through the narrow laneway and met a young woman, Murphy, going to university to major in English. She invited Angela & I into her home, but we had to decline as our guides were keeping us going. Through fields of lettuce, spring onion, rice and a few other vegetables. The women of the village still washing clothes in the canal by hand was surprising, maybe not? This weekend is a public holiday for Memorial Day, where they honour their family that have passed, by cleaning their shrines and setting off numerous amount of fire crackers.

Next on the agenda was a Tai Chi session with a local Master, at his studio. Now this was a first for me but after a 45 minutes session, the feeling of calmness and general well being was surprising. Lunch followed by another coach trip back to Yangshuo for a visit to a cormorant fisherman. The cormorants have a lifespan of 25 years and start training at 12 months old. They only use them for tourists these days. Then we had some free time to do our own thing. We found a park where the locals were dancing, singing and generally having a relaxing time. By the time the sun had set and we'd finished dinner the streets had come alive with music, drums, lights, it was all happening. Yangshou is a great town and I would certainly recommend to anyone to spend time here.

DAY 6 - Leaving our beloved Yangshuo, we drove to the South China Pearl Factory back in Guilin. A full lesson on the oysters and the cultivation of the best pearls in the world, according to Lisa, our pearl expert. Yes, we lashed out and purchased some pearls, no duty here for tourists so they were a bargain. A walk around a beautiful lake, followed by a visit to Seven Star Park, and into a massive cave system. Back to our motel then off to 2 pagoda's overlooking another great lake and garden area.

---