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1997
Route in China (CHINA - Yangshuo to Chongqing)
Bec2004-09-19 15:48:16
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Yangshuo
The area of Guangxi province around Guilin has always been famous in China for its unique scenery which has inspired so many poets and artists since the Qin dynasty 200 years before Christ. On my previous trip to China, in 1973, I had purchased a copy of a painting by Xu Bei Hung depicting a Guilin scene so mysterious and beautiful that I did not believe it could be real. I just had to come here to see for myself. I was not disappointed, the sky was covered and the rocks were wreathed in mist just like in the scroll I had admired during 24 years at home.(The horizontal banding you can see on this picture comes from scanning the textured paper on which the original photo was printed. Unfortunately, you will see this defect again for nine rolls were printed this way. The only way to get rid of it would be to have everything printed again on glossy paper.)
Guilin's fame has attracted so many visitors that it has now become a fashionable but expensive tourist trap. The rocks around Yangshuo, a small town 80 km down the Li River are just as beautiful. Xi Jie, the ancient stone paved main street leading down to the jetty on the Li, is being taken over by tourist shops but the prices are still reasonable. A dormitory bed in the youth hostel was only 4 dollars!
This is the jetty where visitors embark on tour boats to view beautiful karst formations along the Li river during a three hour cruise upstream to the small village of Xingping. If Yangshuo gets too touristy, Xingping will be the place to go.
Li Jiang
These remarkable cliffs are the result of the uneven dissolution of massive limestone beds by surface and underground rivers. Karstic formations are not uncommon but they rarely have such dramatic appeal as those found in this area. The only place I know of that can compete is Ha Long Bay on the northern coast of Vietnam.
Guangxi
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See photographs from:
China Gallery
