Evening in the Village

After our little elephant excursion, it was time fir the trekking part of our jungle trek.  I'd asked about it at the hostel, and she assured me it wasn't too hard, and not rushed.  I've always loved hiking and I've done a lot of it; I'm really trying to get back in shape because I love it but right now it's harder than it ought to be.  I prefer hiking alone, so that I can stop and take pictures, or rest if I want to without holding anybody up.  It's embarrassing to always be at the back of the pack. 

For some reason, I had an idea of winding around trees in a nice flat Amazonian type of jungle. I don't know why; I've seen a map of Thailand. 

Both misconceptions combined to make the trekking rather unpleasant.  It was humid, it was hot, and it was straight up a mountain.  And it was, all but a short section of clambering  over boulders, on a muddy access road. 

Fortunately, the group of people I was with were, although all super-athletic mountain goats themselves, were very nice about my slightly slower pace and were very encouraging.  It's just a bit embarrassing that I needed the encouragement in the first place.  Pride goethe before a fall, I suppose;  after hiking Yellow Mountain in July, I had been feeling in pretty good shape.  That wasn't too difficult at all.  And last October I did just fine at Jiuhuashan; but then again, I was alone there and wasn't comparing myself to anyone.  And it was a mix of up and down, instead of straight up like this one.

I am, as always, grateful I live on the fifth floor, because at least I get a lot of leg exercise that way.  It could have been much worse, since I live in a completely flat city. 

Anyway, we finally made it.  At least tomorrow will be all down hill. 

Our destination was a little village on the very top of the mountain.  There we found waiting fir us a thatched bungalow with pallets inside to spend the night in.  The front porch had a view out over the valley and surrounding hills that made everyone, once we caught our breath, start to feel that the long slog was worth it.

Travel Advice in China: Guangxi Province (Part 2)

Part 2: Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces

If you go north from Guilin a couple of hours, you can  hike through the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces.  The first step is to take a bus to Longsheng (the town’s name means  Dragon Victory, from an old folk tale about a battle between the good Dragon and evil Tiger); there are a few run-down hotels there if necessary, with different prices depending on if you want  air conditioning or just a fan.  From the bus station, you can take a bus out to the rice terraces; you can start hiking from either end, at Ping’an or Dazhai.  The hike is supposed to take about ten hours; I took a little bit longer as I stopped to take pictures constantly, but that’s a pretty good average.  The hike is not too strenuous, just long; I don’t remember having any trouble even though I'm not very athletic. There are plenty of places to stay if needed in Ping’an and Dazhai, as well as a larger village an hour or two hike from Dazhai.  I paid a  hotel in  Ping’an to hold my large backpack for me, and just took a day bag; when I got to Dazhai I took a bus back to Ping’an to retrieve my things.  

I had to break my trip somewhere in the middle because of a thunderstorm, but I didn't have any trouble finding food and a place to stay in a random little village there.  In fact, it was one of the highlights of the trip, staying with a local family in their wooden house with the fire in the middle of the floor and the nearest designated 'bathroom' (hole in the ground) three houses away in between pig pens.  They didn't speak much English, but we used charades, and I got along pretty well with their little boy as we drew pictures together.  Many local villagers are more than happy to feed or house a traveler; it's a great way to earn some extra cash.  I think she asked about sixty yuan for a night's lodging and two meals.  Just be careful of the local liquor they'll probably offer you; it's strong stuff!

The people who live in the rice terraces are mostly minority tribes; one group is often referred to as the 'tribe of the long-haired ladies'.  These women never cut their hair; most have hair at least to their waist if not all the way to the ground.  They wear it wound into a bit knot just over their foreheads; some of the older women still wear the traditional clothing as well: a knee-length black skirt (long dresses were impractical if you worked in a rice paddy), intricately embroidered belt, and a colorful jacket, usually pink or purple.  Of course, many still wear it because they can get donations from hikers who want to take photos of them.  Some will ask for four or five yuan, and then they will take down their hair and show how long it is, and how they wind it up.

The rice terraces themselves are a fantastic landscape; the people in these mountains have no flat land to raise crops, so they have survived for centuries by terracing all the way up these steep hills and raising rice.  The villages along the way are all made up of large wooden houses that look a bit like barns, tucked into the ravines where it's to steep to even terrace.  Anywhere it's too steep to farm along the path, there were tombs built into hillsides where the families of the villagers are buried.  There are little shelters built in a few places along the path, where both hikers and local porters can stop and rest in the shade.

Be sure and take an extra water bottle and some snacks in your bag; there were often long stretches between villages large enough to offer things for sale. Here's more information.

Travel Advice in China: Guangxi Province (Part1)

Part 1: Guilin and Yangshuo

Guilin is the easiest place to get a train to in Guangxi province.  Many Chinese people go there on vacation, and it’s a nice city, but I wouldn’t recommend doing more than using it as a transportation hub; you can see the same things much more up close in Yangshuo.

From the bus station in Guilin, you can take a forty-five minute bus to Yangshuo.  Yangshuo is a small town on the banks of the Li River, surrounded by karst mountains.  It’s pretty touristy; there are western restaurants and souvenir stands in town.  However, that was a nice break after several months in China: I really enjoyed the grilled cheese and such.  You can easily find a hostel there for about 25 RMB.   I stayed at Monkey Jane’s, but she was fixing to sell it, so don’t know what it’s like now.  There were plenty of them, though.  You can hang out by the river, swim, shop in the market, eat western food until you’re stuffed, and Yangshuo is a great place just to sit and relax. The scenery was worth  the touristiness of the town itself.  

You can rent a bicycle for the day cheaply (15-20 RMB).  You can bike around town, or you can bike out to the Dragon Bridge.  It’s quite a ways over rough roads; it wasn’t really hard but I was pretty sore at the end of the day; I hadn’t ridden a bike in years. Someone at your hostel can give you directions or a basic map, or there might be something in the guide book.  However, I didn’t have to worry about how to get there.  As soon as I got out in the country, there was a Chinese woman in a pink button-up shirt and a straw hat who was waiting with her bike.  She saw me and greeted me, then hopped on the bicycle and took off.  I was going to same way, so I followed a ways behind.  When we came to any kind of cross road or split in the path, she would wait until she knew I was in view, and made sure I saw which one she took.  The path wound through fields and farms and along the river.  It was an amazing view of the countryside and peasant life, and went alongside the river a good bit of the time.  Finally, I arrived at the Dragon Bridge, in a small village; the bridge is very old, but I don’t remember the exact dates right now.  It was a nice scene with the old bridge and all the village boys swimming under it, but the real point is the scenery along the way. The bridge doesn’t look like a dragon or anything; it’s just a bridge, albeit a very old one.  Just so you aren’t disappointed. :)  

Once you get to the Dragon Bridge, there are three ways to get back:  you can bike back by the highway, which is a little faster since you’re on pavement; you can bike back the way you came; or, you can do what I did—hire a bamboo boat and boatman to take you back, not all the way to Yangshuo usually, but at least to where the pavement starts.  It’s not super cheap; I paid 100 RMB (about $14).  However, the boats can hold two, so if you have someone to split it with it’s not bad at all.  They will put the bike on the back. This is why the lady in the pink shirt was going there, to get a cut by arranging these things for visitors.  It was one of the highlights of my travels in China—floating down the river, near sunset, through colorful farms and mountains.

Another thing you should do in Yangshuo is go out to Moon Hill.  You can bike out there, but it’s about 8 km or so and you would have to find a way to secure your bike once you got there; there is also a bus, which I took.  Moon Hill is a mountain with a hole that goes all the way through it, shaped like a half moon.  You can hike up to the crescent, and have an amazing vista of the countryside.  If you’re adventurous, it’s also possible to climb up to the very top. 

Travel Advice in China: Xi'an (and Hua Shan)

Xi’an is a city of about 8 million, and there’s quite a bit to do there.  The most popular thing is the Terra Cotta Warriors, which are a short distance by bus from Xi’an.  It’s really easy to get out to the Terra Cotta Warriors:  if you standing in the door of the train station facing out, go left.  There are several parking lots in front of the train station; the one furthest to the left is where you can get the bus.  You won’t miss it; they are well-marked in English, and many of the buses are even have big decals of the warriors on the side.  If you have extra time (I didn’t), the bus also stops at a couple of other tourist sights on the way out.

Xi’an also has its old city walls around it, and you can walk on top of them at several points.  There are several sights within the city; you can find them all in any good guide book or tourist map.  One sight they will tell you is the Muslim mosque, which is interesting; right next to the gate to the Mosque is the street market.  There are several covered alleys with hundreds of booths; nearby are many shops.  This was a great place to buy all sorts of interesting souvenirs and decorative things for you apartment.  Unfortunately, I was there the very first day of my seven-week trip, so I couldn’t buy too much because I didn’t want to carry it all.

I particularly enjoyed the Gao Courtyard House, also known as the Ancient Folk House, on  Baiyuan Men in the Muslim quarter.  It was only five yuan to go in when I was there, and  there was an older Chinese man who spoke excellent English who was my personal guide--he walked me around the whole place and explained why they ‘d built  it  arranged according to the rules of feng shui, and what each room was used for, and the family who lived there.  After the tour, there is a tea shop at the back where you can try six different kinds of green tea for only five yuan.  

Baiyuan Men is right in the middle of the area most frequented by travelers, so I was surprised at how many Chinese people weren’t used to foreigners and stared just as much as in Jingzhou.  I had four different people stop me and ask if I would take a picture with them.  I was beginning to wonder of I was the tourist or the attraction. 

Be sure you see the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower at night--they light them up. Besides, it’s a good area for restaurants and such.  Oh, and go to the park by the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, in the southern part of the city.  Get there early and find a spot to sit or stand near the fountains; at about 8:00 PM they have a fun light show with fountains shooting water into the air and colored lights, all in time to music. Here's more information. 

The hostel I stayed at in Xi’an was one of the best I’ve ever stayed at anywhere.  It was the Shuyuan International Youth Party Hostel, and it was just inside the south gate of the city.   It was an old courtyard-style home at one time.  When I started planning my travels in China, I thought the hostels would probably be a lot rougher and not as nice as the ones I stayed at in Europe.  I found just the opposite--the best hostels I’ve ever stayed at  were in China.  

Hua Shan

Now, my thing is hiking, particularly hiking in mountains.  If you like hiking or beautiful scenery, I recommend Hua Shan.  It is a mountain about a three-hour bus ride from Xi’an.  It is one of the sacred mountains of Taoism, and it is one of the steepest mountains in China—the south face is a sheer 2000 foot drop.  You can take a cable car up to the north peak—I recommend that, because the hike up to there is very difficult and even dangerous in places, but if you are a super athlete who’s not afraid of heights, suit yourself.  From the north peak, you can hike four or five hours up to the other three peaks; there are hotels/hostels on the south and east peaks.  Be prepared for a LOT of stairs.  And then more stairs.  And more.  And then one little part more like a  ladder. But, the scenery is worth it.  Spend the night at the top, and then get up at 4:30 or so in the morning (don’t worry, you won’t miss it…the Chinese people in the dorm room will turn on the lights and begin talking loudly in plenty of time).  Take a jacket, even if you go in the summer, because that early it’s pretty cold and windy up there.  Some of the hotels rent out parkas.  Follow the trail up to the highest point of the peak you’re on, and watch the sunrise.  It was a spectacular sight.  Then you can hike around between the peaks if you want and then back to the north peak to go down. You can go back to this post I wrote about the trip if you want to hear the whole story.