15: Guilin and Yangshuo: Around Town

One of the many retail areas in Guilin at night.
At the Left Bank Restaurant, several people in our group (including Gary) tasted “Snake Wine” after dinner.

The city of Guilin, which gets its name from the fragrant Osmanthus tree that is native to the area, is located in the Guangxi Autonomous Region of China. Guangxi is in the southwest, shares a border with Vietnam, and is home to several of China’s minority ethnic groups, including the Hui, Zhuang and Yao.

The Chinese refer to Guilin as a small city, but the tourism industry there is booming, as is the population, which is close to 5 million.

Yangshuo, where we ended up after the Li River trip, is smaller and more rural than Guilin, and has been referred to in one guidebook, as a backpacker’s haven. All of us all agreed that we would have preferred to spend more time in Yangshuo. It was easy to navigate on foot, and the market, reputed to have a 1,400 year history, was right outside our hotel, teeming with all manner of exotic foods, crafts, clothing (bargaining is essential) and excellent coffee.  From the hotel’s dining room and roof terrace, we could get distant views of the karst landscape (though the gold arches incongruously lit up the foreground).

Perhaps the most memorable part of the non-karst viewing excursions was our hike up through the Longji Terraces in Longsheng County (a long bus ride from Guilin). Unfortunately it was not rice growing season yet, but we were able to see and interact with two of the tribes indigenous to the area, who were selling food and other wares along the way. Lunch at a small family restaurant, after climbing in the cold, damp air for almost two hours, was simply delicious.

Reed Flute Cave is a karst cavern, impressive in both size and richness of stalactites and stalagmites (not to mention the jarring excess of dramatic lighting…). According to our guide, this cave has been a tourist attraction for over 1200 years, as cave walls hold inscriptions and poems dating from the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 CE).

Chinese tourists like to be photographed in ethnic tribal costumes that can be rented at Elephant Trunk Hill Park. These are extremely simplified versions of Miao clothing, which is characterized by intricate embroidery

and heavy silver headdresses.

The beginning of our long climb…up to the Longji Mountain Village

Buffalo horns for sale along our path.

What a great smile, in a face that speaks volumes.

A Yao woman, immediately recognizable by her hair and earrings. Yao women never cut their hair and have distinct ways of wrapping it to communicate their status as “married with children.”

Bamboo has many uses – here, it is a container for corn and rice which is cooked over a flame

And here, it is the all purpose building / scaffolding / buttressing material.

West Street, the old bustling market street, in Yangshuo.

A sample of West Street delicacies...

The view from our hotel's dining terrace in Yangshuo.

Simple elegant bamboo rafts on the riverbank in Yangshuo.