Traveling in China - Guilin Part One

I've rarely had any vacation time in China. It's mostly business for me. But one trip, by boss brought his 14 year old son on our trip and a business associate, so it was a big party and quite an adventure.

We spent an extra day in Hong Kong, touring the city, including a Buddhist Temple. We sat in an airport all night waiting for a storm to stop, but those are stories for another day. This post is about our mini vacation to Beautiful Guilin, China.




You've probably never even heard of Guilin, but in China it is a very famous city. The town and surrounding areas are a bit staged for tourists. But that makes it more charming.

There was a movie made there about a couple who fell in love. It's a romantic story about traditional life on the River Li. Our tour guide asked us if we knew that movie. When we said no she couldn't believe it. Everyone should know that movie. This is a picture of a Traditional River Li wedding.


Or trip started on the River Li. It's so beautiful. The rock formations are very unique and beautiful.

This one is called Elephant Trunk Hill.

The people on the River Li still use cormorants for fishing. They have a ring on their necks, to keep the birds from swallowing the fish. The birds dive, catch fish and bring them to the fisherman. The birds love their owners, and are fed well for their efforts.



We rode on a huge river boat, down the river and back. There were singing boatmen and girls on the river that we passed. There were farmers herding their Water Buffalo to the water's edge to drink. The weather was perfect and the scenery was idyllic.

There was a litle incident, where another river boat almost crashed into ours. It was a scary. If you get hurt or seriously sick in China, prayers are about the only thing to save your life. Although I had an associate that had a heart attack in China, he survived and was very impressed with his care.

I wish I could describe how wonderful my trip to Guilin was. So steeped in tradition, I started to feel like I understood what it meant to be Chinese and have all this wonderful history of China in my memories. Guilin is where I finally fell in love with China. Those girls singing in their whiny little voices, squat toilets and dirty dishes didn't bother me anymore. I found it charming, and finally found China charming too.