Guilin



My brother Matt came to visit me here in China last week, and this proved the perfect opportunity to go explore Guilin. Guilin is an area made famous by these tall pillars of stony mountains that shoot up into the sky from about the winding Li River.






The town itself is pretty nice, if a bit too concrete, but provides the perfect staging area for a trip downriver to Yangshuo, a popular backpacker/hippie destination. So, after navigating the hassles of hiring a boat (we missed all the big lumbering cruiseboats and so had to charter a speedboat, which actually was only a bit more expensive and got us to Yangshuo much faster) we headed to Yangshuo.





Once there, we enjoyed a couple smaller river trips on long bamboo rafts, hiked up a mountain to see "Moon cave", and otherwise made touristy fools of ourselves.







The whole area is beautiful and peaceful, a welcome calm compared to the big city vibe of Hong Kong and Shekou. You feel like you're living in one of those old Chinese scrolls with the tall mountains rising from the clouds. Can't wait to go back!