Following a very enjoyable but tiring few days in Chongqing we set off again on a high speed train for Guilin, some 857km to the south.
If you are thinking of a trip to China but are anxious about how to book train tickets then I can say there is ne need to worry. I used “trip.com” which I used on my PC before leaving the UK and the app on my phone whilst in China.
Chinese train tickets are only available 2 weeks before the train departure date but using trip.com you can choose from the easy menu which train you want to travel on and how many tickets you want and when tickets are available they are purchased for you. Seat choice is not an option but on all high speed trains the seats in standard class always face forwards, when the train reaches it’s final destination a team of workers quickly go through the train and swivel all the seats around.
When using the site for the first time younter your name, address and passport number together with your payment details and the reservation with China railways is made using your passport number and a confirmation email is sent to you and train details are easily shown on the app for reference.
At the railway station after going through the security check, and passing your bags through the scanner you get to the departure area.
When it is time to depart there will be a long queue of Chinese nationals at the check in gate having there ID cards scanned and a much shorter line of foreigners at a separate gate where your passport is scanned and the gate opens, simple as that. No tickets to forget or lose.
The departures lounge is usually above the platforms and so a short escalator ride takes you down to your train.
Photos courtesy of China airline travel.
There are other apps available for train tickets but I found trip.com extremely easy to use for airline tickets, entry tickets to attractions such as river cruises, more of that later. By the way I have no connection with trip.com and receive no commission from them.
So a few hours later we arrived at Guilin and transferred to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express in the centre of the city.
Next to the hotel was the entrance to an area of restaurants, cafes and street food stalls and as usual many maniac scooter riders.
In front of the hotel was a large open square where the locals could be seen doing their morning exercises to music. In the photo you can see a glass pyramid structure with further ones at the other corners.
We were intrigued by these and too a closer look. They were actually stairs leading down to a large underground shopping centre known as the “Little Hong Kong”, selling mainly cheap clothes and shoes and is apparantly well liked by students and others on a tight budget.
On the far side of the square was an area of childrens rides and a large number of tame doves that lived in this windmill.
On our way back to the hotel in the evening there was some sort of show taking place in the square which was being filmed by Guilin TV.
Note the little plastic stools, these are everywhere in China, in the markets, cafes, bars, outside the food stalls and wherever people wanted to sit for a rest.
In true “Uncle Bob’s Tours” fashion we found an Irish pub in a side road just off Zhengyang Pedestrian Street.
There was plenty to chose from on the menu, both Chinese and western dishes, I had the beef in black bean sauce which was delicious.
The following day we toook the short walk across the square and down Zhengyang Pedestrian Street towards the “two rivers and four lakes scenic area”.
The two rivers are the Li and the Taohua and four lakes are the Rong, Shan, Gui and Mulong. The Two Rivers and the Four Lakes form a continuous picturesque waterway through the center of Guilin City and there are plenty of boat trips for you to while away an hour or two.
One of the main attractions are the Sun and Moon pagodas. Originally built in the Tang dynasty in the mid 7th century they were reconstructed in the year 2000 when the lake was drained and the original foundations were uncovered.
The Sun Pagoda is the tallest bronze pagoda in the world and is one of the few pagodas in the world that has an elevator. The Moon Pagoda has an octagonal base, is coated with glazed tile, has seven stories, and is 35 m (115 ft) tall. A tunnel under the lake connects them and where there was a small display of relics from the original pagodas. The entrance fee was only 35Yuan each, (about £3.50).
When illuminated after dark they are stunningly beautiful!
We took a very pleasant walk around the lakes.
Cormorant taking a rest from catching fish
The lake wa a popular place for photo shoots.
In the morning we crossed the square where we were picked up by coach for the 20 mile journey to the River Li cruise terminal to board our boat for the 4 hour sightseeing journey along the river to Yangshuo.
There are 3 classes of boat, 3 star 4 star and 5 star, the main difference being that in the more expensive boats lunch is cooked and served on board but we opted for the cheaper option where snacks and drinks can be purchased which suited us better.
Again we were soon in demand by the locals for selfies with these strange foreigners!
Before long our flotilla was cruising past the karst mountains where many smaller rafts were also enjoying time on the river.
The cabin area was spacious and comfortable and we had assigned seats for the trip.
Inside the cabin (first class seats at the front)
There were open areas on the roof of the cabin and at each end on the cabin deck.
Small holiday areas were dotted along the river.
Enjoying a spot of fishing.
A traditional Junk.
A traditional fisherman on his bamboo raft with his tame cormorants. The birds have a string around their neck and when they catch a small fish they eat it but if they catch a lager fish that they can’t swallow they bring it back for the fisherman.
In the morning we strolled through town in the opposite direction from the lake and came across the entrance to Jingjiang Princes’ Palace. This was built between 1372 and 1392 AD during the Ming dynasty and is now the site of Guilin University and also a tourist attraction with a hotel.
During the 257 years from the building of the palace to the end of Ming dynasty, 14 kings from 12 generations lived here.
Very nice gardens and a lake
We decided not to climb to the top.
There was a shrine in a cave where many people were praying.
The normal food stalls.
Today was an Uncle Bob’s Scenic Tours T-shirt day.
So that was the end of our short visit to Guilin where we had a great time around the lake and the river and were looking forward to our next stop in Shenzen and look forward to bringing you our memories from there.
TTFN
Bibbley
Uncle Bob's Scenic Tours 