In my spare time I've been trying to edit 3.5 GB of pictures. That's a LOT of pictures. Digital photography is a blessing and a curse. It doesn't cost a thing to get the perfect shot except the time to go through everything afterwards. But it is a good way to re-live the trip too.
Alright then...back to the journey. Yangshou was one of the best parts of the trip. I've already posted that highlight. To get to Yangshou we took a four hour boat ride up the Li River. Just like our rice terrace day, it rained for a least three of the four hours. Fortunately it was intermittent so we were able to get a few pictures. The Li river is home to a famous landmark featured on the back of their $20 bill. I can't remember the exact name of the spot. They have names for everything, "Lion Roaring, Monkey Jumping Over Donkey, Apple Mountain (which actually is one of the names). It usually takes an active imagination to see the figure the mountain is named for. But the name for this particular spot was blocked out by the frantic cries of our guide, Hu, as I prepared to take the picture. He was a little overbearing and while I was waiting for the perfect shot to come into focus all I could hear was "take picture now, take it, you will miss it and we can't go back. Take picture now." BACK OFF HU! I got the shot finally and quickly retreated to the lower deck to escape yet another Hu story.
Yangshou was like a Chinese Banff. Beautiful town, small, easy to get around and set up for tourists. You could actually read the menu in most restaurants. This was a bit unfortunate since the menu often contained dog meat. I was assured by Hu that it wasn't "in season" so it wouldn't end up on my plate. Blech.
This is the front of our hotel. It is too bad we didn't stay more than one night. Who knew we would like it so much?
After Yangshou and Guilin, we flew to Chongqing, pronounced Chong-ching which has to be the most Chinese sounding name I've ever heard for a city. And what a city! The actual city center is about 4 million but Chongqing is a municipality of 31 million on 20 million acres. That's like putting all of Canada into Nova Scotia and maybe a bit of New Brunswick. It is one of the major manufacturing centers of China so when something says "made in China", chances are this was where it was made. Before it became it's own municipality it was part of the Sichuan province which means...spicy food. Chongqing is also the starting point for the Three Gorges tour. Before we got on the boat though, our very sweet little tour guide took us to dinner and gave us a tour of the city. We told her we liked spicy food so she ordered up a traditional Sichuan dinner. Talk about knocking your taste buds into another world. One dish had these little peppercorns that she called "dancing peppers". There was no real botanical translation into English so I really have no idea what they actually are. They made your tongue tingle and then go numb. I guess it was supposed to feel like the peppers were dancing in your mouth. If that was the case then these little guys were doing a hip-hop routine in mine. Pain and pleasure all rolled into one little dish. (and yes that is oil, lots and lots of oil. Most Chinese dishes are bathed in it. The meal looks a bit unappetizing but it tasted great -not the oil but the spices.)
After we sweated through our meal, we had a little tour. What a neat city. Polluted, but really nice. The best part of Chongqing was the People's Square nestled in between the People's Grand Hall and the Three Gorges Dam Museum. The square was packed with people of all ages - dancing, practicing Tai Chi, Kung Fu, and just generally hanging out. I've never seen anything like it. People just dancing away without a care if they were doing the right thing or had any rhythm at all. They would form these big line dancing areas - different ones for different types of music. What a great way to spend an evening.
After our brief tour we settled into our cabin on the boat and watch Chongqing's lights sparkle through the haze. China has a way of lighting up their cities that makes you forget how dirty they can look during the day. China must have been the birth place of rope lighting.
Next stop...the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River.
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