From the moment we met our guide in Guilin, I knew it was going to be a fun 3 days. He introduced himself to us a Ricky and I could tell he was all nancy, and that we would be fast friends. He is the first male guide we have had. Ricky is about 5 feet tall and a tad chubby for a Chinese person; he has a real snappy personality and likes to pepper his chatter with American TV catch phrases like “yadda yadda yadda” from Seinfeld. He has a slight lisp so I have to listen closely to what he is saying. After we got in the car and started the drive to the hotel, he turned around and added, “OK, I told you my name is Ricky, but I’m not Ricky Martin from Puerto Rico; I am Ricky from Guilin. Ricky is my Western name, but my Chinese name is Suping – just think of ‘shopping’.” When we got to the hotel, he quickly checked us in and then went up to our rooms to make sure everything was ok. When we got to my room, he did a twirl and showed me the bathroom, the bed and the balcony. He was shocked to see that the welcome fruit platter was not in my room and then called the desk to have them bring it up. Then he handed me a drink ticket and told me to go to the bar and have a cocktail. He is just too cute.
Oh, I did forget to report one thing. Guilin is the first hotel we checked into that did not have 2 gas masks in the closet, which was both comforting and disconcerting at the same time. Ricky said the air and rivers are fresh and clean in Guilin as compared to the rest of China. So I guess I better breathe it in while I am in this area cuz who knows what will happen in Shanghai.
The cost of living in Guilin is much lower than the rest of China. The people of the Guangxi Province are not descendants of the Han people and China’s national government allows this province to have its own local government and set its own taxes. So the real estate market is much lower here. The average price for an apartment is US$50K for a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom condo. The buildings are limited in height so the view is not spoiled. The main industry is tourism, followed by fruit/farming, a napkin factory, a cement factory, and a pharmaceutical factory that makes a natural herb called watermelon frost (at least that’s what I think he said), which is a type of throat lozenge/stomach calmer.
Many foreigners retire in this area because the cost of living is low, it is clean, and the people are so friendly. They often receive free room and board in exchange, but no salary, for teaching English in the local schools.
I was very sad to hear that Zhang Yimou’s Lake Impression show was closed for the winter. but I got a DVD of the show so I can watch it later. I am a big fan of his films (Raise the Red Lantern and To Live are my favorites) and of course the spectacular opening of the 2008 Olympics. Apparently the show takes place in an open theatre and tells the story of life on the river, local culture & agrarian society using the natural scenery and dramatic lighting as the backdrop. There are 700 performers in the show, farmers by day and hoofers by nights. I love that the Chinese are such show people. If I lived here, I would definitely don a costume and join the fun. I am quite adept at lip-synching having been a member of the choir in high school and never sang a note – just mouthed the words.
The next morning we left the hotel bright and early to take a 4.5 hour cruise up the Li River, which is the mother river to Guilin and Yangshuo. The setting is tranquil and the scenery is breathtaking. Many artists come to Guilin and Yangshuo to paint the mountains and the lush green landscape. The mountains are limestone and look like big swirls of grey, cream, yellow, and orange from a distance. It’s a rural area completely dependent on the clear, fresh water in the river. The Li River is so clear you can see the rocks on the bottom, which is rare for China. Along the banks, horses and oxen graze, while farmers plow fields, and women wash clothes at the water’s edge. The guide would point out rock formations in the mountain and say: this rock looks like Buddha and the rock in front looks like a boy kneeling and praying to Buddha. I saw two interestingly shaped rocks. Perhaps opium smoking still happens in these parts. There is one area that has been painted by many artists and the view is on the 20 Yuan bill. So the guides hold up the bill and have the tourists take a photo of the view with the 20 Yuan in the forefront of the shot.
We met some interesting characters on the boat: a wealthy English couple with dual citizenship to England and Israel (the fattest vegetarians I have ever seen – they looked more like fast food eatin’ Americans); Canadian teachers who like to travel (the wife was Chinese and the husband was an ex-hippie and ex-Jew because he had lost his faith — they wanted to know what everyone was tipping their guides and drivers); and 2 fun-loving Germans who were visiting their daughter who volunteers teaching English in a small village in China (they are now living in Nigeria and like to drink). We had a good time exchanging travel tales. It was funny because the English people had been in India last year during the time I was there, but we had done the trip in the opposite order. They started in Mumbai and ended in Delhi and I did it the other way. Next year they want to go to Russia and so do I. Anyway…it was a fun afternoon. Veta got cornered by a nerd from Mexico who wanted to talk about how poor China is and how America is great. She kept trying to escape, but he kept following her.
The cruise ended in Yangshuo and we went directly to our hotel (2 gas masks in the closet). An hour later we were off to ride through the hills into the rural area and meet a local family. The couple was so cute and the house had been in their family for hundreds of years. The farmer was in his 70s, but he looked like he was 35. He was so jolly and welcoming, as was his wife. They were joking with us in Chinese and my guide would translate. The husband started lifting these huge stones that he had fashioned into dumbbells and posing for pictures to show his strength. They must have weighed about 45lbs. I picked one up and lifted it over my head and that made him really chuckle. So we posed together holding the weights for a picture. Although they still grind their soy beans using a stone wheel and churning stick; cook on a wood burning stove; and drink water from a well, they eat their meals in front of wide screen television. I just love it here.
Afterwards, we went back to town to explore and look at the goods of the local merchants. When a man hacked and spewed some phlegm near Ricky, he hollered “Yuck! Give me a break!” and ran ahead waving his hands by his ears in disgust.
Veta decided to go back to the hotel to rest (we’ve been on the go and flying around without a break) and I went out with Ricky to eat some of the local delicacies. We had beer fish (you select your fish and they kill it and prepare it for cooking. The fish is fried and the sauce is prepared with beer, scallions, garlic, chili peppers, soy sauce, vinegar, and ginger. When the sauce is boiling, the heat is reduced to a simmer and the fried fish, cut into chunks, is put pack into the sauce to simmer and soak up the flavors. It was heavenly. Along with it we had green beans sautéed with onions garlic and chili peppers. A bowl of steamed rice, chili oil on the side, and chopsticks in hand…I was in eaters’ paradise. The meal was simply YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMY!
We had lots of chuckles over dinner. He just came back from Thailand and Vietnam and we compared adventures. I was in both places about 10 years ago. During that same trip, I went to Borneo to trek for orangutans and he loved hearing how I was covered in leeches while walking through the jungle to find the little orange devils. Now I see and feed them by hand every Wednesday (which is my volunteer day at the Ape House in the zoo). He really thought I was insane when I told him I clean their cages for free and how one of the Orangutans constantly spits water on me to assert her dominance.
On the way back to the hotel, I bought some osmanthus wine (made from the osmanthus flower) and am drinking it now. It is very sweet (think Midori), but has a kick.
The next day was my day of fun. I took a cooking class from a local restaurant (Cloud Nine) while Veta had a day of leisure; she does not enjoy cooking. We have completely different traveling styles. She likes to tour and see things, but also have some down time. I like to race around like a crack ho searching for a lost rock. I pack my day with activities and when I have free time, I like to write or sit at a bar and talk with locals or other travelers, unless I find out there is something else to see and then I’m off to the races again. Unfortunately, I plan all the trips and set the itineraries, but I am not offended when she wants to bail on something. So it all works out in the end. Her line was, “thank you for disinviting me to the cooking class.”
The cooking class was great. I was early so I got to pick the dishes. I opted to make everything that I ate last night: beer fish, chili beans, and dumplings. My master chef was Kathy and before we started, she took me for a stroll through the market and saw all the fresh fruit and vegetables. We went into the meat area and there were cages of live animals (rabbits, turkeys, ducks, pigs, and dogs). At each booth, the skinned or plucked animals were strung up on display for the customers to select which carcass they wanted. Having slaughtered a pig in Romania and being a big carnivore, I was not bothered by the carnage.
Kathy filled me in on her life story: she is from a nearby farming village; she has a son of 6 years; her husband is ill and cannot work; she is the sole provider of the family; she makes 700 Yuan per month (about US$100). She has never been outside the Yangshuo area. She was very interested to see my photos of the places in China that I have seen.
When we got back to the restaurant/school, there was another student waiting for class. She was a pretty, young Aussie girl with curly blonde hair. She had been traveling around China by herself for the past 5 months. She told a tale of being scammed in a tea shop. She was invited in by some young, friendly girls for tea, and then they closed and locked the door and would not let her leave until she paid them money. What’s even crazier is she knew about the scam from Lonely Planet, but thought the girls would not do it to her. The story reminded me of when I went to Vietnam and my friends Chip and Anne warned me about women who threw their babies (sometimes just a bundle of rags) at you, when you caught the “baby,” men would run up and rob you. So when a woman tossed a baby at me I just stepped to the side and scurried away. Hey, if she didn’t care about her kid, why should I.
The lesson was great fun. I now know how to make 2 versions of dumpling folds. I also got to show off flipping my food in the wok instead of stirring. Kathy was a great teacher and she gave us the recipes so I can make the dishes when I return. Dinner anyone?
In the afternoon, Veta and I took a Tai Chi class with a Master in Yuan Tai Chi. I picked up the moves fairly quickly because I had Tai Chi classes at Tisch as part of the acting program. I slipped into old habits when I took it with school chums Richard and Kevin. We would move extremely slowly and stare off into space as if we were in a Tai Chi trance moving on the slow breath. It worked and the Master kept commenting on my good form, which made me want to chuckle. Some things never change. The Master showed us moves 1 through 10, which we practiced, and then he demonstrated moves 1 through 24. I recognized the moves from years ago. His movements were so fluid and smooth that he appeared to be floating.
Afterwards, we got foot massages. The guy who worked on me was heeheelarious. He kept smiling and telling me how he loved basketball. He would just holler out the names of players like Kobe or Shaq, and then he would say Miami Heat, New York Knicks. He was very funny.
In the evening, I went to see a fishing exhibition to see how the local people use a bird, the cormorant (looks like a cross between a goose and a hawk), to catch fish. The poor cormorant is attached to a rope tied to the fisherman’s raft. The thin rope is tied so tightly around the cormorant’s throat that it looks like it is squeezing the life out of it. It’s meant to prevent the bird from swallowing the fish it catches. The birds swim alongside the raft upon which the fisherman stands using a long pole to propel the raft through the water. The birds frequently dive below the surface, swim under water, and search for fish to catch with his long sharp beak. When the birds catch one the fisherman pulls the bird out of the water by the rope and squeezes its beak and shakes the fish out of the its mouth. The fish drops into a large basket on the raft. Then the bird is returned to the water to repeat the process again and again. If the cormorants catch a baby fish, they are allowed to eat it. Training the cormorants usually takes a few months and the fisherman treat the birds well. Cormorants live for about 7-8 years. When they die, the fisherman bury them as if family.
In the morning, we have a long drive (2.5 hours) to the airport. We are headed to Hangzhou, described by Marco Polo as “the most beautiful and elegant city in the world.”