Guilin

Left Shanghai yesterday for a flight to Guilin. When we got in we arranged our hotel and bought train tickets for Shenzen (near Hong Kong). On our way back from the station we met a girl who is studying English at the Teachers College. She took us to a cafe she visits regularly for lunch and she was excited to practice her English on native speakers. Her name was Xiong (Chong) and after lunch she called a friend of hers who has a car and they took us around Guilin. We visited Elephant Truck hill and a cave whose name escapes me. She also helped arrange a boat ride to Yangsho for the following morning. We had to get up early for the boat ride because we took a private boat that was smaller and cheaper than the government boats, but is illegal for them to transport tourists - so we left before the government workers go on duty. It was a beautiful ride down the Li river with topography unlike anything I've ever seen. Today we're going to rent bikes and tour around Yangsho and then tomorrow we may do some rock climbing before taking an overnight "luxury" bus to Shenzen (we ended up exchanging our train tickets because the bus takes 7 hours less than the train). Today is the mid-autumn festival in China, which is a big time for family reunions and the giving of moon cakes, which from what we can tell by their appearance and taste and the fact that they're only bought as gifts, are the Chinese equivalent of fruitcake. This is the first place we've been that has natural beauty, and it's a nice change from the cities of 5 million plus we've visited so far. I can't wait to post the pictures.