This morning was a little cooler than yesterday, I forgot to mention yesterday was a tad warm, the temperature was around 36°C and I am guessing that with the humidex it was closer to 45°C.

We met up with our guide and driver and headed off to the Dragon Back Rice Terraces near Longsheng, unfortunately the first part of the journey was on the same rod as yesterday until we got to Guilin. 

This is typical of the flowers and bushes along, and in the centre of, the road.

Two Ladies on the Water Tanker Tending to the Bushes

The vehicle above must have come from the ’40’s. There were a few of them around used for hauling anything that is haulable, as well as a number of things that shouldn’t be hauled. The far side of the engine is more interesting as it has a couple of unshielded flywheels and drive belts. Health and Safety would have a field day with this guy!

From Guilin we headed out through a number of villages on our way to the Longsheng area. Once we were arrived we were given the option of storing our luggage at a secure location until tomorrow morning, or having someone take it to the hotel. It was at this stage we found out that the only way to get to the hotel was a 20 minute walk. We opted to have our bags carried for us. What a shock was in store when the luggage carriers arrived. Two little (under 5 foot) old (over 60) ladies with their baskets would be doing the carrying!

What was interesting was the fact they could only just lift the suit case to get it away from the van, but once it was on their backs they seemed to have no trouble carrying it for 20 minutes up hills and steps.

Easy!

The hotel seemed to be fairly modern with wood featuring heavily in its construction and decoration. We settled in for 30 minutes or so soaking up the views, then headed out for lunch with our guide. 

Shower and Bathroom Sink

Wood Design on Walls and Ceiling

But the Best Part – The View Form the Room

We were back in Lyn’s favourite area, hills and steps, and of course lunch was uphill.

Could this be Lunch?

Lunch

We had a local rendition of rice with lunch, bamboo rice. A piece of bamboo is stuffed with rice, corn and other goodies, then cooked on an open fire. When done the bamboo is split open to allow access t the rice. When finished the bamboo is then used as fuel for the fire.

Carrying Goods  to the Village

Carrying Heavier Loads

A whole new Outlook on Poop & Scoop

Bamboo Scaffolding is Still Used on Large and Small Projects

General view of the Rice Terraces.

These terraces were started some 800 years ago, and finished about 100 years ago. All the terracing was done by hand!

This is the last calm day of the vacation, tomorrow we head off back to Guilin, then a 3 hour bullet train ride Shenzheng where we cross the border into Hong Kong.

Last night we headed out of the hotel in search of food. It turns out we both had the same idea about our meal…… anything but Chinese, we needed something we could sink our teeth into (the bull frog we had the night before may have has something to do with this decision). Not too far a way we found a burger joint whose name may have started with M. Anyway, we weren’t overly hungry but a burger an fries hit the spot. We walked along the river after dinner where some entertainers had set up and we listened to them for a while before retiring from the heat. We are currently at the same latitude as the Florida Everglades. This morning we set out at a reasonable hour, having consumed our FREE breakfast,after all we are either in wind down mode towards the end of the holiday, or conserve energy mode for a bustling Hong Kong, we’re not sure which yet!

Our first stop was the Guilin Tea Research Institute where we were shown the tea plantation and then taken through the process of making tea by hand.

Tea Plantation

Heating the Leaves to 250C

Rolling the Leaves by Hand

End Product
Tea Ceremony

After sampling (and buying) some of the tea we headed out along the Li River Valley, here there were a lot of limestone needles, for which the area is famous.

“Half Moon hole in Rock Lunch at Half Moon Cafe

Next stop was our river cruise, I was expecting a larger boat than this, but this was far more interesting. A few pipes bent and held together with a canopy over the top powered by what looks like a weed whacker with a propeller on the end!

Like western boats, Chinese ones work far better when there is gas in the tank!!

Water Buffalo

General Views

Next stop was our “Boutique Hotel”, an eco-friendly self sustaining hotel on the banks of the River. It was a neat place, but lacking many of the facilities of the hotels we had become used to!

 Our Hotel

Sailing past the hotel were many punts, just past the hotel was a small weir.

Going….

Going….

Gone! General Views of the Hotel and Gardens

Tonight we are off to a water show, and then tomorrow off to our last stop before Hong Kong!

Last night we had an early dinner, and then we were picked up from the hotel by our driver. We were taken to the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where there is a theatre for an acrobatic show. About 20 minutes before the start of the show our guide got word that there was a problem and that the show was cancelled. Within a few minutes she had us hurrying through the lobby and into a taxi, a few sentences of rapid fire Chinese instructions to the driver saw us speeding off to some other venue in the city! Luckily our guide knew her job and was able to get us tickets to another show, as well as getting us there only 1 minute after it started.

Unfortunately no photography was allowed during the show, so no pictures. The show contained a wide mixture of events involving acrobatics, juggling, dancing and even motor bike riding!!! The latter involving 6 motor bikes driving around on the inside of a steel mesh cave! The show was far better than my description.

Back at the hotel it was time to pack and hit the sack in preparation for a 04:00 alarm call to get us to Shanghai airport for a 07:10 flight. We met the driver right on time, the traffic was light at that time of morning; it looked as though we had finally beaten the jinx of Chinese internal flights. The jinx was not willing to concede defeat. After finding the correct check-in counter we stood close to the front of the line up and waited for the counter to open at 05:30. We started the check in process, and the agent seemed a little puzzled and kept checking our passport against her screen. Finally we got the news, no booking for this flight! We looked confused, she looked confused then she punched a few more keys on the computer and took a picture of the screen with her cell phone to show me what she had found. We indeed did have a booking to Guilin, just not on Shanghai Airlines at 07:10 from terminal 1. Somehow the airline fairies had sprinkled their stardust yet again and re-booked us on Yangtze River Airlines, 10 minutes earlier from Terminal 2. Terminal 2 was only 10  minutes away by transfer bus, so no great panic….. until we got outside and found the first bus didn’t run until 06:00 and there was no other realistic way of getting to Terminal 2.

The bus turned early, but refused to move before 06:00. We made it to T2, then had to go through the initial entrance security again, then find the check in counter, which we did by 06:15, problem was the cut-off time for our flight was 06:15 and  the line up was at least 20 minutes. Luckily there was an agent close by yelling “Guilin”, so we rapidly advanced to the front of the queue. Check-in went fine, and we were told to “hurry, boarding now”, well at that point the X-Ray machine for checked luggage starts beeping. In China as soon as the baggage is checked in it is X-Rayed, Lyn’s was causing an alarm! Boarding passes were taken away from us, and off to the office to see what was causing the problem. Turns out that something we had bought looked suspicious on the X-Ray. Now that was resolved it was back to claim the boarding passes and head off to security. The line up here was horrendous, so we employed the Chinese method of queuing; ignore everyone else and barge to the front, trying not to trample too many people underfoot. You know what, it  works! No screaming, shouting, physical abuse or evil eyes challenged our progress. Suffice it to say we made the flight with a couple of minutes to  spare.

Of course no time for breakfast, but unlike North American airlines, the Chinese still provide service (at no extra cost) on their domestic flights. We had a hot breakfast, admittedly not our favourite, but rice, spicy chicken and greens fills the stomach effectively.

After this all proceeded quite well, I was a little worried about the bags making the flight, but ours were among the first off the belt. We were met by our guide and taken to our hotel in Guilin.

Guilin is a smaller city with less than 1 million people, the city relies almost solely on tourism for its income. Like all other Chinese cities it is remarkably clean, and all the flowers and bushes along the roadways from the airport were beautifully maintained. In all the cities we have visited there is a army of street sweepers, both human and mechanical.

The ecumenical ones also sprays the road with water regularly to keep it clean. The presence of these vehicles is heralded by loud music, similar to that of an ice cream van. I could not forgive the guy the other day who was playing the tune “Its a Small World”, as I find it takes at least 24 hours to clear that tune from the memory!!!

After an early  check-in to the hotel and a brief discussion over my interpretation of “breakfast included” and their understanding of the same, we reigned victorious with the help of our guide. I then had the cheek to present my Sheraton Gold Club card (expired 2009) and got a free room upgrade!!!

View of Hotel Lobby from Glass Elevator

After lunch we headed off into the local streets and looked around the market for an hour or so, and then returned to our room to escape the 35°C heat for a while. Later in the afternoon we walked along the River Li for a while.The main reason for the stop in Guilin is to position ourselves for a scenic bot trip along the River Li tomorrow morning.

River Li

No Idea – bit it Looked Interesting

River Walk

Fishing

A brief Description of the Area

Generl Views Around One of the Around Lakes

So, for this post, more words than pictures…. any one still reading or have I bored you all to death?

Originally we had nothing but free time planned for the daytime in Shanghai. Our guide suggested a couple of extra activities and we went ahead with them. A walk along the Bund or embankment of the Huangpu River. Again, this will be mostly a picture show.

A Snail, I have  no idea why it is there!

The Shanghai Tower on the Right and the Shanghai Eye(SWFC) on its Left

Buildings from the British Sector 

Wall of Flowers

Marigold Design atop the BuildingGeneral View from Base of Shanghai Eye

Our next stop was the Shanghai World Financial Centre which housed the Shanghai Eye, observation areas on the 94th, 97th and 100th floor. The 100th floor was partially floored with glass tiles! Unfortunately, pollution limited the photo opportunities, although the naked eye views were quite impressive.

Through the Glass Floor

Next we went back to the Bund for an early evening meal before heading off on a night cruise along the river. When we got to the cruise terminal it was chaotic, with a capital C! You buy a ticket for the cruise, but your boat time is not assigned until you check in. Luckily our guide was an old hand at this and has a few friends to help her. An estimated hour wait was reduced to much queue jumping and about a 10 minute wait! Well done Becky!

Shanghai Eye

Pearl TV Tower

The Marigold Design at Night.

The next day, Sunday, we were on our own so decided just to get a flavour of the rest of the city by riding the Hop-on-Hop-Off bus.

Day Time view of the Skyscrapers

Pearl TV Tower

Bridge over Huangpu River

Weather Tower for Originally for Mariners built by Jesuits.

Our Hotel

Public Gardens

Two for the Brits!

Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Top Deck of the Bus

This evening we are going to the Shanghai Acrobatic show, then its back to get as much sleep as possible before a 4AM wake call for our flight to Guilin!!

I am going to do half a blog  tonight I am afraid! We’ve had another full, but pleasant day but to be honest the thought of spending a couple of hours putting the photos and blog together at the moment doesn’t appeal!

We had a leisurely start to the day, so after breakfast we headed out into the grounds of out Pan Pacific Hotel. They were quite magnificent.

Main Hotel Building

From the hotel we headed out towards Shanghai, aiming for another water village, this one being Zhujiajiao 

Another Chinese “Gondola”

Hard to see, but above is a shop for foot massages, provided by te fish in the tanks (poor fish)

Five Arch Bridge

Meat Stall in  The Market

Music Store and Musician in Market

The rest of the day was spent in Shanghai, and I’ll add that to tomorrows missive.

A leisurely start today, thankfully! Suzhou is a water city and we saw it both from the Grand Canal and the Ping Jiang Historic Walkway.

One of 8 City gates

Boats Waiting for Hire

We Had Our Own Private Boat!!

Buddhist Temple

Plenty of Bridges

In China they have “Pre-Wedding Photos” to put on the invites and outside the temple on the wedding day. Traditionally they wear red for this event. The Canal pathway is a popular spot for these photos.

Opposite direction Boat – not much room!

After we successfully passed the boat above we managed to side swipe a police launch, luckily the driver got no more than an evil glare from the police driver!

It’s Not Only the Roads Where There are Interesting Manoeuvres (3-ish point turn!)

s.

Garbage Collection on the Canal (This country is so Clean)

Interesting Place to Eat?

Gondola (Chinese Style)

After the canal trip we took a walk along the Pingjiang Road

Lyn Likes Red  Lanterns

Dim-Sum (The real way!) Very colourful

General Views

Asleep on the Job??

Next Stop Lunch

After Lunch it was off to the Humble Administrators Garden

Sedan Chair

Pattern on Glass Matches Pattern on Ground!

Lotus Flower

Lotus Plants Bonsai Garden

Zig-Zag Bridge built because Bad Spirits an Only Walk Straight Ahead!

Small Plants Growing out of Roof

Punt

General View (couldn’t bring myself to say Bridge!)

The above two pictures are of the same Silk Embroidery Painting taken from front and reverse sides.. amazing work

Chrysanthemums

Bamboo Wlkway

500 Year Old Functioning Well

General Vies

Silk Worms



Silk Cocoons

General Machinery

I’ll leave you to research how to make silk as I need a break from this!!!!! , be warned this has not been proof read for the same reason!!!!!!!!

After dinner we took a walk along to a bridge over the canal, on the way there we saw strange lights in the sky. it turned out to be a 3 ft triangular kite with a 20ft tail, all decked out in flashing LED lights. In a small square by the bridge there were about 50 couples ball room dancing to music from a speaker system. All very civilised!

It was an early wake-up call this morning. During the night we had passed through the 5 locks at the Three Gorges Dam.

After breakfast we headed off to a bus to take us to the Dam Project. Although the dam is massive,  it is not the highest (Hoover Dam), nor the longest, somewhere in S. America, but it does produce the most electricity at 22.4 Giga Watts!

In addition to the two sets of 5 locks, there is a new (under test) boat lift. Whereas the locks take about 4 hours to transit, the boat lift takes around 40 minutes. The lift is limited to boats 3,000 tons or less and charges for use. The locks can take up to 10,000 ton boats and are free.

The pictures above show the 5 lock system, one set upstream and one set downstream

New Boat Lift, this is taken at the upper level. The boat enters the chamber, doors are closed and the boat and chamber are lowered by the overhead gantry cranes.

Car Carrier entering the new boat lift.

For Amanda to Identify, these were large Butterflies!

After the tour, we returned to the boat to pack while we passed through the third and final gorge, Xiling gorge. Because of the dam the water level is fairly constant, so buildings can be placed close to the water.

Finally, it was time to head downstairs to meet our guide and say goodbye to the people we had met on the trip and disembark at Yichang.

We met our guide fairly quickly, and were whisked off to a restaurant for lunch.Next it was off to the train station to catch our semi bullet train (max speed ONLY 220km/h) to Suzhou; a 7 hour journey.

We booked into the hotel around 2300 and pretty much hit the sack immediately!

We woke up to another hazy day, we were docked in Baidicheng, also known as White Emperor City. There was an early tour, which we declined!!

After breakfast we set sail for the first of the Three Gorges.

En-route we went to an on-board demonstration of Snuff Bottle Painting! This is an amazing art where the artist paints inside a small bottle about 2.5 inches high and about 1.5 inches across (originally used for snuff!!). The quality of the art work would be amazing if painted on the outside of the bottle, panted on the inside it is phenomenal.

Artist Adding our Name in English and Chinese inside the Tea Pot

 We cruised along the Yangtze for a while, general views below.

All Docking is done at floating barges

In Winter the River will rise Almost to Bridge Level

Next we entered the first, and smallest of the Three Gorges, Qutang Gorge.

Entering Gorge, in Winter Water Rises to the top of the Light Area

Terraces for Crops Traffic Sign, Tributary Entering From Right

Not Sure About This Sign!

Caves, Many Coffins Have been found in Caves Like This – It is Closer to Heaven As the day progressed the weather cleared a little. We left the Qutang Gorge bound for the Wu Gorge

Now into the Wu Gorge

Next stop Goddess Stream, named for the Goddess Rock shown below, the smaller rock sown to the right of center obviously looks like a Goddess to the locals!

Zoom in to the Goddess

We moored at a floating dock to take smaller boats into the Lesser Gorges Goddess Stream

At the end of the Gorge we were treated to a singing and dancing show by our guides, The Goddess Stream is fed from mountain water exiting from a cave.

Back on board we headed along the Yangtze towards the third Gorge and a set of locks. Unfortunately, we will arrive at the locks sometime after midnight.

Tonight we had a farewell dinner, where we were served Chinese dishes rather than the usual buffet.

OK, today is the day I should finally get up to date.

We had a great nights sleep, although breakfast finishes at 0830 so we have to be up a little earlier than we would have liked. The morning was spent reading, resting and exploring the ship. We met up with our “table mates” at breakfast, a German couple, an Australian couple, an English Couple and an English doctor on his own.

Below are a few shots along the river, unfortunately the visibility is fairly poor. I am not sure whether it is pollution or, as my old met. teacher (Bert Marsden, for you Brits who may remember him from the BBC) used to call it “Anticyclonic Gloom”

Anticyclonic Gloom

Human Power at Work

Motor Power at Work

Boat to Ferry Passengers to Shore

In the afternoon we arrived at Shibaozhai and took a walking trip ashore to visit a 12 story pagoda. To get there we had to negotiate 100’s of street vendors, bur they weren’t too pushy.

The original village was lost after the building of the 3 Gorges dam when the water level rose about 90m, so a new one was built by the Government.

Village Gate

To get to Shibaozhai you had to negotiate the Drunken Bridge (as named by the locals). The bridge consists of 2×6 planks placed over 4 steel cables. It is far from stable with many people walking across it!! In the winter when the level of the Yangtze rises, the water is only a few inches under the planking.

The Drunken Bridge

To Protect the Pagoda from the waters, a dam was built around it, which also serves as a walkway from the bridge.

The Dam

Carvings in the Wall

Without the dam the winter water level would come to about 3/4 of the way up the door

The Pagoda

Above are statues in the Pagoda, and yes we did make it to the top. It was a breeze after Tibet!!

On the way back to the boat we found a couple of ornaments that we wanted to buy, as we were looking the stall owner showed us the price on her calculator. 180 yen each. We figured 200 yen for two was a good place to start the “game”. She came back with 125 each. This seemed in the ball park that we thought was reasonable, so we decided to buy them. Unfortunately our combined resources were only 135 yen so we had to walk away and leave them. After two steps the stall owner shouted “OK, OK” and sold us both for 135!!!! Working on the theory she was still making a profit, that was one h*ll of a markup!

In the evening the ships crew put on a fashion show of Chinese clothing through out the ages.

The pictures aren’t the best as they were taken from some distance without flash.

Finally I am up to date with the blog!!!

I am almost up to date, all previous entries have pictures and are now complete. By tomorrow I should be fully caugt up.