The back of the 20 RMB note against the river and mountain scene it carries.
One of the must see sites in Guilin is the Li River, famous for its depiction of the Karst Mountain on the back of the 20 RMB note. (It’s like taking a selfie of Andrew Jackson holding a $20 bill).
These mountains are amazing. There are 20 thousand of them in this area. They’re almost perpendicular as they jut into the sky.
The Guilin area is probably the prettiest area in all of China. We had the opportunity to tour this area during the final days of the Chinese New Year holiday. The area was a little rainy, cold and foggy, but it didn’t impact the beauty and it kept the crowds at bay. We were thrilled to have the place to ourselves.
This is the Longsheng Rice Terraces. They are simply amazing. The terraces were built over 650 years ago and wind up the sides of the steep mountains up to 800 meters above sea level.
The Chinese New Year celebration has come to an end. Billions have now gone home and returned to work. But it was not without one more blast of fireworks on Lantern Day.
Ann’s holding what we were told was 10,000 firecrackers in this bundle. It costs 50 yuan or about $8. These are the firecrackers that are about a half inch in diameter and about 1.5 inches long.
When lit, this bundle blasted for about five minutes and the noise was so loud you had to cover your ears. The firecracker flung everywhere including at bystanders who were a dozen or more feet away.
And this lady is sweeping up firecracker remains on a pedestrian street in Yangshuo, where we were visiting. Red for luck. It was a lucky night.
The world’s biggest annual migration is now starting to end. In February, 2.3 Billion trips will be made as everyone (and I mean everyone) travels to their birth town and back. Every bus and train is packed with people and luggage. The roads are jammed with people headed home.
Meanwhile all the local shops, restaurants, businesses, and stores are shuttered closed. (A precautionary note to future BYU teachers – have a two week food supply on hand in February). It’s been amazing to walk and bike through the areas that are normally teaming with people that are now virtual ghost towns.
The upside: You can cross the street where ever (and whenever) you want. No one bumps into you. In fact, you hardly see anyone while you bike or walk around town near the campus.
But heaven help you if you need to get more phone minutes or are looking for some fresh vegetables. Everything is closed. Even the bank has been closed for a week, now.
But things are coming back to life. Yesterday, the train stations were packed with people bringing their kids and luggage back. I expect today some of the shop shutters will be removed, people will be back, and China will return to being its old crowded self again.
Another one of the hikes from Ann’s Hong Kong Hikes book. Rated 2 1/2 stars, so should be really easy. Wrong!! I think they left a star off the difficulty on this one. But it was beautiful. Read on.
Here’s a primer on how to celebrate the Chinese New Year as a visitor to a Chinese home. We visited the Poon family in their hometown of Shaoguan.
First, go flower shopping at the market. There’s a great selection of colorful flowers and a big crowd shopping in this town of six million.
Welcome to Lamma Island, a sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle that you find in Kowloon and Hong Kong. During a recent conference in Hong Kong, we took a ferry to Lamma Island for a hike.
Lamma is the third largest island in the Hong Kong area, but is much more relaxed and natural than Hong Kong itself.
The Thai markets are so beautiful, I have to go back to them one more time before we quit blogging about Thailand. I love the colors and the sights and hope that you do, too.
Despite the large crowds, the blue skies and beautiful sites make Thailand an ideal place to come and visit.
We thoroughly enjoyed our week in Thailand and wanted to share a few more things before we leave this area. Even though Bangkok is extremely crowded (our time in China has prepared us for this), the skies are blue, the city is beautiful, and the people are polite and welcoming. They greet you with a slight bow and their palms together, reminding me of a child praying, but their symbolism is that of a lotus flower.
Ann gets the finer points of pounding together a curry paste at our Chiang Mai Thai cooking school. Guess who is Ann and who is Emma from Slovakia?
We had a free morning in Thailand and since we both love Thai cooking, what better way to spend the morning at a Thai cooking school?
Misadventures in the Middle Kingdom 