Day #2: Guilin Mountain Slides, Da
Xu Ancient City, Elephant Trunk Hill and Night time Cruise
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| View of Guilin from Tao Mountain |
Da Xu Ancient City
This foggy morning, we head out for Yao Mountain the highest of Guilin’s city peaks but finding a long line-up of Chinese tourists at the cable car we decide to go to the Da Xu Ancient City perched on the banks of the Li River. This time John has brought reading material in case I get seduced by the market shops. I tease him for carrying the heavy hard back volume of Hitler ~ and he jokingly compares Hitler to Mao in terms of the brutality of killings involved. I have no books but am clicking pictures everywhere. We walk up a rather amazing ancient street off the beaten tourist trap and I feel immediately taken back in time several generations in the traditional way of life.
The history of this place dates back to over 2,000 years ago when founded during the Qin and Ming dynasties. The well preserved houses are small, dark and electricity is turned off during the day. The Chinese style architecture includes elegantly carved doors and windows and temples decorated with wood and stone carvings.
A Home Visit.. 6 Generations
Eric
takes us to meet a 73-year-old man who tells us his family has lived in this
home for 6 generations and he still lives here.
He shows us how soy beans were crushed and soy milk is made from wooden utensils and he asks us to try using them.
We spend almost an hour talking with this man as he proudly recounts stories about the past including during the war when the Americans dropped food from planes for families who were starving.
This foggy morning, we head out for Yao Mountain the highest of Guilin’s city peaks but finding a long line-up of Chinese tourists at the cable car we decide to go to the Da Xu Ancient City perched on the banks of the Li River. This time John has brought reading material in case I get seduced by the market shops. I tease him for carrying the heavy hard back volume of Hitler ~ and he jokingly compares Hitler to Mao in terms of the brutality of killings involved. I have no books but am clicking pictures everywhere. We walk up a rather amazing ancient street off the beaten tourist trap and I feel immediately taken back in time several generations in the traditional way of life.
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The history of this place dates back to over 2,000 years ago when founded during the Qin and Ming dynasties. The well preserved houses are small, dark and electricity is turned off during the day. The Chinese style architecture includes elegantly carved doors and windows and temples decorated with wood and stone carvings.
A Home Visit.. 6 Generations
He shows us how soy beans were crushed and soy milk is made from wooden utensils and he asks us to try using them.
We spend almost an hour talking with this man as he proudly recounts stories about the past including during the war when the Americans dropped food from planes for families who were starving.
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| Grinding soy |
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| Kitchen stove |
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| Can of food sent by tiger plans in war |
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| Wearing hand woven hat and cloak of palm leaves |
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| Fish net |
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| Living room with Mao picture |
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| Thanking us for visiting |
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| Quail Eggs |
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| Crabs |
I am impressed with all the fathers caring for their babies.
Yao Mountain
We return to Yao Mountain at noon that no longer has a line
up and take the cable car (chair lift) to the stop for an excellent view of
Guilin and its peaks. We hear fireworks going off in the distance and are told
that fireworks go off for weddings and funerals. Going down we take a toboggan slide built in
1996 as the 2nd longest length slide in China. While one can go 80
km/hour tourists are limited. We enjoy this thrill. Elephant Trunk Hill
Back for a nap and then off again to Elephant Trunk Hill, the symbol of the city of Guilin that got
its name because the rock formation looks like an elephant drinking water. The
round opening that would be under the elephant’s trunk is known as Water-Moon
Cave because the moon reflection can be seen through the arch. We wander around
here where there are hundreds of Chinese children on school tours. 
We are disappointed that this natural made beautiful rock formation as been overrun with tour stores and Disney like objects. Even fake rock formations have been carved into elephants. There is a Disney quality to this place which detracts from its natural beauty.
We walk around the center of Guilin city and down the
streets where every kind of food is being prepared. While tempted to eat from some of these local
food trucks we elect to go to a restaurant when Eric tells us that a prior
family he guided ate here a few weeks ago and got sick.
Back for Chinese food elsewhere John and I begin to confess to each other we are thinking of pizza and spaghetti and are overdosing on Chinese food. In this restaurant we notice that people ask for these special chair coveralls to be put on the back of their chairs.
When I ask what these are for I am told that they keep pick pocketers from taking a purse, wallet or backpack which are hidden under the coverall.
Back for Chinese food elsewhere John and I begin to confess to each other we are thinking of pizza and spaghetti and are overdosing on Chinese food. In this restaurant we notice that people ask for these special chair coveralls to be put on the back of their chairs.
When I ask what these are for I am told that they keep pick pocketers from taking a purse, wallet or backpack which are hidden under the coverall.
Magical Night Boat Cruise
After dinner we take a night time boat tour down two rivers
(Li and peach blossom rivers) and four lakes. While there are many European
and Chinese tourists on these boats this is still a relaxing and enjoyable
event. All the bridges, pagodas and architecture is decorated with colored lights
and in various places there are dancers performing. The most amazing event on one lake is a
demonstration of cormorant fishing, the traditional fishing method having taken
place since 960 AD. Fishermen using trained cormorants demonstrate how they
catch fish. A snare is tied to the base of the bird’s throat which prevents
birds from swallowing larger fish, which are held in their throat. After the cormorant has caught the fish in
his throat, the fisherman pulls the bird back to the boat and squeezing its
neck has the bird spit the fish up. See this U tube of you want to see how this
is done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1HQSjNr2N4
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| Squeezing the neck of cormorant to get fish |
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| Lady on boat plays |
At the end of this day I do feel like I have had a Disneyland experience with
magical caves, elephant rocks, sliding down a mountain, lighted pagodas and bridges and watching trained cormorants catching fish for fishermen.
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