Guilin

The photos are going in reverse order!  Start at the bottom of the pictures and go up! 

After a short 2 two hour flight  from Hangzhou, we have landed in beautiful Guilin. And beautiful it is!  I think that this is the most beautiful city I have seen in China!  Green and lush!  Guilin is known for the following 4 things, and more, but they say these are the most important: green hills, clear water, caves, and charming stones.  The weather is clean and cool, and they say the best air in China. We are really only 500 kilometers from Vietnam. The weather is subtropical. The name Guilin means "forest of sweet osmanthus" owing to the large number of fragrant osmanthus trees located in the city. The urban population is only 600,000, the size of Alaska! It is so nice to be in a smaller city, without the busy traffic and millions of people.

Guilin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We left the hotel at 8 this morning, pilled into the bus, handed over our passports to our tour guide, Henry, and headed thru heavy rush hour traffic to the airport. You just can't imagine all the bikes, busses, taxi's, cars, vans, scooters, you name it, that are slowly making their way down the streets. I have yet to see an accident, and no one gets mad at each other in traffic.  It is amazing how they all move along smoothly, if not slowly. 

Several people had to give up their newly purchased lighters at the airport.  They did a group weigh in of the luggage so that those who traveled light helped those that traveled heavy.  I had to sit on my suitcase and bounce up and down to get it closed. I bought two silk pillows and they took up a bunch of room. I guess I will just have to buy small things, like jewelry!

When we arrived we were met by a local tour guide named Wei (weigh).  Our other tour guide came with us to Guilin, so we have 2 people taking care of us. They count heads everytime we get back on the bus after seeing something.  They try and take good care of us!

Because the weather was so cool, probably 80, they said we would do some touring right away. First place we went to was Seven Star Scenic Area. It was a beautiful park with some panda bears. We watched them for a while. One was sleeping, and one was chewing away on bamboo leaves. Monkeys came down out of the trees for a peek at us. We also visited a rock museum because there are many rocks and caves here. I bought a rock that glows in the dark, trying to remember the name, but it reminds me of the rocks that were used by the Brothers of Jared.

We then went to another park near our hotel called the Folded Brocade Hill. We climbed several hundred stairs to the top of the mountain for a 360 degree view of the city. Spectacular! Just at the time we got to the top it began to pour. There were many people crowded under an awning, and then someone lent a couple of us a big umbrella.  We were wet, but it was worth it to see the beauty!

We headed back down, went to the hotel, and met for dinner. Fresh cooked beans, sweet and sour chicken, pork, fried rice, fried bananas, beef and peppers, soup, and fried something like taquitos. It was yummy. A quick walk near the Li River, and now heading to bed!