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OK,
it's time to fess up. Have you ever heard of Guilin, China? Probably
not. Have you ever heard of the Li River? Probably not. I know I
hadn't, but what I did know about were the beautiful and jagged
limestone peaks located somewhere in China. I'd seen pictures of
them before and knew this was a place that I'd want to visit some
day and take pictures. When we planned this trip that was one of
places I definitely wanted to visit, so we began our research and
found that these peaks were along the Li River located near Guilin,
China. Our next job was to find a tour that included Guilin and
a cruise along the Li River. In the planning stages it was up to
Anne and my sister, Carol, to find the right tour. They each found
a tour, but only one of them, GCT's, included a visit to Guilin
and the limestone peaks of the Li River. For me that was the deciding
factor, and I'm happy everyone agreed to the GCT tour for that reason.
Guilin,
meaning "cassia tree forest," was named for the surrounding
forest and was founded in 213 BC during the reign of Emperor Qin,
China's first emperor and the one who unified China. Emperor Qin
ordered the construction of a great canal, the Ling Canal, to connect
central China with its southern provinces and Southeast Asia along
the Yangtze, Li and Zhu rivers. The Ling, one of the world's longest
canals, still exists although it is some distance from the city.
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| Unlike
most Chinese cities, towns and villages which have sections dating
back centuries, Guilin doesn't. The city was destroyed by the Japanese
during WWII and has been completely rebuilt. It does, however, have
some very interesting streets to walk along that accurately show what
life is like for the modern Chinese today. Lining the streets are
the vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables, to live
chickens, ducks, rabbits and snakes, and numerous other articles.
One scene I saw when riding in the bus that comes to mind was the
local barber shop ... a chair sitting on the street with the barber
cutting a man's hair as the shoppers casually strolled by. The city's
most beautiful sight was the waterfront at night. The various structures
were bathed in colored floodlights which made a beautiful scene. Our
primary focus here was the cruise on the Li River to view the jagged
limestone peaks so let's get to those pictures. |
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View
from the boat looking toward the port area |
To
reach the port where the cruise boats were docked would take approximately
45 minutes by bus and we'd travel some very local back roads. Along
the route we saw many farms and villages, observing the various architecture
styles and the Chinese as they went about beginning their normal workday.
Arriving at the port, a large commercial area focused on the tourist
cruises, we quickly made our way to the waiting boat and awaited our
departure and the beginning of our cruise down the Li. |
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Cruise
ships awaiting passengers |
The
ships (left) were all stacked beside one another making it necessary
for you to walk across the bow of several ships to reach your assigned
ship. |
The
chef beginning to prepare the meal |
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fantail of the ship was a kitchen (right) and lunch would be prepared
and served on board, however, we were warned not to expect to much.
Each ship had three decks. The main deck was the dining room with
booth-style tables, the 2nd and 3rd, much smaller, decks were outside
decks to observe the scenery without distraction. |
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Anne
and I on the fantail |
Phil
and Beth Rosenberg |
Members
of our tour group l. to r.:
Clara, Placida, Alicia, Nancy, Anne,
Herb and Alden (photo by Fay) |
Getting
ready for dinner, l. to r.:
Mei, Mae, Joann, Bob with Alicia's back showing |
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| On
these fully escorted tours the tour guide you get can, and often does,
make or break the experience. I've mentioned previously that we were
fortunate to have gotten a good one. Lai Shih Mei Wha, who lives in
Hong Kong, was exceptional. In the picture left you see them talking
and stringing some green beans. No, the boat did provide food, but
Mei wanted something special for us. So she purchased and brought
with her a bag of string beans for the cook to prepare and serve.
Throughout our entire trip she did many things like this which truly
added to the experience and made us all very much the "happy
campers" we needed to be to enjoy the trip. It was a pleasure
traveling with her and I'd sign up for another trip with her as a
tour escort/guide any day. |
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Unfortunately
that incessant haze still followed us even down the beautiful Li
River. In the photos above
you can see water buffalo grazing by the water's edge and steps
leading down to the water. There
was much activity along and on the river, and many villages along
our route. Our cruise covered a
distance of about 40 miles and took almost five hours.
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Limestone
peaks along the Li River near Guilin
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Pointed
peaks along the river |
Small
village on the Li River |
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Another
tourist boat like the one we ere on |
Local
fisherman on a bamboo raft |
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Let's
continue to another page to see the remaining pictures taken along
the Li River ... |
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