Wintry Sydney had lulled me into a
sort of hibernation mode, so being thrust into the hot, busy and challenging
environment of China made my first week feel a little less like holidays and a little
more like torture. I was particular unfond of the all-encompassing humidity and
heat that left me feeling like a dumpling being steamed. I also lamented the
loss of my personal space and sweet, beloved silence. Where ever there weren’t
hoards of people scurrying about and casually shouting their lungs out, there
would be a constant stream of persistant touts trying to sell Shean and I
something- a watch, a tour, postcards, peanuts or lead us somewhere to then
sell us something.
Hong Kong and a brief stop in
Guangzhou were our first destinations in China. I did enjoying seeing the neon
glow of city lights over Hong Kong harbour, the enormous Tian Tan Buddha on
Lautau island as well as the Hong Kong Museum of Art. But overall the sweaty
stream of humans and the dense, dilapidated housing gave me a claustrophobic
feeling that made me concerned about overpopulation and how poorly it can be
managed. We also passed through Guangzhou, though all I can remember of the
place is being chased by little old ladies with trollies and being thoroughly
confused about where to catch the bus from.
From Guangzhou, we headed to Guillin which
had a very different atmosphere. We arrived in Guillin on a balmy night, saw streets
lit up with numerous, neon palm trees and huge amounts of scantily clad people
on scooters, bicycles and odd contraptions. Each mode of transportation device
seemed to be over burdened with items such as a tiny scooter carrying 3 people and
a large inflatable tube or a man carrying what looked like most of his
furniture on his bicycle. Despite being in Guillin for 3 days we really didn’t
do alot there. The heat was so intense that by 12 o’clock people disappeared
off the streets or would lay sprawled in the parks, semi-comatosed. We too
retreated indoors and felt quite content avoiding the aggressive touts or in
Shean’s case avoiding the hookers asking him if he wanted sex.
The holiday really felt like it begun
with we arrived in Yangshuo, which is a small town by Chinese standards and is
surrounded by lush green countryside and towering other-worldly limestone
peaks. Like in Guillin, there were numerous touts hassling us more often than
not and the heat and humidity was at its greatest yet (35-37C most days). However,
the beautiful scenery, the charming meandering rivers and the more laid back
atmosphere compensated for these things.
Our most memorable days were when we explored Yangshuo’s
countryside farms and nearby villages; sometimes cycling, walking or taking
“bamboo” boat rides on dubious, home-made looking rafts. We dragged our
bicycles through thick red-brown mud, alongside green plots of farmland, zig-zagged
through little crops and past dingy farm houses, and witnessed an ever changing
landscape of beautiful karst peaks. Funnily, one of our “bamboo” boat rides
down the Li River involved a terrible storm being unleashed onto us and our
raft rescuing and towing another boat whose crappy lawn mower like engine had
failed. Not that the engine of our raft/boat was any better and we prayed that
it would heave all of us to safety, which it did thankfully.
During our 5 day stay in Yangshuo, I
grew accustomed to the sights of the locals wearing bamboo hats and carrying
large amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, the Li River peacefully flowing
past water buffalo feeding at its shores and of course the ever present touts
trying to get our attention, shouting out phrases such as “bamboo”, “hullo,
hullo” and “looky looky”. In Yangshuo, we also regularly went out to
restaurants serving delicious food and had fun strolling in the evening through
the markets that sold all sorts of trinkets such as giant fans, teas and folk
crafts. I was quite glad that we had found a place in China that was actually
worth visiting. Sadly though, the joy I had in Yangshuo was not to be repeated as I travelled onward through China's smoggy, crowded cities.
