Pagoda Perfume

This is the bottle of perfume I bought for $3, it's called "Butterfly". I would have paid $50 for it at a regular department store!

Tibetan Herbs

A trip to China is not complete without a visit to a Chinese Medical Hall like Tong Ren Tang. TCM practitioners will take your pulse and prescribe a variety of herbs, maybe even acupuncture treatments. Interestingly enough, the prescribed herbs are meant to be taken like vitamin supplements. For a change, this time we visited a Tibetan Medical Hall. Not adventurous enough to try the herbal supplements, I purchased a pack of herbal soaks meant to invigorate the body.

Natural Minerals

I finally found my mushroom coral…and then some

Who knew the chinese countryside would have an abundance of pearls, corals and precious stones? I wasn't even looking, and managed to purchase several pretty pieces at a bargain. Next time, I will prepare a bigger space in my luggage to accommodate the larger pieces.

Surprisingly, no paintings this time. Even though this region is well-known for it.



Osmanthus flowers

Known to the Chinese as Guihua 桂花, coincidentally I have a friend named the same. These clusters of tiny yellow flowers will surprise you with their intense floral perfume. One sniff will turn you into a fan of this Guilin native. It is only there that you can obtain a myriad of items made with this poignant bloom, including a bottle of chinese osmanthus perfume.

I didn't get the perfume but I did buy their famous 3 flower wine, recommended to me by a shop proprietor. Each region brews it's own spirits and in Guangxi, this is infused with osmanthus flowers, creating a strongly perfumed 50% alcohol spirit at 20 RMB a bottle. An affordable treat for anyone visiting this region.

Then there is osmanthus tea that is plucked in season, this means it is not always available. A sweet floral scent is released the moment it is brewed and is one of the few chinese teas that can be served with milk and sugar. If you are still at a loss, then just get a packet of osmanthus flowers. The local restaurants sprinkle it on top of steamed fish and use it to make desserts (e.g. jelly, dragon's beard candy).

The only beverage I would warn you about is the osmanthus wine that is exceptionally bitter. Only one brand makes a decent version of it.

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.

Coffee Jelly

Looks like chendol but it's not...mint chocolate milk with coffee jelly cubes. I actually don't mind eating my coffee.

Coconut Sugar Scrubbies

Sugar cubes you bathe with and not eat! The delicious orange coloured coconut sugar we eat putu-mayam with, is used to make a tropical solid scrub bar with mp soap and sweet almond oil. Can't wait to start on this sweet treat.