China Post #41 Li River Cruise and Bus

On our last day in Guilin Linda was giving a presentation on environmental responsibility to the workers at Ging BaBa's company. They grow organic mushrooms and other product and then make them into Chinese medicine. While she was giving the presentation Dylan and I headed out on the true Li River cruise. We were picked up at the hotel by a van and met up with a bus that took us right past the tourist shops that we had stopped at on the Chinese tour and straight to the dock. There were certainly shops at the dock but that was to be expected and we were not there for long anyway. We boarded a boat with 3 levels, two inside and the last outside as well as some decks on the second level. Once onboard we joined the procession of boats on the Li River headed towards Yangshuo.

As we were motoring along the river these guys on bamboo rafts would paddle up to the boat at an angle and ease their way in to be able to grab hold and tie up to the boat.
They would either be selling fruit or some type of souvenir, you could do your shopping on the river.

There were countless beautiful sights along the way, including this that is considered one of the best in all of China, shown on the back of the 20 yuan bill.
Here is Dylan enjoying his boat ride.
After making it back to Guilin we had to get things packed up to head to Wuzhou the next day. Wuzhou is where Linda was born and her family lived before moving to Hong Kong briefly en route to Dallas. In the morning we headed to the bus station in Guilin and Linda took some pictures of the snacks that you could get in the station, such as these.
The scenery continues for hours outside of Guilin with seemingly endless karst peaks and small farming town tucked in the valleys between.
It took about 3 hours before we finally emerged from the karst forest into a landscape of more rolling hills. Wuzhou took about 4 hours to get to in total and is quite a bit lower, there is a river that flows down from Guilin to Wuzhou. Wuzhou is a small city built around the confluence of the river from Guilin and a larger river which dominate the landscape along with the rolling hills.

China Post #40 Yangshuo 1

Quick post before we head off to Linda's home town where we will not have internet access.

Busy night scene on West Street in Yangshuo.

On our first day we hired a "guide" to take us climbing. It was going to cast us about half as much to rent a rope and hire a car to get us out there and back anyway. Our guide, Dane, was great with Dylan and Popo so it was well worth the 400 yuan. We headed to the Egg on the first day, the trail head.
Popo and Dylan hanging out in an arch that separates 2 sections of cliff at the Egg.
Dylan with Popo and GonGong.
Linda cleaning a 5.10+ that was really reachy in the upper half.
Interesting family store next door to the climbing shop that we used and hired Dane through.
Whoops, forgot to rotate this one. Anyway, this is the sign at the gate to Moon Hill, lucky for us they don't enforce it, it is probably meant more for scrambling though.
The view looking out through the moon hill arch back down at the village where our hotel was.
Starting up the great route, Over the Moon 5.12c
High on Over the Moon, right before my lack of climbing and related fitness reared its ugly head resulting in various responses from the spectating hikers.
After my battle I needed a cold drink which we bought from this little 70 year old woman that hikes up the 800 steps to Moon Hill every day with a cooler, she also has beer.
Our guide/friend Dane riding the Flying Horse, the Chinese name for Over the Moon, while cleaning the route.
This is the sign that guards the trail to get to the actual top of the Moon Hill arch.
Linda and I climbing the pole planted in the very top of Moon Hill.
The family in front of the hotel in the small village below Moon Hill, the Yangshuo Village Inn.

China Post #39 Guilin Li River Tour

We woke up our first day in Guilin and headed out for Guilin ni fun, or Guilin noodles.

Basically rice noodles with some meat, an egg and all sorts of sour or spicy chopped veggies to put on top of them. After breakfast we were picked up by the tour company in a van, driven a short ways and transferred to a bus. It appeared as though we were headed for the docks for the Li River cruise which is one of the "must do" activities in many of the China guide books. How ever we were on a Chinese tour and not a Westerners tour. Shortly after the road sign to the docks we pulled into a little souvenir mall on the side of the highway. OK, just get through the 20 minutes we were going to be there and get on or way, they turned the bus off which meant that we had to go in since sitting in the bus in 90 degree temperatures is not really an option. Once we got on the road we immediately made a U turn, WHAT. Then it got better, the tour guide I guess said that we could take the regular road or if everyone would pony up some money we could take the toll way and get to Yangshuo faster. Pretty much everyone wanted the toll road so we made good time to Yangshuo and headed to a temple. By now we had figured out that it was not the Li River cruise that we were on but a tour that included a short excursion on the Li River. At the temple there were Buddha's and stairs, of course. There was also a.....
And here are Dylan and GonGong looking at the fish around the other "coptive anlimals"
We drove past Moon Hill on several occasions and had lunch across the street from the trail head which just made me drool since it is one of the feature crags of Yangshuo.
We headed to the dragon cave which was interesting. You take a boat through small lake at the entrance then walk through the cave which is filled with colored lights to highlight the different stalactites and mites.
Finally we were able to get on the Li River. The boats that we took were these things made out of sewer line sized PVC pipe.
Linda and Dylan on the boat with karst peaks in the background.
I really don't know how to describe it, there are peaks everywhere. It is kind of bizarre how they seem to be never ending. Here is one with a bunch of water streaks called "Painted Hill of Nine Horses" since it is claimed that there are nine horses, I could only see a few.
Taking a boat on the Li River is really amazing and totally worth the time. Even when you are subject to the hard sell. We were taken to a shop of sorts were they seat everyone in a room and talk about their product and how good it is then bring you into the show room and try to sell you stuff, all the time the door is kept closed so that you can't leave. Anyway, it was an adventurous day that got us to Yangshuo and on the Li River even if not for as long as we had hoped.

China Post #38 Photos for #37

Here is what we were greeted by when we got to the Dalian airport.

Crowds of people waiting to even be allowed to check in, some were apparently getting belligerent.
More crowds around the gates waiting to board buses to the planes.
The pathetic excuse for fog that caused all the delay.
The flight we were on was supposed to leave at 8am and eventually left at 6:45pm, I don't think our flight ever left since it was scheduled for 4 and a half hours later.

In the Shanghai Pudong airport there is a series of sculptures that we went past on our way to our flight to Guilin this afternoon. Dylan quite liked them.
Not sure what was on the computer but it seems interesting.
And rushing to the gate to make their flight on time.
Releasing the Shanghai haze into the plane prior to take off, it is probably cool humidified air.
The ubiquitous Chinese construction with a back drop of limestone karst peaks.
The motor scooter is more popular than the car here in Guilin.
Saw a few of these things around. Not sure what they are, kind of like a small tractor with a flat bed put on for cargo. None of them had hoods.
Linda's parents with Gin Papa and Mama at dinner after arriving in Guilin.
Here is Dylan running along through the Shanghai airport.

China Post #37 Dalian Airport Troubles

So I like the fog in Dalian because it reminds me of the San Francisco bay area. However, the airport does not deal with the fog very well. On Thursday morning I said goodbye to Finbar, a guys from Ireland that we got to know a bit and on Friday morning he was back at the Shama. This should have set off the alarm. He had not been able to get out of Dalian airport because of the fog. We showed up at the airport around 10:30 for our 12:30 flight and did not see it on the board. What we did see however was an airport with about 10x the number of people that are normally there, one thing that the Chinese seem to do really well is move people through at least check in and security. After asking around we were told we could not check in and that the flight was delayed, but nothing else, no time estimate. We spent some time milling about and running into Finbar who was trying to get out again. We were then told maybe on Monday??? it is Friday. The flight was not officially canceled so we continued to hang around and got some lunch. Eventually we managed to get on a different flight to Shanghai that was supposed to leave at 8:00am and now had a boarding time of 4:00pm, at least we were going to be able to make the first half of our trip to Guilin.

We did not get on the plane until almost 4:45, OK now we are on our way. Not so fast, when we were headed to Xi'an with my parents we spent 2 hours sitting on the runway waiting, for what we don't know since we were never told. Naturally after they got us on the airplane this time we sat there until 6:45 before taking off. Since our flight to Guilin from Shanghai was scheduled for 6:50 we were going to miss that for sure. After arriving in Shanghai we had to deal with finding a flight the next day to Guilin and sucking up the lost money on the tickets for the flight we missed and finally finding a hotel for the night.

So now we are in the Shanghai airport waiting for our flight to Guilin.

This is the 3rd time out of 6 times that we have flown in or out of Dalian that there has been a significant delay. Strangely enough on another occasion the flight actually left early, so you never know what you're going to get.

China Post #36 Music Class

Linda's parents have been in town for the last week and Dylan has been out of school. The school closed for the summer because the teacher is in Beijing for a few months of training. I have to say that it was nice for the three weeks or so that Dylan went to school all day and especially the last week and a half when they provided a hot lunch. Without a car it was hard to get much done when he was only going for a few hours a day, I miss driving.

Anyway, over the weekend Linda went with her parents and her coworker to see a tailor in Dalian and pick out cloth to have some pants made as well as a pair of shorts for me. Then on Sunday when I was hoping to get a long ride in, it decided to rain for the whole day. Instead we headed back into Dalian to do some shopping for gifts and mostly got wet. At least the market was not crowded because the rain was keeping people from leaving their homes.

On Monday, Dylan was invited to the music room where his school is. The room is run by his friend, Jing Gong's mother, so naturally I expected Jing Gong to be there and they would spend the time playing together. After dropping Dylan off and finding out that Jing Gong was not there I headed across the street to the sports park with Linda's parents and walked around the track with them. Here is a view of about 15-20 buildings that will be condos going up in various stages, there are more behind the ones that are closer.

At a minimum of 4 units per floor and roughly 20 stories high this should house 1200-1500 or more families. Pretty crazy, and there are at least 5 other locations around Dalian and the Development Area that are the same.

When we returned after almost an hour this is what Dylan was up to.
Yup, he was having an actual piano lesson, maybe you can get excited now mom, we will see, he seems to enjoy it but we would have to find an instructor back in Albuquerque if we want him to continue.

Later we headed with the Music teacher to where Jing Gong was taking what seemed to be a pretty advanced Chinese lesson. Jing Gong is only 10 months older than Dylan, so about 4 and a half, and was reading a chinese children's book (not one that is only a few words per page either, but more like 100 words per page) that was written in characters, not phonetics.

After the lesson was over we headed to lunch with Jing Gong's family and the Chinese teacher. Here is Linda's mom talking with Jing Gong's mom (music teacher) and Linda's dad talking with the Chinese teacher.
And of course Dylan and Jing Gong on our way to lunch.
So Dylan eventually had 3 classes in the 4 days we are here this week and Linda's mom gave several gifts to the teacher and Jing Gong. Of course Dylan got a handful of small toys as well and we were not charged for the classes.

Here is an interesting sight. A group of three street vendors.
You have the guy selling fruit out of the back of a truck, one out of the back of a horse drawn cart and a hot food (I think) cart all hanging out on the same corner on the way to Dylan's school and piano lessons.

China Post #35 Video from Sun Asia

I thought this was pretty funny.

China Post #34 Sun Asia Ocean/Polar World

This Saturday we headed to the Sun Asia Ocean World. It is really 3 aquariums and, what else, an amusement park all in one. We bought tickets to the Ocean World and the Polar World aquariums and made sure to steer clear of the amusement park.

At first these dolphins kind of scared Dylan, I think it was the teeth, but he eventually warmed up to them.

We got a late start so needed to find food to eat and wandered around the food stalls, though most were basically the same. Here is what was on the menu.
And.
Everything on a stick.

Here are the Coca-Cola table to eat at and apparently change you child's diapers too. Naturally the garbage can is conveniently located right below the table...
The aquariums were interesting. The Ocean World was themed around a submarine so everything was really dark and there was all sorts of piping and tubing running along the walls as well as loads of fake view ports.

Here we are looking into a "crashed UFO". It seems that aliens use toilets and watch TV the same as us, and now so do the fish.
One of the best things about the Ocean World is after you emerge from the "submarine". There is a 118 meter long tunnel that is under a tank.

Here are Linda and Dylan posing next to one of the numerous sea turtles.
And moving along through the tunnel. There was a moving walkway and a stationary one so you could ride to something you found interesting and step off.
I'm not sure this is a good idea. Or THIS might happen.
Now I don't really think this is a great idea, but hey they were out in the petting area so we took a turn. Dylan petting the young sea turtles.
We managed to see several shows, the first was the dolphin show which started out with this guy.
It was quite different than what you would expect in the US from an animal show in that it was more of a human performance supplemented by the animals. On top of that almost all the performers were not Chinese. Anyway the clown tossed out a few trinkets, one of which I managed to catch with some guy trying to climb over my back to get at it. Naturally Dylan got it and promptly lost it before we left the park. OH well.
On to the Polar World. This one was a bit depressing really, may of the animals were in really small enclosures, really just rooms. There were 3 arctic wolves, so pretty big animals, in a room not much bigger than a large bedroom, just pacing back and forth endlessly. Then there was the polar bear in a similar sized room. There were 4 arctic foxes in a smaller room that was furnished with a concrete sofa, bookshelf and a hamster wheel. It seemed as though the penguins were a bit on the warm side, they were all laying on the ice or standing with their arms out facing the fans, though it was obviously cool in the room since when they were fed the people were wearing down jackets.

There was a beluga show as well which was cool, though just see them was possibly better. Again, for such large animals the tank was small, but they were super interactive. They would swim down ad look at you through the glass and when someone else walked up they would turn to check them out too. They would follow some people along the side of the tank and react to things that you would do.
We only made it into the second half of the walrus and seal show, which was fine by me since the shows are really loud. Here the walrus is trying to pop a ballon before an audience participant can, I think the walrus won.
Out front of the Polar World in a moat filled with seals. For 10 yuan you can take a dish of small fish out and feed them. I figured hey for a dollar and a half, Dylan will never get to do that in the US, not with out some specific education anyway.
Later we even got a picture of the seal kissing Dylan, 30 yuan.

After seeing both aquariums we needed a snack. Dylan going to town on a chicken stick.
We headed back into the Polar World to catch the Beluga show after this.

Then I called the Shama, where we are staying and explained that I forgot the card for Brooklyn, the restaurant we were going to eat diner at. So one of the ladies at the front desk looked it up in the internet and I ran over to a nearby hotel where she told the lady at the desk there where it was and she wrote it down for me. Then I handed the paper to a cab driver and we made it to diner with no trouble.

All in all we had a good day out and Dylan certainly had a good time.