We took the new highway from Guilin to Yangshou and passed Nine Horse fresco hill. The road weaves in between the mountains steadily, and you feel the atmosphere immediately - like a journey into the dragon's mouth where the mountains jut upwards like teeth and the mists curl around the gums! The driveways we passed were spattered red from the firecrackers - paint the town red Yangshou. The brass band was playing as we arrived- quite a spectacle. It was great to see the dragon dance in and out of the shops, it shook and jumped with such energy. Our car drove down along West street and onto the Rosewood Inn. I had reserved the "honeymoon" suite because of the promised views over the town.
The best part of the first day was climbing solitary beauty peak and sitting in the pagoda. Jon took his photographs and then we descended and spoke briefly to the man painting calligraphy on the steps. The children were letting off firecrackers in the park and the local minority groups were selling crafts in the markets - water buffalo horns, indigo batiq and fans. The fruits here are gorgeously tempting, persimmons, pomelos and passion fruits. As usual, however, the service of tourism doesn't always bring out the best in people, and with less tourists than last year, everyone seems to be out for what they can get. Inspite of this, local individuals endeavoured to say how piaoliang (beautiful) the scenery was, which is some gesture to a land that is reacting to the changes of modernisation very, very quickly.
