Guilin - gateway to the Li River

Because our evening flight was delayed (again), we did not get to bed until after 1:00am.  We came to Guilin to be able to take a cruise on the beautiful Li River and our reserved spots required an 8:30 am departure from our hotel.  We were up early, bags packed and out on time since we would fly to Chongqing that evening.

The morning was mostly cloudy but not too cold.  There was mist in the hills which gave everything a mysterious look - almost better than bright sun.  Our boat had two decks, the bottom one inside and an open air top one.  Jon and I spent the first part of the cruise on the top deck until the wind came up and it got too cold.  The third picture below shows the cormorants that dive for fish for their owners.

After we docked in the town of Yangshuo, we had some time to wander their well-known market.  We also had time to get a snack at a cafe which happily had several Western style toilets in the ladies room.

The river trip had gone quickly because the river was fairly high with a good current so we had time to stop at a tea research facility on our way to the airport.  We got lessons in tea growing, harvesting and then brewing.  It was very interesting and a delicious experience!

Our flight took off an hour late.  Our new guide Jimmy met us at the airport and got us to our hotel in China's most populous city.  On the way into Chongqing, he tried to tell us about the area and city but we were just too tired to really listen.  We needed to be ready to go at 9:00 am, this time to see the giant pandas!