Guilin and the Liang River

I took the train to Guangzhou and caught a plane to Guilin which is about 300 miles northwest of Guangzhou. Guilin is suppose to the most beautiful place in China and Yangshou (my destination the next day) is suppose to be the most beautiful place in Guilin. Guilin did not seem so beautiful at night. It seem like another somewhat chaotic city with many people, cars, mopeds, trucks, and bikes everywhere going in all kinds of directions. Also there are no street lights or sidewalks so everyone is in the shadows. I did get to a restaurant where I could order a la carte in small portions otherwise I would be ordering one thing which is made to be shared with 4 or5 other people. People do not eat alone in China or order individually but in a group sharing generally although it is changing because McDonald's is McDonald's although with a Chinese slant. I actually liked the coffee they served in the main floor of my hotel in Guangzhou. So I did get to eat my lonely little dinner amongst a sea of group oriented people. In fact I was able to find a small dish of strawberries and cherry tomatoes which was a treat. I had some chicken but this can means all parts of the chicken which can be a little crunchy.
The next day I got on a bus with a group of other Westerners and quickly struck up a conversation with Tom from Birmingham who is a film and TV producer who use to work for the BBC but now freelances. As a result of freelancing he is able to take chunks of time off. He was travelling with the couple in front of us, Tom and Sarah, also from Birmingham. Sarah looked liked a female version of Hugh Grant. They had very soft English accents. They were my companions on the way down the Li or Liang river which flows through the karst countryside. These large rounded mountains which have interesting shapes. Also the area is quite lush with trees and other forms of vegetation which is unique in China. There are lots of Chinese tourists here. The trip was pleasant with a decent meal and we bought tickets to the performance "Impressions" which is set on the Li River at night with over 600 performers. It is directed by Zhang Yimou of Raise the Red Lantern fame and other movies. It was quite a show because he used the darkness like a curtain, closing off scenes with fadeaways into the darkness and on the other hand he introduced scenes with vivid shocks of red or used lighting in a provocative manner. It was only 70 minutes long but it told the love story which has its origins in local legends and included many of their characteristics such as the women have hair which is 2 metres long etc. What was different was that the Chinese talk through the whole performance. And I don't mean low voices I am talking like its a party. The whole performance had the audience conversation as a backdrop. The other surprise was the lack of applause at the end. A very lukewarm response and they got up immediately and filed out although the performers were mostly still looking at the audience. We were blown away by the performance so it was kind of confusing. Of course how could they appreciate it because they were talking to each other throughn the whole performance! Anyways I was glad I went.
The next day it rained and I did some errands and met the Birmingham people for dinner. The following day I took a bike ride through the Yulong River valley which is close to where I am staying at the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat. It is owned by an American and there are corporate training and teambuilding kinds of activities held here. I rode my bike from 9 in the morning until after 6 P.M. and boy was I sore the next day. But it was a great day because I saw a lot of the countryside and many different villages along the way. I got lost again but I asked for directions from Crad and Phoebe who set me straight and then asked me to join them and their guide as they biked. They had studied English in University and so they could converse with me quite easily. I spent about 4 hours with them riding, going on a short boat cruise, and having lunch. I asked lots of questions especially about their work, their parent's work, and how they saw their future. I left them as they were going into the water caves. I have seen caves in U.S. west so I do not need to see more. I went on biking for another 4 hours just taking in the countryside.