A 'Genuine Chinese Tourist Experience'

Disney Land China (Guilin)

Our last stop in China was to visit Guilin, a city in the heart of the unique karst topography that surrounds the Guangxi province.  The incredible geography was created as the sea bed was pushed up above the ocean by the colliding tectonic plates.  The now exposed soft sea bed was then eroded and washed away to leave thousands of limestone pinnacles that rise out of the surrounding flat landscape.  The scenery was like nothing I had seen before, at least it might have been had it not been for the low cloud and rain that stopped us looking out across the city!  Guilin itself is set on the Li River and we were able to stroll around the city and and climb one of the pinnacles to look out to the hazy outlines of the rock formations that surround the city.  Walking along the river we got a surprise when we saw the local fisherman using cormorants to catch fish for them.  This ancient tradition involves the fisherman tying a snare around the birds throat so they cannot swallow the big fish and so instead they return to the canoe for the fisherman to remove it for them.  At night the city is lit up with thousands of LED's around the small lakes and newly built pagodas giving the impression we had entered a Chinese Disney Land. The main reason for our stop though was to venture up the the emerald coloured Li River to see the unique rock formations and paddy fields.  Unfortunately for us it did not quite turn out how we had imagined!

Along the Li River

Cormorant Fishing

We left the hostel at 8am and spent the forty minute journey to the river being ‘talked’ at by our guide who had clearly gone to the Chairman Mao School of oratory training as she shouted incessantly about all the wonderful things we could buy to make our day even better. Mao’s granddaughter did at least give us great amusement when we read the message on her hat which proudly declared, ‘We have had a beautiful night, I can’t ride on you though!’ - I love Chinese translations! In a state of shock we emerged from the coach to board our boat, sheltering from the lashing rain and numerous tour guides all shouting through microphones at the cowering tourists.  The river cruise itself offered tantalising glimpses of the incredible landscape around us as strange pinnacles loomed out of the thick clouds that had engulfed us.  Having eaten our greasy vegetables and unknown meat dish we were given our free gift of a pair of nail clippers (that also functioned as a bottle opener) and having clipped our nails we headed off into Yangshao, a small town geared for backpackers that is set around the rock pinnacles. 

At this point we were told we needed to pay more to head off to have a ‘genuine Chinese countryside experience’.  Through our admittedly short excursion in China the word ‘genuine’ seemed to have a different meaning when translated from Mandarin and with alarm bells ringing we refused to pay the additional fee to go on a genuine bamboo raft (now made of blue plastic tubes).  We were instead treated to a show of watching a local fisherman repeatedly throwing a dead fish into the river for his cormorants to bring back to him and a walk around a derelict village.  The highlight of the afternoon came when three bus loads of people got to line up and feed a local farmers buffalo a piece of grass whist posing for photos.  At least the buffalo was happy!  Thankfully the other non – Chinese tourists were able to see the ridiculousness of the day and we spent two hours heading back to the city having at least experienced a Chinese tourist trip.

China has been a country that has provided so many mixed emotions and experiences during our short trip.  With a country that has 1.4 billion people it is impossible to see all the different cultures and regions but it is safe to say Europe and China are worlds apart.  I found it very difficult to get used to the constant spitting, chain smoking and apparent lack of respect or thought to other people and the world around them.  Having said that the people we met in restaurants and hostels were very friendly and helpful and made our stay much easier.  Criticism of the government and the tight restrictions and censorship are easy to question but having seen the rate of expansion and development would it be possible to govern such a project in a massive country whilst continually facing the inevitable opposition to such an overhaul?  The human rights violations that David Cameron recently praised are however not condonable and Tibet, as well as Tiananmen Square are taboo subjects across the country. China seems to be transforming at a rate of speed unheard of in human history and although it has been a challenging visit of highs and lows I am pleased to have at least got a taste of the world’s new power.   I am also pleased to be fleeing for the Vietnamese border on a 400km/hr bullet train though!