there IS no place like home

Wow does it feel good to be back home. First off the bed is WAY softer than anything China had to offer. They believe that sleeping on planks is good for your health. I think they are justifying their lack of access to pillow top mattresses.

I am so happy to be breathing pollution free air. It is astounding how much better I feel. We now have a theory that people in China are so sleepy because they lack oxygen. Seriously, some people can fall asleep anywhere - case in point.

Now that I have reliable Internet, I can post a bit more info on our journey around the incredibly diverse world of China. I won't put it all into one post because it is far too much to read and write in one sitting. So I'll start with Guilin. We flew to Guilin from Xi'an. I could post at least 20 more pictures of Terra-Cotta Warriors but I'll spare you. Instead we have a whole book at the house for any unsuspecting guests.

Guilin is an incredible part of China. It has only recently picked up on tourism primarily because of the weird landscape and rice terraces. Guilin and surrounding area was once an ocean bed according to our guide. This is what formed the huge outcroppings called karsts.

I already shared the rice terrace day, and like the warriors I have at least 20 more pictures that look fairly similar to the one posted already.

What I haven't shown yet is the cormorant fishing.

In the Guilin area, local fishermen raise cormorants from an egg to be working birds. They train the cormorants to fish, or rather, the cormorants already know how to fish but they train the birds to give up their catch. The fishermen tie a rope around the birds' necks preventing the bird from swallowing the fish. The weird things is, the birds aren't tied to the boat. They stay there on their own free will. When the birds have a number of fish in their pouch, the fisherman dips the pole in the water, the birds climb on and the fisherman proceeds to strangle, I mean extract, the fish from the bird. This is what it looks like live:

I think it is all a bit barbaric, especially when they hold the bird up by the throat. But you have to admit it is pretty ingenious. When you have mouths to feed, I guess this is an efficient way to do it.

(don't just stand there - fly away while you can...)

The other common site around Guilin was rice fields with water buffalo and those cool Chinese hats that you think only tourists buy. They really wear those hats. Who knew?

So again, way too many pictures of water buffalo including one where I got out in front of the herd. Peter questioned my sanity. So did I when I saw one hunch it's shoulders in a really angry way. I could see him/her eyeing me up. Then I found out kids play with them so it was all good.

Guilin and area is commonly found in many Chinese paintings so I bought a couple. Next stop is Yangshou and the trip down the Li River.

Off to bed now. Jet lag is still messing with me. I'm not tired but I know I should sleep. And we've been working like crazy since we got home on the renos. They are still going - heading into month 5 of the chaos. But at least it is Canadian chaos. So happy to be home.