After a group photo, including our wonderful and lovely tour guide, Alice, 5 of the six families headed to the Chengdu Airport and flew a few hours south to Guilin (the other family went to visit their daughter’s orphanage in Fuling). Guilin is located in Guangxi Province amid the beautiful karst mountains. This is said to be the most stunning landscape in all of China, and it has been celebrated over the centuries by Chinese painters and writers. The countryside is a very lush green, with rice paddies everywhere.
After a lunch of Guilin’s famous rice noodles, we headed with our guide Andy to explore the Reed Flute caves in the afternoon. This is an enormous series of caves, with stalactites and stalagmites and other outcroppings forming various fanciful shapes and lit by various colored lights. Then in the huge center of the cave, a light show was provided. The kids loved this!
We then exited the cave to find out our bus’ airconditioning was broken, so we had to head to the hotel in 100+ degree heat inside (and outside) the bus. As a result, we missed visiting the Guilin Art Museum, where the girls were going to again try calligraphy and also learn about landscape painting. But, we did not really mind, as we were all so overheated, that we welcomed with great joy the beautiful, 5-star Sheraton Guilin. This hotel was filled with all the American luxuries a 5-star hotel could provide – soft beds and down pillows, lovely rooms, free WiFi, and a sumptuous breakfast. We never wanted to leave it!
We had an excellent Chinese dinner that night in a really elegant restaurant in the redeveloped tourist section of Guilin. Then back to the hotel and bed before our trip down the Li River the next day.
 |
| Reed Flute Cave |
 |
| Reed Flute Cave |
 |
| Elizabeth, Rebecca and New Friend Anne |
 |
| Guilin Night Life |
No comments:
Post a Comment