C & C globetrotting around the world…

From Guilin, we took the bus for an hour and a half to Yangshuo. In Yangshuo we quickly found a great restaurant “Dumpling Dynasty” that we kept on going back to for quick, cheap and tasty bites. West Street is where it’s happening at in Yangshuo, but it was way to loud and crowded for us (I guess we’re getting older…) with its many little shops, bars and clubs. It was nice to stroll along though once in a while. It was crowded, but it’s only one street. We had expected a lot worse, but compared to Golden Week in Lijiang, it’s nothing, hehe.

The following day, we went for a bike tour in the surrounding country-side. We rented bikes and got a local guide to show us small bike paths since we didn’t want to bike on the road beside trucks and buses, and the paths are not well marked. Our guide took us past rice fields, osmanthus tree nurseries and through little old villages. One of the villages was 700 years old and was once a wealthy one, as he pointed out the village wall, expensive gateways, large houses and elaborate wood work.

Quick facts about rice: In the Yangshuo area there are 2 rice harvests (May-July and August-October). He also explained to us that the rice is first planted in an area close to the water and very close together. When the plants are about 10cm high, they get transplanted in the actual rice fields. When it is ripe is turns golden and then the farmers harvest it. The plants grow in bundles with the rice kernels being at the top, sort of like wheat. With a sickle, they cut a bundle at the time and lay it down in the field (usually done by women). Then the next person (usually the men) come and stick the top part containing the rice kernels into a machine that collects them. They then lay down the rest of the plant in the field and let it dry. When it’s dry, it gets tied together in little upside-down bundles that look like hats and is fed to the animals as hay. The rice kernels are then spread out on a stone platform in the village with a broom-like tool and let to dry for about 3 days.

We arrived at Dragon bridge over the Yulong river, which dates back to the Ming Dynasty, crossed the bridge and followed the river downstream on our bikes, passing a few more villages. On this side it was a lot more quiet though, with no tourists. At some point we took a Bamboo boat for 1.5hours down the river. It was nice, but there were “floating islands”, bamboo rafts with Chinese women wanting to sell us beer, along the way. The scenery was great though, the calm river reflecting the limestone peaks. There are some dams the farmers built in order to control the water level for their rice fields. To pass these dams, the bamboo boat drifts over them. However, now the water level is pretty low (it’s the dry season), so sometimes we had to get off and hop back on. When we went over the dams, the front of the boat and then the entire bamboo raft would be under water. It was a bit like rafting and we had fun, but one time our butts got pretty wet. At the end of our bamboo ride, our guide was waiting and the bikes were brought by truck. We biked back to Yangshuo and stopped at a bee farm (apiculturrist) for honey on the way. The bike tour was great and we would have never found those quiet places without our guide Daniel, but the paths were very bumpy at times. This gave us the excuse to get a long-awaited massage. Cecilia had a therapeutic one, while Christoph got a great foot massage. Finally.Unfortunately we don’t have an insurance that pays for it, but luckily the prices are the same as in Canada, only in RMB, not CAD, hehe.

On the 3^rd day, we went to the Big Banyan Tree, a tree that is 1400 years old and really huge. From its branches it sends down roots that serve as support and also to get nutriments. We then walked up Moon Hill, which got its name from the hole in the mountain looking like a full or crescent moon, depending on the angle you look from. Although hazy, the view from the top was nice, seeing lots of karst peaks in the distance. We had heard about the fun cooking course in Yangshuo, so we signed up for it. The chef took us to the market and showed us some fruits and vegetables that we are not used to (persimmon, pomelo, fresh mushrooms, dried spices, garlic sprouts, taro, roots) and also the meat market, where we saw chickens, ducks and rabbits, as well as cats and dogs. Then she went to the cooking school, which was beautifully located by the Li River, the river flowing through Yangshuo. The view was still nice even though the water level was pretty low because of the dry season. We haven’t cooked since we moved out of our apartment June 1^st, so we were excited to cook again. In total we cooked 5 dishes: Eggplant Yangshuo style (really yummy), stir-fried veggies (a bit bland), stuffed mushrooms with minced pork (ok, but not special), beer fish (not great, but we didn’t add the tomato) and chicken with cashews (good). The Eggplant Yangshuo style was our favourite and we’ll try to reproduce it at home. It was interesting to watch the chef chop everything up, especially since we had never used a cleaver (Asian knife). She even used that to crush the garlic cloves and ginger. Also some tricks we learnt is that the wok has to be smoking before you put the oil in and that once you add water to your stir-fry, you don’t mix until the water starts to boil. Usually everything had to be done very fast (high flame, quick cooking), which probably explains part of the chef’s “choppy” nature. We got to eat our creations afterwards and were happy with our the outcome. In the evening we met up with a couple from Quebec City who we had met in Guilin. It was Halloween and although we didn’t dress up, we had a few drinks together and nice chats. After midnight, we celebrated Christoph’s birthday and had a great time.

On Christoph’s birthday, we spent a chill day in Yangshuo, strolling on West Street and buying some souvenirs. Having perfected our bargaining skills in the last 3 months, we got some good deals. We know how much stuff is worth and by how much they inflate the prices usually. On the special occasion, we went to Kelly’s for dinner. We had sizzling curry chicken and sweet & sour pork, both dishes being extremely delicious. For dessert we went to Lucy’s Cafe and had the apple crumble Christoph had spotted a few days earlier. It was also very delicious and a great birthday “cake”.

On the 5^th day in Yangshuo (it feels good to stay in one place for longer sometimes) we were very active again. We climbed up a karst peak where the TV Tower is. The steep stairs were exhausting, but the nice views rewarding. From there we saw Yangshuo, the Li River and lots of karst peaks surrounding us and slowly disappearing in the haze. Now that we’ll soon be in Vietnam, we need to read up on it more and plan the next few weeks, so we spent some time on that in Yangshuo. In the evening we attended the “Impressions on San Jie”, a show set against the backdrop of 8 karst peaks. It‘s a story similar to “Romeo & Juliet” but involves 400 performers, ethnic minorities and local fishermen on the Li River. We had been told it wasn’t that good, so our expectations were really low. Actually we enjoyed the show, especially the red scene (the fishermen with the red plastic thing) and the end, where the performers were dressed in costumes with LED lights. The choreographer is the same guy who did the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony and the show was impressive.

Day 100 in China! Youhou! We hopped on a bus to Xingping, the village close to which the scenery on the 20RMB bill is. Here we got annoyed with all the ladies trying to sell us bamboo boat trips, especially since they wouldn’t take No for an answer. We anticipate it will get worse in Vietnam… After walking around a bit, we found the spot. The scenery is nice indeed, but again with the water level low, it’s not quite as spectacular. And now you have lots of bamboo boats (actually fake bamboo boats, since the “bamboo” is made of plastic and they have engines). We were happy the one we took on the Yulong river at least was made of really bamboo and a fisherman was paddling. Back in Yangshuo, we had a great dinner to end our long trip to China.