Yangshou

Despite our desires to get to Yangshou as quickly as possible so we could shower, we stopped in Guilin to eat lunch and hear a lecture on Chinese painting. For the lecture, we went to the art studio of a well-known local artist. He spoke in Chinese and told us about the differences between Chinese painting and more Western style painting, the main one being that Western paintings generally depict things as they are, while Chinese paintings portray images as they appear in the mind. The lecture was very interesting, but it was very hard to focus because we were so tired and incredibly anxious to get to Yangshou.

After almost close to two more hours on the bus, we arrived in Yangshou. When we got off the bus, we were disappointed to realize that we had another long walk ahead of us with all of our bags in order to get to our hotel. My friends insisted on helping me carry my bags since my back was still bothering me from our hike in Long Sheng.

Our hotel was located on West Street, a very famous pedestrian area in Yangshou known for dining and shopping. We were really excited to be staying in this area at first, but by the end of our time in Yangshou, we had determined that staying on West Street was the equivalent of living in the gauntlet of the Silk Market for a few days.

When we got to the hotel, we were happy to unpack and do some laundry in the bathtub, as most of our clothes had gotten pretty dirty and smelly in Long Sheng. After freshening up a bit, Molly, Cara, Brittany, Gill, Jon, Aaron, Jay, Richie, and I headed off to dinner at a café on West Street, famous for American food, called Meiyou’s. Meiyou is one of our favorite words in Chinese, probably because our friend Brooks likes to say it all of the time with a bunch of funny accents. The world Meiyou translates to mean without.

We were able to sit at a long table outside on the street, which was a great location for people watching. This area was full of tourists, not only from all over China or the West, but from a bunch of different places all over the world. Most of us ordered cheeseburgers, which were delicious after nonstop Chinese food up to this point on the trip.

After dinner, we walked around West Street and tried to do some shopping. It seemed that most of the things they were trying to sell could be found in the Silk Market in Beijing and were not incredibly unique to this part of China. Also, because this area was very touristy, it was very hard to bargain for low prices. After a whole semester in China, we had all become pretty cheap. After shopping for a bit, we found another café on West Street called Drifters, where we sat and enjoyed a drink or two while people watching. Then, we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

The next morning we woke up excited for a day of bamboo rafting on the Yulong River. We suited up in bathing suits and sunscreen and headed downstairs to the hotel lobby, only to discover a heard of bicycles waiting for passengers. After all of the hiking we did in Long Sheng and walking with our luggage in Yangshou already, the study trip was beginning to feel a lot like fat camp.

Riding the bikes through Yangshou was actually pretty cool. Riding across the main streets was somewhat terrifying though, as the traffic from cars, carts, motorcycles, and other bikes was crazy. However, before we knew it, we were biking into the beautiful mountains of the Guilin area on dirt roads. On our ride, we stopped to buy crowns made out of fresh flowers to wear upon our heads.

At last we arrived at the banks of the Yulong River to find bamboo rafts, built for two, lined up and waiting for us. Cara and I boarded our raft and immediately went into Hawaii mode, stripping down to just our bathing suits and our shades.

The scenery was absolutely stunning and we drifted down the river, down small waterfalls and through minor rapids. Our raft driver was convinced that Jon and Aaron were our boyfriends and did a great job at making sure our rafts went down the river together at the same pace. Molly and Brittany and Gill were also on rafts nearby.

At different points throughout the river, they had floating snack stands where you could stop the raft to buy beer or fried fish right out of the river. We stopped to buy our driver a beer and I think that’s when we became best friends. After that, our driver let us dive off of the raft and swim in the Yulong River. The water was calm and refreshing. Cara, Brittany, and I all dove in and swam. Gill, who is a swimmer and forgot to bring a bathing suit on the trip got so jealous that she stripped down to just her underwear, which were white might I add, and dove in after us.

Once Cara and I got back on our raft, our driver decided to let us attempt steering the boat, which was much more difficult that I thought at first. He steered the raft with a long bamboo pole, which in shallow areas, he pushed right off the floor of the river and in deeper areas, used just like an oar. He helped us with our strokes at first and after a bit of practice, Cara and I were able to steer our bamboo raft down the river on our own.

Overall, our rafting adventure consumed close to two hours. In the course of that time, we went swimming several times, had splashing fights with our friends, and steered our raft further and further down river. Our rafts were the last to arrive at the downriver bank, I think because we were having the most fun.

Once we got off the rafts we decided we were going to continue biking into the mountains to explore some natural caves. Not knowing what to expect, we all purchased $2 Asian fun time shorts to wear on this adventure.

After biking a little further we stopped for lunch in a little town in the mountains. This town was awesome because it had a view of Moon Hill, one of Yangshou’s rounded peaks with a natural moon gate eroded into its very highest peak.

After stopping to eat, we jumped on a bus that took us right to the mouth of the caves. We had to check all of our belongings and all of us stripped down to just our bathing suits. We were given rubber shoes to wear for stomping around in the caves and then we set off on our adventure.

To get into the caves, we had to take small boats over water. As soon as we got into the caves, it was dark and cold and there were stalagmites and stalactites everywhere. It took two boats to get our entire group into the caves because there were 17 of us all together.

When we got off the boats, a guide led us for a hike through the caves that ended at a natural mud bath. There were no hesitations about getting drenched in mud and we all just dove right in. The mud was cold and a lot thicker than I thought it would be. I got my whole body covered because the mud is supposed to be good for your skin. There were natural rockslides that led into the mud bath, so we all took turns sliding down those. There was also a photographer at the mud bath taking pictures of us. The pictures were hilarious and we bought a few after we got out of the caves. Because we are all covered in mud, it looks like a lot of us, especially the girls, are completely naked in the pictures!

When we got out of the mud baths, we were able to rinse off a bit, but there was still mud everywhere. We then hiked, half clean, to another part of the caves where there was a natural hot spring. It felt so good. Too good in fact because when we got in, we thought it might be a good idea to skinny dip and take off our bathing suits in order to clean off most of the mud. It was definitely another bonding experience in China! We relaxed in the hot springs for a while and then we hiked back to the exit of the caves and took the boats back out into the open air.

Outside of the caves, a bunch of us bought some bamboo sandals from some of the local people. They shoes were so cool and the only cost five kuai, which is about 70 cents, so I bought two pairs, one in orange and one in black. I can’t wait to wear them back in the United States.

We then found our bikes and rode back to West Street. At this point, we were much farther from our starting location and we had a nice 45-minute bike ride ahead of us. We were all biking in our bathing suits and wearing our flower crowns. We must have been quite a sight! The ride was beautiful. We got to see more of the mountains and we entered town from a different direction, which allowed us to see a bit more of the surrounding area.

After a full day, by the time we got back to the hotel, it was already 5:40 and we had to be downstairs in the lobby for dinner by 6:00. Because we were already in our bathing suits, Molly and I jumped in the shower and took the quickest showers of our lives. The water in the showering was running brown from the mud and to this day, mud is still coming out of my ears!

Dinner was pretty good. Yangshou is located so far south in China that it is very near to Vietnam. In southern China, the Chinese food resembles more the taste of American Chinese food than northern food, such as what I have been eating in Beijing. However, authentic Chinese food is still better than what we get to eat in America.

After dinner, Brittany, Jon, Aaron, Kaity, Heidy, Amanda, Richie, Cara, and I, went on a night river cruise on the Li River to watch the local fishermen use commarant birds to fish. It was pretty impressive. The fishermen rode on bamboo rafts similar to the ones we rode earlier in the day. Attached to his raft, he had five commarant birds tied loosely by their necks. The birds would dive and catch the fish, but would not be able to swallow them because of the ties around their necks. When the birds’ mouths looked full, the fishermen would pull them on to the raft and empty the fish from the birds’ throats into a basket. He would then feed one or two of the fish to the birds as a reward and then throw them back into the water.

At one point, our boat pulled up to the riverbank with the fishermen on his raft. We got to check out the birds up close. All of a sudden, the fishermen put one of the commarants on Richie’s arm. After that, we all got to hold the bird. The bird was a lot calmer than I thought and its feet were a lot less slimy than I expected. Perhaps I can learn how to use commarants to fish in the canal in my backyard at home in America!

After our nightcruise we went back to the hotel. I caught up on some episodes of Grey’s Anatomy with Jon, Heidy, and Brittany and then went to sleep.

The next day, we had a free day, so for once on our crazy trip we decided to take a day that actually felt like vacation. Molly and I slept in, got up and showered, and went to brunch. We did some shopping, including buying matching Chinese t-shirts for our dads, and got manicures and pedicures. Later in the afternoon, we met up with some of our friends at a café on the river for drinks during happy hour.

We had dinner with the program and then went back to the hotel and watched Kung Fu Panda, which was actually a really cute movie. Because it was our last night before heading back to Beijing for a few days before going home to America, we decided go out and hit up some of the bars on West Street. Even Joyce came. Because most of the places were expensive and the music wasn’t all that great, a few of us ended up back at Drifters for a night of leisurely drinking and people watching. Then we went back to the hotel ant went to sleep.

The next morning we were able to sleep in a bit and then the Spring Break team met up for Western style breakfast. We went to eat at a café on the river and we all had omelets, juice, and coffee, which was really delicious and hit the spot! We then headed back to the hotel, hiked back to the bus and were headed back to the Guilin airport and on our way back home to Beijing!

Long Sheng

Although the trip to Long Sheng was only supposed to be a two-hour trip, it felt like much longer. I would say that it took us about two hours to get only to the base of the mountain and then the bus started to climb the windy roads. As the bus drove round and round the mountain, we listened to a playlist of Disney songs, including the Mulan soundtrack.

After driving a ways up the mountain, we needed to switch to a smaller bus that would be able to make it up the mountain on narrower roads with tighter turns. The bus was so much smaller that not all our luggage could fit underneath, so most of us were squished next to each on the bus with all of our bags in our laps.

After being on the small bus for what felt like an hour, but was probably only actually twenty minutes, we piled off the bus with all of our luggage and all of our snacks, as ready as we were ever going to be to hike up the mountain in the rain to our inn.

We started off on a muddy trail with little sense of direction and not even a clue as to where we were going or how long we would be hiking for, of course carrying all of our bags for a two week trip. Some of the locals were hiking with us and offered to carry our bags for a fee. Because I thought the inn was closer than it actually was, I thought I would be able to hike up the mountain with my duffle bag without a problem. However, I ended up straining my back less than halfway up the mountain and had one of the local women help me.

There is a very interesting ethnic minority that lives in Long Sheng. The women of this particular ethnic minority only cut their hair at major rites of passage in their lifetimes, such as marriage or child birth, and then weave the cut locks back into their hair and style them on top of their head. I was amazed how quickly these women flew up the mountain with our heavy bags, while we struggle just hiking uphill on the rocks in the rain.

Forty-five minutes later, we arrived at the village where we would be staying for the next few days, and by village I mean three wooden inns. The inn we were staying in greatly resembled a log cabin. There was a giant balcony out front, projecting right into the rice terraces and offering break-taking views. The first floor of the inn was completely intended for socializing, with large wooden windows opening to offer views of the rice paddies, with tables and chairs for eating and relaxing, a computer for surfing the web, and a projector and screen for movies and music.

The rooms where we were staying we located on the second and third floors of the inn. We were randomly assigned keys and brought our things upstairs. I was not expecting much, but I was surprised to find that the two sides of the hallways upstairs were vastly different, so much that we referred to Molly and Brittany’s side of the hallway as the first wall because of its picturesque windows, western toilet, and slow Internet connection, meanwhile, our side of the hallway, or the third world as we dubbed it, had no windows, no Internet, and most different of all, a squatty potty with a water pipe over it as a shower.

Because we were already wet, dirty, muddy, and covered in livestock poop and sweat from the hike up, we decided to do some more exploring and do some hiking. We hiked through the village and up further into the rice terraces. We got some great pictures, although we all looked pretty gross from our hike up the mountainside.

The coolest part of our hike was our interactions with the local rice paddy farmers. At one point, Brittany, Jay, and I climbed down into the terraces to talk to a farmer who was working there. We obviously spoke in Chinese and he seemed so excited to speak with us. He allowed us to take pictures and even traded his traditional Chinese farmer’s hat for Jay’s adventure hat in a photo op.

As the sun went down, we hiked back to our inn, which was one of the only places we found food on the mountain. We ordered dinner and then we all went upstairs to shower. Cara got in our shower first. She was in and out real quick, and didn’t have any problems with the squatty potty, so I felt pretty optimistic.

Armed with my travel size toiletries and my shower shoes, I headed into our third world shower. Once I got in, it wasn’t all that bad. While I was washing my hair the water pressure kept going in and out. At first I didn’t think anything of it until the end of my shower, as I was straddling the squatty potty washing my face and the water pressure went all the way out so that no water was coming through the pipe. I froze and waited a second for the water to come back on. When it did, it came out in full force, so hard in fact that the pressure caused the shower pipe to burst from the wall. At this point, I was so startled as I stood over the squatter, that I accidentally rubbed soap in my eye. In all the confusion in the midst of water spraying, and now plaster from the wall flying everywhere, I stepped in the squatty potty in an attempt to regain my footing and to shut the water off. Thank goodness I was wearing shower shoes! At last I managed to turn the shower off. I looked at myself in the mirror, only to find that I was covered in tiny flakes of white plaster. After trying to wash off in the sink, I went downstairs to report the incident in my bathroom. My friends laughed at me and continued to pick pieces of plaster off my arms and out of my hair. The inn owner was very apologetic and explained that my experience was a frequent one, as water pressure on the side of the mountain was often testy and unpredictable. I guess fortunately, the inn owners did not have the part to fix my shower, so I got to use Molly and Brittany’s first world shower for the rest of our stay in Long Sheng.

After the shower over the squatty potty that almost killed me, we ate dinner downstairs in the inn. Later that evening, the inn owners lit off fireworks for us in the rice paddies below and gave us three foot sparklers, similar to the ones we had on Chinese New Year, to play with. What else do you do to entertain yourself in the evening on the side of a mountain? That night when we went to bed, Cara and I were able to have pillow talk with Jon and Richie, who were living next door to us, because the walls were so paper thin.

We had the next day completely free after having a group breakfast at the inn. We decided to do some more hiking, but this time took off in a different direction. We didn’t get too far before it started to downpour. At that point though, it didn’t matter. We continued hiking and to be completely honest, the scenery was just as beautiful, if not more so, in the rain.

I was really proud of us. We ended up hiking for about four hours and we were completely dirty and soaked by the time we were through. On the hike back down, we stopped at a different inn for lunch. The food was delicious and so inexpensive. As a matter of fact, I thought it was better than the food at the inn where we were staying.

After lunch we all showered and changed right into our pajamas for the rest of the day. I spent some time reading upstairs and then brought my book downstairs and sat gazing out at the rice terraces while reading and sipping tea. It was quite possibly the most relaxed I have ever felt. Later, we had some intense card games before dinner.

After eating dinner at the inn, the inn owners became excited to learn that we had brought our Ipods with us up the mountain and put our music on the inn’s speakers. They cleared all of the tables from the first floor, gave us some Tsingtaos and a microphone, and let us have a party. It was really cool because we got some of the locals, along with their children to dance and sing with us. Even Joyce and Hong Li were a part of this crazy, mountainside, pajama party. I guess music and dance really is a great way to break cultural barriers.

The party went on through all hours of the morning. Even when I went upstairs to go to sleep, I could hear the music and laughing through the floor. I think it is so cool that we were able to have such a good time in such an isolated place. It just goes to show you that you don’t need much to make quality times with good friends.

The next morning, we woke up early, ate breakfast, and prepared for the hike back down the mountain. I was in a very strange mood. It was like preparing to leave the third world and paradise all at the same time.

It figures as soon as we stepped out on the balcony of the inn with all of our bags that it started to downpour, harder than it ever had rained during our stay on the mountain. Fortunately, the woman who had helped me carry my things up the mountain had come again to help me and gave me a poncho. Before our climb down, I bought some silver bracelets from my new friend. I love them and I can’t wait to wear them in America!

The hike down the mountain was just as bad as the hike up. It was raining so hard and the rocks were muddy and slippery. Rain and mud were running down my poncho and sweat was causing the plastic to stick to me. My jeans were soaked through to my skin and my sneakers were ready to kick it at the base of the mountain after just a few days of intense hiking. I was one of the first people down the mountain and so we had to wait for the whole group to get down safely. Despite the ponchos, we were all drenched, except for Joyce, whose umbrella seemed magical.

Two more winding bus rides later, we were at the base of the mountain and on our way back towards Guilin and on towards Yangshou!

Guilin

We arrived in Guilin in the evening, despite any airport troubles this time, and jumped on a bus to our hotel. I was a little unsure about Guilin when riding to the hotel, because the area surrounding the airport seemed really rundown. However, as we got closer to the water and to the hotel district, the city became beautiful.

By the time we checked into our rooms, we were all starving. Molly, Jon, Aaron, Richie, Jay, and I decided to walk around near our hotel in search of food. We found a really cool pedestrian area about a block away, filled with outdoor cafes, bars, nightclubs, and fast food. We ended up eating at an outdoor café, which was really delicious and really inexpensive. I ate fried Guilin noodles, a specialty of the area.

After dinner, we were so tired from traveling, that we all went back to the hotel and crashed, despite the relatively lively nightlife scene. We were so tired in fact that we slept in the next morning and slept right through breakfast. It was a much desired and needed rest to recharge for the second half of our trip!

Before leaving Guilin on our bus to Long Sheng, we had a huge meal, perhaps one of the biggest on the trip so far. Joyce Li and Hong Li told us it was because there was no food on the mountain where we were going. Little did we know they weren’t kidding. Sarcasm is not actually understood at all in China.

At the lunch table, Joyce read all of our palms, which ironically she says is not a Chinese thing, but most Chinese people know how to do and are superstitious about anyway. Believe or not, I received the best reading out of most of my friends. I have an incredibly long life line with no complications, leading Joyce to believe I ill die peacefully of old age. I also have an incredibly long wisdom line that intersects with a stable career line, meaning that I will have a good, high status, and challenging career. Joyce also told me I have one of the most complicated love lines she has ever seen, but according to my palm, I will eventually get married and have two children. It was all very interesting.

After lunch, Joyce and Hong Li took us to a super market nearby, really forcing us to believe that there was going to be no food on the mountain and encouraging us to buy snacks to bring with us. After stocking up on a variety of goodies we were back on the bus and off to Long Sheng after our brief stop in Guilin!