As impressive as the cities and big tourist sites were, I think my
favourite place that we visited was Yangshuo.
Located in Guangxi province (which neighbours Vietnam), Yangshuo is home
to huge limestone karsts which jut out of the ground creating a spectacular
landscape, often used in Chinese paintings.
We arrived in Yangshuo at night so had a nice surprise waking up in the
morning. Louise, our local tour guide,
had organised a bike ride and river cruise for Clare and me (we were on a
longer tour than the rest of our group).
So off we set on our bikes through the crazy streets. Even though Yangshuo is a small town and not
one of the big cities, I was still terrified of being mowed down by another
vehicle! Soon enough we turned off the
main road and were cycling along quieter roads through farmland, rice paddies
and fields full of lotus flowers. I felt
like Julia Roberts in ‘Eat, Pray, Love’!
We stopped to visit a local farmer and his family, who welcomed us into
their home and showed us how to grind soya beans for milk. The elderly man proudly showed us his bird
who could ‘count’ in English, and his wall of photos, postcards and mementos
from other tourists. He also had a jar
of pickled snakes (boke) and a picture of himself with Barack Obama (not real
unfortunately).
We continued cycling, stopping occasionally for a water break and
sweaty selfies (it was SO hot). Soon we
came to the River Li and hopped off our bikes and onto our bamboo raft! It was an amazing experience, taking in the
landscape while being punted down the river by a guy at the back of the
raft. Fortunately there was a beach
umbrella to keep us in the shade.
Although mostly a calm river, at points there were small dams which we
went over, running the risk of getting wet feet and a wet bum! The commercial savvy have set up platforms
from which they can take photos of the tourists. We gave it our best pose, but didn’t go and
buy them. There were also ‘drinks stalls’
– women on rafts in the middle of the river with cool boxes!
That evening we went to the Sanjie Liu Impression Show – an open air
song, dance and light performance put together by Zhang Yimou who directed the
2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
The show takes place on the river and features a cast of 600 people,
including fishermen, children and local minority women. It was an amazing setting, with illuminated limestone
hills providing an impressive backdrop.
The show combines music, dance, moving platforms on the water, boats and
lights. One of the scenes included
fishermen coming out with cormorants, which have been trained to dive into the
water and swim back to the boat with a beak full of fish. This age-old practice is still used in some
areas of China. The necks of the birds
are tied to prevent them from swallowing the fish, although apparently they are
allowed to eat every 7th fish as they refuse to work otherwise! It was a fantastic show, very cleverly put
together, and made all the more dramatic by the interruption of a huge
thunderstorm in the middle! I thought
I’d seen some flashes of lightening in the distance, and as the show progressed
the flashes came closer and closer. It’s
quite funny listening to the sound of several hundred ponchos (provided at the
entrance) being opened up and put on, as the rain started and audience members
scrambled for cover. Our seats were at
the back, directly in front of the covered ‘presidential’ seats, so we legged
it over the barrier and took shelter with as many other people as could fit
in. It very quickly got to the point
where an announcement was made to say the show was going to be stopped, and the
cast members swiftly exited the now very choppy water. There was something quite exciting and
dramatic about it – pouring rain, thunder cracking directly overhead and
horizontal lightening forking across the sky.
The storm gradually passed and another announcement was made to say the
show would resume shortly. I’m so glad
we stayed put and hadn’t left like some of the audience. It was an amazing show, and I loved watching it.
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