Cruisin' Again -- Li River (May 2017)
On Thursday, May 18, we flew to Guilin and met up with our friends the Sandbergs, who had been in Xi'an for a couple of days with their family/friends who were visiting from the States. I know I say this all the time -- but THIS is perhaps my favorite of all the areas we have visited during the past several months! Guilin is located in Southeastern China on the Lijiang River--surrounded by countless mountain formations filled with caves. After an overnight stay in Guilin, we took a riverboat down the river to Yangshou. It was a rainy, misty day -- but the scenery was breathtaking!!
Found another famous scenic spot -- it's found on the back of the 20 yuan note:
I found it especially fascinating to watch the people along the way -- fishing, washing clothes in the river, getting water, taking pictures, herding water buffalo, or just hanging out. Some of the photos are blurry, darn it -- we were moving at the time:
When we docked in Yangshou, we did a bit of shopping at the local market, had some dinner, and then walked to an outdoor theater to watch a pageant of local folk music and dancing performed by over 600 of the local residents. It was FABULOUS!! -- took place on the water with the natural backdrop of the mountains (shan shui), which were often lit up as part of the show. This first photo is hard to see because of the descending twilight, but note the mountains in the background and then click through the rest. The setting was absolutely stunning!
Yangshou -- snuggled into the base of the mountains -- what a fun little city to explore!
After a night in Yangshou (traditional Chinese HARD beds!!), we took a long drive up through Longsheng to the tops of the mountains -- home to the Longji Rice Terraces (also known as the "dragonbacks"). The rice paddies have been terraced right into the sides of the mountains in this minority area where the Yao people live. They have an interesting tradition where the women have their hair trimmed only once in their entire lives (when they are 18). The women take this LONG hair -- down past their feet -- and pile it on top of their heads, as you can see in the pictures.
In spite of the continuing rain and mist, we spotted some pretty amazing scenery on the gondola ride to the top, where we browsed the stalls filled with the handiwork of the Yao women (embroidery and weaving) while also marveling at the view from the top of the mountain. I've included a couple of pictures from a guidebook (I buy them all -- can't resist!) so that you can get a better idea of the scope of these terraced rice paddies as well as the long hair. Brigg had several women offer to "drop their hair" for 20 kwai -- but, being unsure of custom and propriety, he declined (he can see my hair for free, after all . . . )
The most delightful part of this weekend trip (for me, at least) was the drive up the mountain to Longji. Along the way, we stopped each time we spotted something of interest, including a man living on a bamboo raft with his two birds. After we took some pictures, Brigg gave him a U.S. dollar (didn't have any small Chinese bills or coins). I wish I had taken a picture of him examining that dollar bill as we drove away -- I'm not sure he's ever seen one before! I was pretty excited to see a water buffalo plowing in the rice paddies right behind us.
We also stopped at the home of a village farmer, whose family has been living in the same home for over 300 years. They live today much as their ancestors lived 300 years ago, including pumping the water and making tofu in a soybean press (Brigg--ever the gentleman--used his muscles to help . . .) Of special interest: the coffin in the woodshed, waiting for the day the old woman will "rest" in it (which she displayed with great pride); the "shrine" in the sitting room in honor of the deceased son-in-law (and Mao, it seems); the offered "refreshments" of home-grown peanuts and snake wine (the cure for rheumatoid arthritis, we were assured); the primitive and still-used kitchen; the large dutch-oven where the water for cooking and cleaning is heated; and the son feeding bits of his lunch to the pet bird (just a blur in the picture because it actually jumped up and took the food from his chopstick as I clicked). We had such a great time enjoying the hospitality in this home -- a very nice reminder that happiness and sheer joy in life are not dependent on "things."
That next-to-last picture really fascinates me -- those "holes" have been eroded in the stones through 300 years' worth of water dripping off the roof! It was raining while we were there, and sure enough, that's right where the water was dripping. Note the mirror and scissors above their entryway -- intended to keep evil spirits away. The evil spirit will see its reflection in the mirror and be frightened away (duh), and the scissors? I guess they speak for themselves. We had some pretty good food here -- Guilin is famous for its rice noodles, which we had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
That evening, after a long drive back to Guilin, we went back out on the river to watch the cormorants. The locals use the birds to fish, tying strings around their necks so that they can't swallow the fish and then causing them to cough up the fish into their baskets. The cormorants seemed well trained to enter the water, swallow fish, and then return to the raft. The whole process seemed very cruel to me, but it has been part of their culture for thousands of years. After watching the fishing for a while, we continued down the river, enjoying the evening lights around Elephant Trunk Park, where we were headed the next day.
On Sunday morning, we had a very unique experience as we participated in the "China Virtual Branch" of the church. We had received special permission (and a sign-in code) to not only join the service online but also to conduct the Sacramental ordinance. Through the miracle of technology, we were able to sing, pray, and worship with many other members of the church in China who do not live in areas where they can attend an organized branch. During this service, the branch president briefly mentioned that he had spent much of the week trying to make arrangements for a Priesthood holder to be in Changsha on Sunday so that two American LDS women there could receive the Sacrament. I couldn't help but feel the love of this branch president as well as the love of the Lord for each member of the church who is trying to live the Gospel and keep covenants in spite of what might appear to be impossible circumstances. This experience on Sunday morning in our little hotel room was without question the most memorable and impactful of the entire trip.
Later that day, prior to driving to the airport, we strolled through Elephant Trunk Hill Park (look at that first picture -- can you see the elephant and his "trunk" forming the arch?) and then toured the Reed Flute Cave (think of Timpanogos Cave on steroids). While in Trunk Hill Park, we crossed the bridge over to "Love Island" and enjoyed the little park memorializing the great lovers of history, including Adam & Eve, Romeo & Juliet, Mickey & Minnie Mouse, and Leo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet. No doubt to the everlasting shame of our children and grandchildren, we did a little bit of smooching behind the stone heart. When we finally stopped kissing and walked back toward our friends, we ran into dozens of Chinese people with their cameras trained on us. Chinese YouTube???
Some last awesome photos of the Reed Flute Cave . . . and then back to Beijing!
