24 March: We meet in the hotel lobby for the days activities: cruise down the Li River and bike ride in the little village and country side. A lady at the front desk tells our guide that some missing laundry was delivered to the hotel desk during the night. Hey, it’s my orange t-shirt.
OK, a 40 min bus ride and we load on a tour boat with about 60 other folks. The scenery is spectacular. Karst projections at every turn and along both sides of the river. We took lots of pictures; some of the karst, also of water buffalo, vendors on bamboo rafts and the galley crew squatting to wash our dishes on the aft deck with a hose. World class scenery and cheap beer; great fun.
We get off the boat about 60 miles downstream, walk through a very busy market and stop at a bike shop where our guide has arranged a bike for each of us. First we ride through the town; our first chance to really play in all this exciting traffic. Soon we are riding through the country side on very narrow rock and dirt farm roads. Rice paddies on one side and orange groves on the other, gardens with lettuce, peas, beans, tomatoes and potatoes. A few water buffalo help with plowing but mostly it is hand work. Jerry stops and grabs a heavy hoe to help two women in a small field. All the time while biking, we are weaving around through huge karst projections; very special.
After returing the bikes, we find a small place to refresh with a couple of local beers then catch a small battery powered micro-van which takes us to a large parking lot where our larger bus is waiting to take us back to Guilin.
Both this town, Yangshoe, and the city of Guilin depend mostly on tourism so they encourage the use of battery powered vehicles to help reduce air pollution. A moped is the primary means of transportation and most of the mopeds are battery powered. Neither a personal drivers license nor a vehicle license tag is required for a battery powered moped.
We get back to Guilin a little late, about 7pm but we still have one more stop. Vivian, our guide has arranged for us to visit her headquarters. The main offices for the China Highlights Tour Company just happens to be in Guilin. During the past year Betty has been coordinating this trip with a lady named Sunny via email messages. Now they will finally meet.
We had a very warm reception. Sunny was especially interested in how each of us was enjoying the trip. She asked many questions concerning how they could improve their service. They are sincerely customer oriented. After some pictures, Betty and Sunny hugged and we were off to the hotel.
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Charlie, we sang “Happy Birthday to you on our Li River Cruise. You are 35. I don’t feel like I am old enough to have a 35 year old child.
Well, the cruise is incredible – the karst mountains jutting up on either bank. We are going to Yangshuo on the boat. Then renting bicycles for an hour or two, then back to Guilin on the bus. Our guide, Vivian, is making sure we don’t miss any of the sites as we cruise. The books say that many tourists consider this cruise the highlight of their visit to Guilin. Vivian and I agree the terraces were not outdone. But the Li River is really not to be missed! We get to Yangshou and hop on bikes for a couple of hours through the city and country side. The scenery was spectacular and we got to see the fields and orchards and small villages – one with a new business, “the Restaurant at the end of the Universe.” Water buffalo pictures were also available with the tourists! The roads are narrow and rocky, but obviously used for ages. Passed orange orchards, sweet olive orchards, pomelos, loquat, etc. and of course the ubiquitous rice paddies. One of the villages we passed through had a life expectancy of 82. Has to be at least partly because of the hard physical work they do. GREAT DAY! Spectacular scenery – good food – regular beer breaks – what else could you ask? Fran