Greetings from Yangshuo!
We spent this morning cruising along the wondrous Li River, headed towards Yangshuo, to be our home for the next couple of days. The scenery along the Li River was absolutely spectacular, lined by steep, green hills with sheer cliffs of stone, receding into an ominous grey mist, in all sorts of unusual formations. We even saw the view used on the Chinese 20 Yuan notes for ourselves! The greenish aqua of the water, lined by rocky beaches, was host to a line of tourist boats, at times flanked by fleets of fishermen. The water was shockingly shallow at times, and we were amazed that boats holding so many people were still able to traverse the river (Fortunately ours was a lot less crowded!). Despite a lack of other western tourists for the majority of our trip, our boat was also host to a group of American tourists, recognisable by their distinctive accents. We had our lunch aboard the boat, which, although the food was not the greatest we have had, was made better by the views of those strange hills passing by our windows. There were also some brief birthday celebrations for Rob, which included a singing of Happy Birthday and a delectable chocolate cake.
Once we finally arrived at Yangshuo, a small county nestled amongst the awe-inspiring hills similar to the ones we had seen on the boat journey, we checked into the hotel, before heading out of the main city to engage in a fan-making activity. Fans often pass through multiple different producers, each doing a couple of the 180 steps to creating a finished fan, be it crafting the bamboo, folding the paper, or painting the designs. Sheets of paper must be glued together, and the bamboo frame must be inserted into the fan itself. Usually, people will only gain a few cents (in Australian dollars) for each fan, and the price of the finished fan will usually vary based on who painted it and the quality of the bamboo framework. As well as gaining an insight into the painstaking task of creating the fans, we also attempted to paint our own. Some people used a base branch system and just painted flowers onto it, while the more adventurous among us painted fans from scratch. We all enjoyed this activity a lot, and it was most certainly an interesting cultural experience, as fans are always recognised as an integral part of Chinese culture and history.
To wrap up the day, we did some shopping along West Street in Yangshou. This bustling street was one of the busier places we have visited, and was filled with a variety of wares. Rather unusual instruments, flying drones, and even some honeycomb are just a few examples of what was for sale.
By Simon Rodgers and Liam Baker.
