Whirlwind tour of China

From Beijing to Guilin in 14 days

I just returned from China on Oct. 21st from my second trip to China to visit my fiancee in the last eight months. This time I took my 25 year old son so we could have a last "roadtrip" before we both get married this Spring. The last time I visited i flew into Hong Kong and visited Hunan Province where my fiancee lives and this time I wished to visit Beijing and see the sights there before traveling south to her hometown of Shaoyang, Hunan Province. My fiancee and her sister and their friend with a car met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel in Beijing (Holiday Inn Central Plaza) The next morning we did some shopping at the local markets and then our friend drove us to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was so huge we decided to come back another day and spend the whole day there---which is really needed to see it all. Before we left that day we watched the lowering of the flag in Tienanmen Square along with about 100,00 others---quite a crowd. The next dasy our friend drove us to the Mutinayu section of the Great Wall---fanastic to say the least. We stopped at a local resturant in the countryside on the way back to Beijing where my son was asked to go catch a chicken for our dinner---a great picture there! The next day we visited the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. If you wish to see the local people relaxing go to the Temple of Heaven Many people there playing badminton, playing instruments, singing songs and generally having a great time. The Summer Palace is huge with a lot of walking with a large lake in the middle that you can take a boat across to the large temple on the other side---very beautiful. The next day we went back to the Forbidden .City and spent the day going through it---much restoration was going on in preparation for the Olympics and some areas were closed off but still worth the visit. The next day was some last minute shopping and then we took the subway as close to the West Beijing railroad station and then a bus the rest of the way---I'am sure glad my fiancee was Chinese and could find her way around. We boarded our train and the four of us settled into our 4 bed soft sleeper room for the 17 hour trip south to the city of Hengyang in Hunan Province. We were met the next morning at the train station by another of my fiancees friends and he took us to lunch---everyone wants to feed you---and then drove us about 40 miles to the city of Nan Yue to visit Buddhist Temples for two days. We drove to the top of the mountain and stayed at a funky hotel there and the next morning arose at 5:30 to the sound of the monks in the temples pounding their gongs. We went into the temple and watched their services with much chantting and ringing of gongs---very beautiful. The monks invited us to have breakfast with them since they said they had never seen Americans before---vegetarian noodles---very good. One of the monks asked me if I had any American money and if I did he would give my son three days of Buddhist instruction---but we settled for a blessing that my sons baby would be born healthy---I gave him a couple of American bills---$5 and $1---he was so grateful that he gave me a couple of prayer bracelets and a necklace and a boc of incense---we really enjoyed our time with them. We went back down the mountain and we had a police car from the city of Shaoyang waiting to transport us to Shaoyang about a three hour drive away. It's nice to have friends. This is getting long so I'll need to start a new chapter before my limit on characters runs out..

On to Shaoyang and my wedding party

We arrived in Shaoyang and were taken to abeautiful hotel there that was completly out of place for this small town of only 1 million. The police dept. comped our stay there for four nights---like i said it's nice to have friends. We were invited to have dinner with the mayor (sort of) Shaoyang and his staff at a very nice resturant. He had spent some time in America for 3 months at harvard university studying small town manegment and spoke some English. He tried to get me drunk with cheers everytime anyone took a drink of the local beer---ha! A great night! The next day my fiancee and me had a wedding party at a resturant with 80 of her friends and relatives. Since we will be married in America the family wished to have a party for us in China first. We did everything but get married. Much to do and bowing to the parents and each other and many toasts and sharing stories about my fiancee Zijing growing up in Shaoyang----I couldn't understand a word---heck I might be married for all I know---ha! We went to a bar after the party and had a private room in a kareoke bar and snag songs and drank to much beer---and yes they had songs in English and they made me and my son get up and make fools of ourselfs. After 4 days of visiting friends and family my son had to return to Colorado to get back to school. Our friends in the police dept. drove us 120 miles to Changsha to the airport there to catch his plane to Beijing and off to the USA. They then drove Zijing and myself five hours to Guilin to visit that town for a few days. Before we arrived my fiancee called afriend (school mate) who has a brother in the Chinese Army in Guilin and he met us there with his Army car and driver and took us to a nice hotel that he had booked for us. Later that evening he picked us up and took us to dinner with his wife and 12 year old son. His family is moving to New Zealand in November to live and he will join them in a few years when he retires from the Army. He had bought us tickets on the night boat ride through the city to see the city lights---very beautiful---it's called Two Rivers---Four Lakes. The mountains around Guilin are something not to be missed. The next morning he had his driver pick us up and take us to the river docks for the trip down the Li River to the town of Yangshou. It was a amazing river trip through the beautiful mountains, to bad it rained most of the way to Yangshou. There must have been at least thirty boats leaving from the docks at the same time full of Chinese tourists and some Westeners who visit Yangshuo for the day and return in the afternoon to Guilin by bus. After we arrived we decided to spend a few days there and found a small hotel on the river with a balconey with a view for about $16 US a night---very nice. We shopped till we dropped on West Street and I ate some American food (sort of) after 13 days of Chinese food my stomach was crying for something that was a little more familar. We rode bikes through the countryside and rafted down the Dragon Meeting River on bamboo rafts and had a great time in this little city in the mountains. Many Westermers here from all over---many young backpackers too---lots of returants and bars with loud music blaring at night---a somewhat hip Chinese town---but worth the visit. The next afternoon our Army friend picked us up and drove us back to Guilin where we caught the overnight train back to Changsha to catch my flight to Beijing and then on to the states. I hated to leave---I wished I had had more time to spend in Guilin and yangshuo. My fiancee is now visiting Lijiang City in Yunnan Province and says it is more beautiful than Yangshuo and we should visit there the next time we come back to our China---it is now to be my second home with all my Chinese relatives to be living there---they are great and loving people who really know the meaning of family and they included me and my son always as part of the family. One thing I skipped in my writtings. While we were in Shaoyang my fiancees friend taught English at a school there and asked me and my son to come to her school and talk to her students---about 50 of them---ages 12 to 16. When we arrived we went into a large classroom with about 70 students and spent an hour answering questions about America and signing 70 autographs each---the kids were full of life and energy. The teachers husband was there and asked us to come to his school then and talk to his English class if we would. We said no problem and off we went to his school---over 100 students---what a fun time talking to these kids. They were very shy at first but opened up as time passed and we got along great. Some of the kids could speak English well and others were just starting to learn. I told the students if they felt shy about asking questions in English that my Fiancee would translate for them---afterwords the teachers took us out to lunch---like I said they all want to feed you---eating is a social occasion in China---a great time was had by all. I plan on returning with my new wife in Oct. of 2008 after the Olmpics are over and the hum has died down a little.

Pictures

Sorry but I reversed the pictures for the chapters, I tried to insert a photo of the monks of nan Yue but the file was to large, I'll try to download it again and attach it to this chapter. The town of Nan Yue (Hengshan) is full of temples in the main town and also up on the mountain. If you wish to visit the temples on the mountain you need to pay at a gate on the way up and then they will take you to a cable car which will take you the rest of the way up the mountain---a seperate fee for the cable car. Then it is a about a mile or so hike up a paved road to the temples whjich are worth the hike. Or you can stay at a hotel up on the mountain but be sure to choose your hotel carefully---many do not have western toilets or towels in the bathrooms for your showers---you need to bring your own.. You can also stay at a hotel down in the town which are much nicer and still inexpensive---maybe $40 a night double.