Velella Cruising Log

After 3 weeks of heavy rain with flash flooding and severe thunder showers we were suffering from a bit of cabin fever. We were a little down, feeling a bit like drowned rats so far from friends and family and were ready for a treat. We also were getting close to the time when we needed to renew our 3 month visas, so we decided to take a trip to see something in Asia: China, Hong Kong's parent since 1997 and largest neighbor, being an obvious first choice. For our first visit into Mainland China, we selected the Guangxi region in the Southwest because of its unusual beauty. We took the plunge and signed up for a tour, since we'd heard they were pretty reasonable, fitting the sights into a short time period is tough (even when you know your way around), our grasp of Mandarin is non-existent, and we were a little wary of bureaucracy . . . Getting soft, you see, and that's our real excuse! We didn't fully grasp how upscale we were going until we were met individually at the airport and realized we were on a private tour for two. A guide, car and driver were at our beck and call for the duration of our tour. Being pampered was sure a treat!

The city of Guilin is situated in the center of a waterway formed by joining two rivers and four lakes, amidst a landscape dotted with limestone spires rising haphazardly from the earth. Emperor Hanwu in the West Han dynasty ordered the Lijian and Xianjiang rivers be connected by canal in 214 BC, making Guilin an important town linking the South China sea to Central China. The dramatic scenery in the region has inspired poets, painters and photographers for centuries. During our visit, we saw many art students and artists in the midst of capturing this beauty in their drawings and watercolors. The artwork of this area represents the beauty of China most well known outside the country. Just looking at the countryside outside the car windows while driving between sights was a pleasure. Steep narrow pinnacles form a beautiful backdrop to the sights in the near distance and occasionally interrupt the plains on which the city of Guilin lies. Interpreting the shapes of various pinnacles and natural rock formations is common and most pinnacle names are derived from the shapes they form. A group of hills together form the shape of a camel best seen from a distance. Some peaks had tiny pagodas perched atop them and many had at least trails winding up to the top for some spectacular views.

From the Guilin airport, we were whisked past impressive limestone peaks and a busy city center to our 4 star hotel where we appreciated the fine view from our window. We then wandered through the lovely park surrounding the lake outside before turning in for the night. The park after dark was lit subtly with green and blue lights. Benches in the shape of snoozing pigs brought a smile to our faces. Bridges mimicking a number of famous bridge styles (Golden Gate, Florentine, Double Chinese arch, Memorial bridge, Polaris) stretched over the canals and connected an island in the center of one lake. Tour boats plied the waterways across the lakes, passing under the bridges, and along the rivers and canals that connected them. Couples strolled along the walkways and nestled into benches alongside the water to enjoy its beauty. Cicadas and birds made a natural symphony. At the center of one of the lakes sit picturesque tall twin pagodas, one beautifully basked in bronze light and the other in silver light, called the Sun and Moon Pagodas respectively, are connected underwater by an aquarium. Alongside Banyan Lake, next to huge banyan tree, the old city gate built over 800 years ago during the South Song Dynasty still stands. Definitely a pleasant intoduction to China.

We started the morning with a generous buffet of the usual western breakfast items and fresh fruit plus a number of Chinese favorites, such as congee, noodles, steamed dumplings and steamed buns. Then our tour guide, Lucy, met us and led us to the waiting car and we were off and running to fit in the major sights. While the sights were very interesting, possibly moreso was the pure natural beauty of the area and gaining exposure to a communist country about which we have heard so many rumors but in fact know so little. What surprised us was how modern, prosperous, and capitalistic the area seemed. As casual travellers, we could detect no difference between the capitalistic system under which we operate and the actual manifestation of what we had been taught would be an "oppressive" Communistic environment. Although occasionally we saw photos and paintings of Chairman Mao on walls in people's homes, most people seemed keen to work hard and earn money. Local people seemed relaxed and good humored. People dressed in many of the latest fashions as they might in middle class USA and a number carried cell phones. While few Chinese generally wear any makeup (even in Hong Kong), we did see some, along with obvious hair coloring and permanent haircurling to make themselves look less plain. Also like in Hong Kong, people used umbrellas to keep cooler in the heat of the day and to protect their pale skin. Also common are hats with veils and arm coverings to cover the skin between short sleeves and their hands. (In China, paler skin is still considered a sign of prestige indicating you are not a manual laborer. We've laughed when we've seen people out sailboat racing dressed like Lawrence of Arabia.)

Bicyles, mopeds and motorcycles were everywhere, as were cars of a variety of makes including VW and Honda. Although there were no skyscrapers like in Hong Kong (the marshy earth in the area is not suitable for supporting tall buildings), we did see countless businesses with neon and brightly painted signs, advertisements as well as some new fancier buildings and luxury townhouses and some detached houses. I expected to see more signs of poverty after hearing about the starving people in China from my mother when I didn't finish my meals as a child. ("You're welcome to mail it to them" I'd smartly quip back, to her shagrin). Nearly all of our meals were included in our travel package and delicious food was proffered in such abundance that we ran out of room on the table to put it all and couldn't possibly finish everything, though we did our best. While we did see the occasional disfigured person and beggar, it seemed to be a lower proportion than we might encounter in an average American city these days. Being a tourist area, foreigners were everywhere (British, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Hong Kong Chinese in particular) in Guilin and Yangshuo, and few locals paid us much attention unless directly involved in the tourist trade at sights we were visiting. From what I hear that has changed in recent years and we were given a little more notice in the less populated, more remote areas we visited.

Our official sightseeing began in Guilin with a visit to Elephant Trunk Hill, a hill shaped much like an elephant at the convergence of two rivers. The trunk was formed by a double cave cut through from two directions. Our guide described how the cut out between the "trunk" and the "elephant body" forms another moon on the still water at night, a phenomenon beautifully described in a famous poem of the Song dynasty. At the river's edge, past the street hawkers, we saw bamboo rafts used for traversing and fishing the flat, sometimes fast moving river using bamboo poles to propel the rafts. Sitting upon some of the rafts rested 2 cormorants used to catch fish on behalf of the fishermen. After appreciating the striking elephant rock formation from afar, we ventured across the river and around the hill to explore inside the cave that seperates the trunk from the body and see the inscriptions housed within. In the park along the way, we saw many retired people practicing the slow body movements of Tai Chi, playing tradtional instruments and singing, playing on the swings and playing cards.

We visited Flute Reed Cave, an incredibly large cave which could contain more than 3000 people. During WWII bombing the cave was used as an air raid shelter. The height and depth of the cave is such that no natural light could penetrate into it. Blue and green lights were placed behind stalagmites, to create an attractive indirect backlighting effect. A wide open area with a high flat overhead had the feeling of a ballroom, was nicknamed "the Crystal Palace" and was lit accordingly, with floodlights on a "chandelier" shaped stalagtite at the center of the huge overhead. Despite the occasional lighted signs interrupting the darkness to indicate steps and highlight paths and forbidden areas and the sound of tourguides of larger groups in the vicinity calling attention to various shapes, the vast darkness had an eerie feel. Not quite like the natural caves we've explored alone with just a flashlight and our own imaginations, but impressive in a different way due to its vastness, the effect of the back lighting and the perspective we gained from hearing the various shapes interpreted in ways unique to Chinese culture. Drips from above added to the effect and reminded us that the cave is still in the process of changing. The stalagtites took the form of curtains hanging from overhead and the stalagmites had the appearance of broccoli florets as they reach up towards the roof with the build up of limestone deposites over time. The vast number of pinnacles in the region and the likelihood of caves at the base of each suggests some fantastic natural cave exploring for one who has time, a flashlight and the inclination.

We continued on to Fu Bo Hill, where at its base we saw caves housing nearly 1000 buddhas and engravings carved in the style of various dynasties into the caves therein. Nearby sat an ancient cast iron pot large enough to feed 1000 men, which demonstrates the skill of Chinese casting so long ago. We then visited carvings on the cave at the base of another pinnacle, Solitary Beauty Peak, that came from a charming story of the Empress and the emergence of a Chinese marking in her honor by a faithful servant. We then saw the Princes palace from the 14 century, now a peaceful teacher's college which apparently we visited on graduation day, since we saw a number of people in cap and gown taking photos. Our tour guide wove stories and myths of China's long and rich history and made us acutely aware of our ignorance.

We stopped in to see an art gallery of nice watercolor and oil paintings and scrolls done by various professors at the college, where we were strongly encouraged to buy, but managed to avoid adding to our collection of framed artwork which already exceeds the number of walls of your average house. We also stopped in to a pearl museum where we learned about the fresh and saltwater pearls grown in the Pearl River delta and how they differ from the salt water ones we saw in French Polynesia. We visited a silk factory outlet where we saw demonstrations of two methods of silk making: unwinding silk threads (up to 1800 meter long nearly invisible threads can come from a single cocoon or crysalis the size of a cotton ball) used for making fine silk garments and tapestries; and another method of gently stretching the silk crysalis after extracting the silk worm to create a lining for duvet bed comforters. The silk worms that eat the finest mulberry leaves grow stronger to produce twice the silk. While our tour guides suggested additional stops beyond the original itinerary, we were content to spend some time wandering around Guilin on our own, enjoying the pretty scenery.

The Guangxi region first came under Chinese rule in 214 BC when armies occupied parts of the area, however it never came fully firmly under Chinese control. China encompasses large number of ethnic minorities, which we hadn't fully grasped before our visit. A popular saying (even in Hong Kong) is "The mountains are high and the Emperor is very far." Many ethnic minorities and hill tribes, some of whom were driven to this area from their original homes elsewhere, never assimilated with the occupiers. They retained their cultural heritage and traditional ways and dress. We had several opportunities to see a celebration of the ethnic diversity of the area. The first was during a fine dinner feast which included many dishes of food. Sometimes we weren't always sure what we were eating (a gelatinous cold flavorless soup immediatley comes to mind), but most dishes were tasty and recognizeable, including steamed whole fish in a flavorful broth; pork and beef slices with a peppery garnish; delicious noodles with bits of pork, pickled green beans, dried chilies, peanuts and green onions sprinkled on top; and always lots of fresh fruit for desert and beer or whatever we wanted to drink in addition to tea. During dinner, musicians played traditional instruments, one of which had the twang of a banjo but was much smaller with a rounded base made from a natural gourde. Also as we dined, a pretty young gal sang Chinese Opera very pleasantly, although the Chinese Opera sound still reminds me of strangling a cat, with their different tuning scale. A group of 4 young dancers gracefully demonstrated ethnic dances in costume. One ethnic costume and dance style (like that of a belly dancer with a short midriff top and low flowing pantaloons and a gold headress) called to mind the old M&M commercial from the 70s with 10 arms all feeding M&Ms into the mouth of a single woman seated in the lotus position. Though we thoroughly enjoyed this dinner show, we soon realized this was just a warm up. After dinner, we strolled the pedestrian walkway past the lit Sun and Moon Pagodas to the theater for the real show. The theater performance really wowed us. We were awed by the elaborate sets and costumes, singing, dancing and impressive acrobatic feats in a celebration of ethnic culture. Acrobats created inumerable forms of human pyramids demonstrating awesome balance, flexibility, and strength. The traditional dress of the Miao people, whom we saw represented a number of times in various settings, feature attractive long velvet dresses with tin headresses and tin breastplates. The Dong, who we also saw several times, wore red or pink silk clothing and wide brimmed hats with tassles that would easily offend my peripheral vision. Following the performance, the audience was able to take photographs with the performers and see the costumes up close.

The following day, we had an ideal opportunity to enjoy the scenic landscape as we cruised down the river on a ferry boat to the smaller town of Yangshuo, roughly 40 miles south of Guilin. The river winding through stunning limestone peaks that reach into the air made for a photographer and nature lover's dream. On the back deck of the ferries, cooks would whip up lunch over a wood stove and accept deliveries from bamboo rafts that would pull alongside. Watching the bamboo rafts in action was fascinating. In a bit of derring, two people would paddle as fast as they could to match the speed of the ferry and counter the fast current to come alongside, using a grapnel hook to attach to the ferry railings. Poor timing could easily be disastrous and I held my breath a few times wondering if they would make it. Besides the food vendors, souvenir hawkers would do the same manuever, pulling their wares out of a basket in the center of the bamboo raft to show through the windows to tourists seated at tables inside. We motored past another of the largest and longest caves along our route, where smaller vessels could venture inside. At a sharp bend in the river, the scenery was breathtaking, with a dense line of bamboo blowing gently along the shores and beautiful reflections in the still waters there. We saw the pretty pinnacle scene depicted on the back of the 20 Yuan note. At another bend in the river where there was shoaling, we passed the old fishing village of Xingping Town, which we later visited by land.

We spent most of the trip outside on the top deck, but went inside to join a group of Japanese tourists for lunch. As we've discovered on many occasions during the last few months, a large group Chinese family style meal truly tests our chopstick skills as we try to get enough to eat and keep our portions on a tiny plate without making too big a mess; Without serving utensils, everyone reaches across each other to take a portion from communal bowls far across the table using the chopsticks they've put into their mouths. Yet no one seems to mind. And everyone dribbles a bit on an overly crowded table.

After several hours on the river, we reached Yangshuo, a charming town, nestled into a bend in the river. The riverboats landed at on of two stone piers, one for boats with locals and one for those with foreigners (gwailos - foreign devils). (So far in our travels, we remember being called gringos (Mexico), haolies (Hawaii), palangi (Tonga), pakeha (New Zealand) and we forget what else.) We've already noticed in Hong Kong that gwailos are treated differently and, depending on the situation, the price can be higher for gwailos if you don't know what the going rate ought to be or check a price in advance.

Once we docked at Yangshuo, we wound our way up the hill on a narrow pedestrian stone street, called Western or Foreigner Street, past charming old 2-3 story buildings filled with nice souvenirs and attractive restaurants that appeal to the sophisticated traveller. The predominant architecture was an old style plaster with painted black wood latticework windows and crossbeams topped by a peaked tile roof in the traditional Chinese style.

At the top of the street, we turned and went through a stone gate and over a bridge into our charming, yet small hotel complex of buildings, pathways, and waterways. As we checked into the hotel we saw photos on the wall of several US Presidents and First Ladies who had stayed here such as Richard and Patricia Nixon, Jimmy and Roslyn Carter, George and Barbara Bush, and Bill and Hilary Clinton as well as leaders of China and various other countries, the UN and other NGOs. From our room, we had another nice view of the spires in the distance. After cooling down and relaxing for a bit, we rented bicycles and headed for the countryside for a little exploring.

We rode past rice paddies and fields of various colors surrounded by square low stone walls/pathways and marvelled at the layers of pinnacles behind them for as far as we could see. Power lines criss crossed the plains in the near distance. Single or two story small stone and brick buildings with tile peaked roofs dotted the landscape. The buildings had windows but outside of town rarely had window glass. Along the road, we saw people in peaked hats carrying baskets loaded with produce and even piglets balanced on bamboo rods across their shoulders. Water buffalo sauntered by with a little urging from their herders. Countless tour buses whisked past us as did small trucks with little utility engines using belt drives to propel a single front wheel. Moon Hill loomed above us, famous for its half circle hole which waxes and wanes as you shift your viewing angle. As we headed across one field perpendicular to the main road, we reached the river south of Yangshuo town, where bamboo rafts lined the banks.

We attended an outdoor evening show which featured more than 600 performers and hundreds of bamboo rafts. Lights on a few of the nearest peaks, created a remarkable backdrop behind a small group of docks which enclosed still flat water to form a stage. The show, from the director of the movie "Raise the Red Lantern", used costumes, music, lights, shapes, fabric and colors, cormorants, fishnets, and torches of fire through the coordinated movement of hundreds of performers and rafts to create poetic illusions and tell stories of the ethnic peoples of the area.

A visit to Xingping town, which we had seen along the river, showed us the more traditional life of a sleepy fishing village. Narrow cobble streets separated tiny storefront houses. Red banners adorned the doorways wishing the inhabitants prosperity and good health in the coming year. Elderly and young alike played cards in the shade of a large tree, inside someone's home or on a street corner. Bamboo rafts plied the river, fishing for a good catch. People cooked on wood burning stoves outside and hand pumped their water from an old style well along the town street. The town could have been exactly the same over 100 years ago, except that power lines and utility meters are visible along the street and a soap opera blared from a TV beneath a portrait of Chairman Mao.

Passing fields of corn, bok choy, oranges, and brick factories, we headed to a bigger town, where we visited a fan workshop run by a woman whose grandmother and grandfather still painted the scenes on the fans at 105 and 98 years old! A few people quietly were working away while the proprietor explained and demonstrated the process: Silk fabric in the half circle shape of a fan is hand painted while another similar piece of silk is spread out flat using a form of paste to give it stiffness. Both parts are left to dry. (As we walked around town, we saw fan silk drying in the sun outside other workshops.) The two fabric parts are glued together using a guide to leave unglued strips into which the bamboo framework will be inserted later. Then the stiff fabric is folded into pleats and the bamboo frames are inserted. The end frames are fitted and glued to the fabric ends, then a nail is hammered into the spot around which the fan will pivot to open. The labor intensive process takes 6 weeks for each fan.

We saw some pretty interesting offerings on the menus in Yangshuo, including fried bee larva with cashews, local style braised bamboo rat, crispy braised baby sparrows, buffalo stomach blood heart combo, shredded pig stomach in red chili sauce, braised duck feet, braised garlic flavored dog meat, crispy pig feet in plum sauce and sea kelp knots in red spicy sauce. We were a bit timid on our food ordering compared to these offerings but went for the spicy style we love. We had some fantastic Szechuan dishes (spelled Sichuan in China and Hong Kong, and pronounced seechuan, we learned when we realized that no one knew what we were talking about). The heat of these dishes caused us to burn through several beers. Our favorite dishes were a couple of Yangshuo recipes: "beer fish", which consisted of 2 whole steamed fish over a spicy red broth that we just about drank, and garlic pork stuffed snails in a spicy brownish red sauce, and crunchy fried whole snack shrimp. As ever the portions were overly generous and the table way too small, but the feasts were priceless.

What a fantastic trip! We had ideal weather and the scenery was incredible. The food and the service was an indulgence. Good for the soul after a bit of camping out!

We have set up a blog where we can easily post updates without necessarily having to send out mailers or have Internet access. http://yachtvelella.blogspot.com/ to see whether we've posted an update since our last email. We often have!

View our more recent photos at http://photos.yahoo.com/yachtvelella
and our older photos of our voyage at http://photos.yahoo.com/atomicsalsa

Cheers,
Wendy Hinman and Garth Wilcox
S/V Velella (Wylie 31)