First Stop in Mainland China

Haha - on our way out of Tokyo I managed to grab a copy of the new Harry Potter book in English...guess what my sleep time is going to be filled with for a few nights?? :)

Using the superb Hong Kong public transit system we walked the few meters from our hostel to the nearby Metro station (and blissful aircon), then found our way underground to the KCR Rail station (5 min walk with packs).  The train to Shenzhen took another 30 minutes or so - at which point we had to alight for passport control and customs (strange when your consider the 1 China policy but reality).  Fortunately our visas were all in order so we breezed through.  The border fence and moat is VERY intimidating with tons of razor wire and much that looks borrowed from the Berlin Wall Handbook on Crowd Control!

We were able, with a little help from our phrasebook, to avoid the taxi touts trying to rip us off for a ride to the airport (one wanted RMB800!!!).  Instead we found the airport shuttle bus for a mere RMB25.  One of the best parts of that discovery was meeting Kiren on the ride to the airport - she lives with her Japanese husband in Hong Kong and was born in Guilin - our destination.  She was also tremendously warm and friendly - and was to become a mainstay of our time in Guilin especially after we shared a drink at the massive Shenzhen airport during a 1 hour delay.

Guilin airport was noisy, crowded, a little odorous and quite a change.  Fortunately Kiren was there to help.  We grabbed our bags and followed her to the right bus to get to our hostel - bidding her farewell with promises to have dinner the next night in town.  Out hostel check in was funny - since it was the wrong hostel!!  We had tried a few nights before to book at the Guilin Flowers Hostel - but were told it was full, so we had instead made a reservation at the Backstreet Hostel...except yours truly forgot that tiny little detail and made two very apologetic check-in ladies at the Flowers hostel more than a little nervous.  They finally offered us the first night in a 3 bed dorm (which we had to ourselves) with a promise of a double room for the rest of our stay.  We accepted and I, without admitting my stupidity, resolved to be nicer to check-in staff!! :)

Since Guilin was never one of our main 'must-sees' we only allocated one full day to exploring the city - which may have been just too little in the end!  We woke really late and then tried to get some cash from nearby ATMs.  A note here for fellow travellers - in MANY Chinese cities and towns Visa, Mastercard, and other major credit cards, ATM cards etc. do NOT work in most ATMs if not issued in China (even if they display all the normal signs).  When this happens find the nearest (and there are always ones nearby) Bank of China ATM which always seemed to work for us (NOTE: Not to be confused with the Agricultural Bank of China, Communications Bank of China etc).

After drawing cash we caught a local bus to Liberation Bridge and walked over the famous Li Jiang (Li River).  Despite the heat haze we caught our first views of the unique Karst topography (for details check out http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Karst ) - soaring peaks of limestone carved like skeletal finger reaching skyward by eons of water, wind and sand, all lining the banks of the snakelike river.  Much more of this in our next blog entry about Yangshuo.

Over the river we stopped to try a local speciality - Guilin Mifeng (spicy rice-noodles in soup) at a very local eatery (more like a garage than a kitchen - but SO tasty and SO cheap!).  Then it was on to Seven Star Park - a huge open area of sculpted gardens, Chinese carvings, serene lakes, the Flower Bridge, and the famous 7 Star Cave.  First explored in the Tang Dynasty (about 1300 years ago) it is immense but a little too touristy with concrete paths and steps throughout and cheesy coloured lights illuminating sign-posted rock formations with imaginative names like Bumper Harvest, Lion Faces Camel, Dragon Plays in Water etc.  After the cave we walked to Camel Hill (suprisingly aptly named double hill in the park) and then back to the hotel to freshen up.

The evening was dinner with Kiren and her friend Mr. Wei who took us to a great and famous eatery loved by locals where we ate Peking Duck, Beer Fish (very good local speciality) and a selection of other goodies washed down by the local Liqun Beer.  The Night Market was next with a bewildering array of fans, jade trinkets, and food stalls (we tried frozen crabapples on sticks - yummy!).  The Flower River was our last stop - with fountain shows, classical Chinese music, a glass bridge, a castle and a 800 year old tree.  Great fun!