Merrell/Chong Family travels: Back in China-Guilin

We flew from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong and then had about 45 minutes to catch our flight from Hong Kong to Guilin. They ran us through the airport and we got there just in time. Our bags even made it which was a good thing as our itinerary for the next several days would make it difficult for them to catch up. We went straight to our hotel, the Lijiang Waterfall Hotel, so named because it is the sight of the Guiness Book or World Records largest artificial waterfall. Essentially they pump water 16 or so stories to the top of the hotel and then have it cascade down the side of the hotel. The Youtube videos are pretty dramatic and our room was on the side where the water is supposed to cascade down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7mXplkLonY

However we noticed our windows looked a bit dusty like they hadn't seen water in a while and there was no sign of a waterfall that night. Nick asked at the concierge desk and they said the show would happen the next night and then sort of as an after thought said, "if its fixed..." Fortunately our hotel is right in the center of Guilin. Guilin is a very old city with 2 rivers and 4 lakes all interconnected to create multiple island out of the central area. In medieval times these served as moats and barriers. Now they are just beautiful parks. We spent some time wandering around the parks and then chose a restaurant, North Village, at random for dinner. Had squirrel fish for dinner. We think in this case its not the variety of the fish but the presentation. I don't really know how to describe but essentially the whole fish is deboned and sort of turned inside out. Then the flesh is scored into cubes but left attached to the skin. Finally it is all deep fried. When you eat it you just pluck cubes of fried fish off the skin. Tasty and unique presentation.

Old gates of Guilin

Classic Guilin scenery with karst mountains and rivers

The next day we had lunch at another great restaurant chosen at random. Seems that Guilin has really good food. Then we headed off to Longji rice terraces. This is a mountainous area about 2 hours north of Guilin. Over the centuries several minority groups that live there sculpted the mountains into terraced rice fields. The terraces rise like contour lines on a map from the river valleys all the way to the tops of the mountains. About 20 years ago the area was discovered by a Chinese photographer and went viral in a way that was not common before the internet. Since then it has become a real tourist destination although perhaps one that still takes a bit of work to experience. Huge tour buses drive to the area and load the tourist on smaller buses so they can be taken to the top of the terraces for a quick view. Then everyone turns around and leaves for the trip back to Guilin. That means they are busy from about 10am to about 3pm and then everything gets quiet.

Alternatively we booked two nights in a small hotel run by a family who lives in one of the villages that still farm the terraces. Many of the families here have capitalized on the increase in visitors by building 5 or 6 story hotels on the narrow footprint of their original family home. The village is a maze of twisting little stone paths winding around, through, and even under all the buildings. You park at the car park at the bottom of the hill and then you climb up through the village to your hotel. Ours was near the top but not at the top of the village plus we were on the 5th floor with no elevator so a lot of climbing to get there. Fortunately there are all these tough little villagers, mostly women, who meet you at the car park and offer to throw your suitcase in a basket and carry it up the hill for $7.50. I thought I was doing Margaret and the kids a favor when I said yes but the truth is carrying my bag up the hill probably would have killed me. I have not been the lightest packer and in fact my suitcase is the heaviest of all of ours. Weighs in at 23kg(50.6 pounds). Its a long steep climb. Money well spent.

Yao women grow their hair until 18 then cut it once and
never again. Then they collect every hair that comes out
when they brush it. The first cut, all the collected hair,
and the current pony tail are all wrapped up together under
the turban

We spent two nights there so that we could explore the village and walk up the mountains to a couple of view points overlooking the fields. That gave us time to eat local food in a couple of village restaurants and experience a bit of the local life. Two of the local dishes were rice, chicken or fish cooked in bamboo tubes and cakes of taro stuffed with pork balls and deep fried. That one had a crunchy outer shell with a thick layer of chewy stuff like mochi and then a core of pork. Syd said it would have been a great dessert if sweet and minus the pork balls. We watched horses hauling supplies up the paths through the village. We saw a funeral procession complete with pipes, gongs, and fireworks. We climbed to the overlooks both at mid-day on the first day and then tried again the next morning for a sunrise view. That was unfortunately rained out. The terraces and hills really are beautiful and iconic. Nick however was more impressed by the hydrologic engineering that went into making sure that water trickles evenly from one terrace into multiple terraces below it so that they all end up evenly flooded while none run dry and none overflow. He pronounced it the coolest place we've been so far on our trip. We'll see how long that lasts.