Quieter Guilin

Yesterday was an adventure in taxi riding - trying to get all our luggage into a taxi. Pat took some great pictures of us crammed in with our luggage on top of us! I ended up in sort of business class on the plane to Guilin because I had to pay more for my ticket when we were hassling with Ctrip, just to get on the plane! No different service, just more money! Oh, well! We're averaging about $18/night for lodging so whatever!

Right away we could tell getting off the plane we were in a more tropical climate - the palm trees, more humidity, bright sun! We could see some of the rice terraces that contour the hills here as we landed. Today we are schedule for a 3 hour tour up into the hills and rice fields and to visit some minority villages. Can't remember if I said this before: there are 56 ethnic groups here in China - with their own language, dress, traditions, etc. The main one is Han, and that's the group you mostly think of when you think "Chinese."  They make up 95% of Chinese (don't know if it's related to the Han dynasty from about 200 BCE to 200 AD). Anyway, the other 55 groups make up the other 5%. They are allowed to have 2 children, rather than one! (I guess to increase and keep the group from dying out). We saw up in Datong, the Mongolian group, with higher noses, smaller eyes (to protect fromthe cold - This was explained by Michelle, our Mongolian looking local guide there). In Xi'an we saw the Hui group, Muslim Chinese, who wear white caps,or head coverings, there was a mosque there, and different foods in the Muslim quarter. We should see some Miao and Dong people here when we go outside the city. The Han mostly live and lived in eastern more developed China. The minorities are in the countryside and their cultures developed because of lack of transportation before all the train lines were built and mountains surrounding their villages. The most of the groups live in the SW in Yunnan province, where I spent time when traveling those 5 weeks in Feb/March in 2005 with Betty and Virginia. We saw many and varied, colorful minority groups. A Taxi guide took us around for a day in Lijiang and we saw a wide variety. I bought about 40 little dolls dressed in their minority clothing back then that are on my bookshelves at home. I will give them to Sarah when she is a bit older (so they don't get undressed!!)

Today we are going to see a group called "Long Haired Women". Haven't heard about them.

Last night we didn't have a lot of time but we taxied over to Solitary Peak - paid 65Y (they haven't heard of Senior discounts here!) to walk around this park with pavilions - crowded with people but not sure what exactly it was. But in the center was this huge karst (limestone hill that looks like an upside-down NOT sharp-pointed ice cream cone). Pat, Marilynn and I climbed the MANY difficult stairs (with lots of rests!) to the top, fighting the groups coming down! But the views of the entire town with the karsts shooting up all around was worth it.

When we came down, Joyce had befriend 3 70+ ladies and a couple of guys doing tai chi. One spoke a little English and so could translate a bit for us - at least our ages - which they are always so interested in. They showed us their 5 layers of clothing (looking like wool sweaters!) they had on and long woolen underwear under their pants. I remember hearing Nov. 1 Chinese put on their long underwear and keep it on until April 1. We, on the other hand, shed our layers when we arrived and had on short-sleeves and single layer pants! We shared our amazement at each other's dress.

We then walked to try to find the Li River that runs through town and down through the karsts to Yangshuo where we will stay for the next 3 days. On the way we passed another hostel so we stopped there for dinner of pork, vegetables and rice, along with Tsingtao! We opted for a cab back to our hostel.

Zai jian!