China Day 7: Li River Cruise

I’m up early thanks to a rooster crowing outside the hotel.  Last night we arrived in Guilin after dark and had no idea what the city looked like.  It’s a foggy morning after the surprisingly clear skies of Beijing and Xi’an, but, as we’ve seen so often in China, the city skyline is characterized by row after row of tenement buildings.  What’s different here is a geography marked by striking karst formations soaring above the cityscape.

Guilin Street Life
Guilin, China
Ricoh GR Digital 2 • ISO 100 • 1/320 sec at f/5.0

After breakfast at the New Century Hotel we take a bus to the Zhujang Wharf and board a small river boat for the Li River Cruise.  During the river cruise lunch is prepared in a small kitchen on the back of the boat.  We can’t see the kitchen on our boat, but we can see the kitchens as we pass similar river boats on our way down the river.  Lunch features turtle soup and snake wine!

Li River Cruise
Guilin, China
Ricoh GR Digital 2 • ISO 100 • 1/500 sec at f/6.3

This is a popular vacation destination for the Chinese.  The scenery is stunning …

Li River Cruise
Guilin, China
Ricoh GR Digital 2 • ISO 100 • 1/640 sec at f/7.1

The river cruise ends at a small town in Yangshuo County.  We stop at the Riverview Cafe for coffee and I can’t resist ordering a Chinese coke …

Riverview Cafe in Yangshuo County
Guilin, China
Ricoh GR Digital 2 • ISO 100 • 1/125 sec at f/2.4

It’s a 2 hour bus ride back to Guilin.  On the way we stop to tour the Reed Flute Cave – sort of like the Chinese Luray Caverns …

Reed Flute Cave
Guilin, China
Ricoh GR Digital 2 • ISO 400 • 1/10 sec at f/2.4

Tomorrow we head to Shanghai.

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