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?
Easy!
Tea Ceremony
