Guilin – A place to lose yourself
- bey0ndM@gz!ne
- April 18, 2021
- Default, Travel
- 0 Comments
Within the southern part of China exists a beautiful green city with magnificent landscapes of karst hills, Guilin. Last winter, my husband and I explored this city, and made a lifetime of memories basking in the environment and the tourist attractions.
Traveling in by train, we began by heading straight to a hotel near the Reed Flute Cage, a famous tourist attraction located 5kms downtown to Guilin city centre.
The cave has stunning stalactites (note to gurpreet: is it stalagmites or stalactites?), stone pillars and rock formations, in existence for around 700,000 years. The cave has a U-shaped sightseeing route, and takes about 30-45 minutes to view the various stalagmites. Each are named according to their resemblance, for example, the Tower-shaped Pine or the Crystal Palace. They are highlighted brilliantly with colourful lights, and adorned with historical inscriptions on the cave walls.
As we travelled around the city, we were able to appreciate the many karst hills, such as the Elephant Trunk Hill, Folded Brocade Hill, Seven-Star Park, and Solitary Beauty Peak. The many hills enrich the surroundings with greenery. Each of these hills have an entry permit for tourists, while the city centre is modernised.
Other main attractions around the city are Sun Pagoda and Moon Pagoda at Shanhu Lake (a must see in the night), Zhengyang pedestrian street, Daxu Ancient town, Jingjiang Princes’ Palace. The following day, we travelled to the Li River, which flows from the city to a nearby province called Yangshuo. We rode on a bamboo raft from the Zhuijang Wharf (Bamboo River Wharf) on a cold morning (around eight degrees), and will never forget the magical feeling in the middle of the river. With fresh clouds in the sky and mild sunshine sparkling on the river, it was bliss and where I lost myself!
There are other alternative options, such as a cruise from Yangdi Village to Nine Horse Fresco/Mural Hill, which can be viewed in the river and owes its name to the legendary story about nine horses raised in heaven.
After rafting to Xingping Village, which has now become a commercial hub for local businesses and tourists. A short 30-minute journey from there, we visited a spot that showcases the scenery printed on the local currency, specifically the 20RMB note.
The following day, we made a trip to Dragon’s Backbone Rice terraces, located in Longsheng County. We travelled there by bus, and once again the scenic views on our journey were outstanding. In order to reach the rice terrace, we shifted to a local village bus. This particular rice terrace covers 66 square kilometres (around 16,308 acres) – imagine the abundance of rice!
We were asked for an entrance fee to enter the locality, and as we exited the bus, were greated by a woman from a local, minority ethnic group called Yao. Dressed in a typical ethnic black-coloured outfit, with her long hair wrapped as a bun, she invited us to her place and offered us food and accommodation.
Her house mirrored the rest of the surrounding community, and was made of bamboo.
As we don’t eat meat, she specially made local vegetarian delicacies such as bamboo rice and vegetable soup. She was even accommodating enough to pick vegetables from her own cultivation area. We then decided to hike on foot to one of the view point called Golden Buddha Peak. Not to forget, the rice terrace is spread across many villages in the vicinity- Longji Village, Ping’an Village, Zhongliu Village, Dazhai Village, Tiantou Village, and Xiaozhai Village. There are other viewpoints from other terrace hills, but the Golden Buddha offers a cable car transportation option.
The adventurous hike was worth the view! It was almost evening when we reached the peak, and the view was truly splendid. The peak is known for its sunsets and photography opportunities. We opted to travel back down via cable car, and was able to experience the farming activities with a birds eye view. I would recommend to stay here for a day or two to explore other vantage points and partake in other ethnic activities.
Some activities in the Huangluo Yao village (the Red Yao village) include ethnic minority women carrying out their traditional hair-combing performance, along with their singing and dancing. Every woman is said to have over 1 metre of hair on average. A tradition which has earned recognition from the Guinness World Records.
As a community, they have a custom where they literally tiptoe on a person if they like them, and also pinch your hip to showcase their friendship towards you. Overall, the magical journey was a new, enriching experience; a land far away from home where we were able to just lose ourselves.
