Written by: Sharrie Shaw
Date: 2002
There was so much to see, to savor & to relish; it was overwhelming! Again, that has been my experience with China.
It's a country where one needs a lifetime to explore & to begin to understand China as a country & the Chinese as a race.
In GUILIN & YANGSHUO, life is much simpler though. The enchantment of this area is more rural & scenic. It's a land of
green hills, clear waters & exotic caves; of simplicity & universal truth - the melody of nature. One doesn't need much
preparation to appreciate this area of China. Just be... Yes, just be...
Guilin scenery is spectacular & unique. One witness the magical creation of nature & being in the midst of it all is amounting
to visiting a "nature" museum with finest works of art; inspirational as well as thought-provoking! If you're searching for
God, this is most probably one of the place you'll see Him!
Find your way to YANGSHUO: A township south of Guilin (90 mins by bus from Guilin Railway Station), Yangshuo is a
delight! I was a little apprehensive in venturing out of the city of Guilin initially as my hotel concierge was warning me about
safety. Well, somehow I just felt that it`d be absurb (even to myself) that I was willing to take chances in traveling to Spain
on my own without knowing any Spanish & yet constrained myself in China when I can speak fluent Mandarin & other
dialects. So, off I went to the Railway Station & boarded the RMB 5 (US$0.60) mini-bus to Yangshuo.
Well, I did try to dress as poorly as I could & to not bring too much cash as there were others who mentioned about
robbery on these buses. Anyway, it was an ok ride though I felt the buses were over-crowded. There were others who
boarded the bus enroute & some were farmers with huge bags of rice. I thought that was amusing to watch. The sceneries
were in fact quite stunning on certain parts of the journey.
Upon reaching Yangshuo, I was quite surprised at the amount of traffic surrounding the West Street Area. It`s dusty as well
even though it`s in the winter. After walking around West Street for about 1 hour, I was getting restless. Since some VT
members had told me about the beauty of this place, I wasn`t in the least impressed with what I had seen so far. I knew I
had to get out of this area. So, how do I find my transport? Read about renting a bike, but then again, I didn`t quite
entertain the idea of cycling for hours into unknown territory & without a clear idea of the roads, I had no idea how to. Then
I spotted a group of people with vehicles like those of `tuk tuk` in Bangkok. I checked with a lady driver & wanted her to
bring me to a few scenic spots. We bargained & agreed on RMB 20 (US$2.50). I thought that was cool... transport for
almost 5 hours! So, off we went. It turned out that we enjoyed one another`s company so much so that she went hiking up
Moon Hill with me! It was one of the most wonderful vacation I`ve ever had!!! More about that later...
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