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MeznG. In the air, on the road, river or sea again
Today was an absolute highlight. The cruise on the River Li from Guilin to Yangshou is fantastic. Our boat along with more than 20 others set off at 9.30 am for the 60km journey that would take around 4 hours. It's like follow the leader as the river is quite shallow and so the boats have to weave their path through the deeper spots. The water us quite clear and you can see the stones on the bottom a lot of the time. The boat has 3 levels and we have seats at tables on the 2nd level and once the boat starts we are free to move around on the outside decks or up onto the sun deck. It is a very warm day but clear and sunny. Just perfect. The first part of the trip is magnificent mountain scenery . These huge limestone mountains that were once under the sea tower way above the river. The riverbed is rocks and there is a lot of work being done to make retaining walls out of these rocks. There are many many many covered bamboo rafts that carry about 6 passengers and have a small motor also on the river. These rafts may be privately owned but all of the bookings and ticketing is controlled by the government. Along the shoreline some of the people from the local village have set up stalls to sell souvenirs and handicrafts to the tourists. A buffet lunch is normally supplied on the boats but because they use the water from the river to cook with, we are given a packed lunch prior to boarding. As we pass other boats we can see the lunches being prepared on the lower deck and the water being bucketed straight from the river. We are very grateful for our packed lunch. The river narrows and the sheer cliffs close in, there are caves and caverns, it's spectacular at every turn on both sides. On the flats, the water buffalo with calves a foot are grazing and bathing in the river along with ducks and other bird life. It is such a relaxing day. We are sitting with a good bunch of people which adds to the enjoyment of the day. When we arrive at Yangshou we have a 20 minute walk to the bus park through a busy market street, it's very hot and the street is crowded. Much the same stalls we have seen everywhere. We are not stopping to shop or browse at this time, a shuttle will bring those that want to come back later. At the hotel there is a pool so we opt not to go back to the street instead we go for a refreshing swim. Tonight is another highlight as we are going to see the performance of dance and music with the river as the stage and the mountains the back drop. Oh wow, we have just returned from the show. Impression Sanjie Liu. It was a spectacular performance. They have been performing this show since 2004. It runs from April and the only time it is not on is when the river floods and the performers take a break in Spring. They play to an audience of around 3000 people on a nightly basis and because it is high season there is 3 performances tonight. We have excellent seats. There are around 600 performers who come from the minority groups of the region namely the Miao, Zhuang, Dong and Han. The singing is in their native languages which of course we don't understand but the music and singing is beautiful and the movement on the river and the illuminated mountains are breathtaking. The 600 plus actors are largely farmers or fishermen during the day. At the end and during the performance there is very little audience response which seems strange as a standing ovation us definitely deserved. I queried this with our local guide and also Vivian and they said that the Chinese rarely show emotion and are embarrassed to show appreciation or something to that effect and the performers Dan feel that the audience enjoyed it. Well that's a load of BS because they certainly know how to show emotion when they are on the road! That was a perfect end to a perfect day.
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