Guangxi Vacation

Guangxi is a major exporter of fruits and we did stock up on fruits during this trip. I caught a flu on the 3rd day and ate almost a kilo (2 jin) of fruits that day.

On the first night we landed in the Guangxi capital city of Nanning, we took a stroll on the supper street next to the hotel. There were giant mutton kebabs, bamboo skewered seafood and meat, smelly tofu, dumplings and stalls with an entire baby alligator in front where the hawker will slice up the gator for you on demand!

Detian Waterfall, the gushing watefall steppes. When you climb to the top, the water is soo still and peaceful. What the guidebooks don't mention is that it lies on the Vietnam China border, so the top of the waterfall also has stone border markers of China and Vietnam side by side. I bought a pagoda bottle of sweet smelling perfume for 15 yuan (SGD 3) from the vietnamese vendors. Back on the China side, vendors were selling everything from wood carvings to rock crystals and even whole blocks of honeycombs - bees attached!

Everything in this holiday seems soo mystical, even the "smoke" coming out from the pagoda. It's actually clouds, I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this.

Almost 1000 yuan (SGD 200) in petrol each time for the tour bus! What distances we covered in this one trip.

We were on our way to LongSheng Village to view their terraced hills and have a country lunch that was surprisingly delicious! Their locally brewed rice wine does not contain any alcohol and I gamely bought the yeast to try and brew some at home. The friendly village folk also sell local produce, crafts and firecrackers that we bought to light on the spot. I don't normally buy produce, but their abalone mushrooms were too huge and cheap to resist at 100 yuan for 3 jin or SGD 20 for 1.5kg.

Beautiful acrobatic performance that night by really cute child performers.

On to view the famous scenary of Guilin by river cruises and cave hiking. A landmark sight is their Elephant Trunk Hill karst formation (pic above), of an elephant drinking water from the lake. Crown limestone caves tastefully lit up in multicolour lights (pic below).

We exited the cave in a different direction, through a cruise down the river. This view is just incredible, it looks just like the ink paintings!

Oh yes, the local herbs. Sold in abundance everywhere are dried lizards and black ants. Locals steep these in wine!! It's a local speciality.

We went to a cultural village that hosted local tribes and their crafts. Many tourists buy the hand-embroidered ties adorned with traditional or modern motifs (see pic below).

I bought their hand-crafted silver jewellery, smaller versions of the opulant pieces worn by the tribe-girls.

More sight-seeing from an ancient pavillion perched on a hill. More shopping as I finally found a shop selling those large cross stitch kits. And one more live show on the lake to watch by Zhang Yimou.

On our last day, we watched a spectacular performance of local fishermen and their trained cormorants at work.