Can you guess?

do you know what this is?

Interesting hotel

In Yangshuo we stayed at the Rosewood Inn. It was a great hotel and our room was a family suite - which meant two bedrooms! Hooray, a separate room for the kids! The hotel was in a great location and only accessible by walking. But the thing that made it the most interesting was the bathroom. Look closely, do you see anything missing in our bathroom?

So, you might be able to see the shower head on the wall. Yes, this is the shower! You can't see it from the picture, but there was a shower mat on the floor with the outline of feet on it (maybe in case you couldn't figure out where the shower was). But possibly the funniest part was there was a squeegee to get all the water off the floor. Even with the interesting bathroom, this was possibly one of the best hotels we have stayed at in China.

Longsheng

On our last day, we took a trip from Yangshuo to Longsheng. The drive was long (3.5 hours) but oh-so worth it. Longsheng is home to one of the minority groups living in China called the Yao people. This area is mountainous and also home to some of the most famous rice terraces in China. We had yet another delicious lunch and then spent the afternoon hiking around the rice terraces. The women of the Yao people only cut their hair 3 times in their life - at 18, 36, and 54. We asked two of the women to show us their hair and how they arrange it on their heads. It was fascinating. I think one thing that surprised us was that they kept the sections that were cut and arranged it together with their hair. How they arrange it also tells if they are married and if they have had any children. So intriguing. But I will let the pictures speak for themselves....

You can see the village nestled among the rice terraces

Hiking along the side of a rice terrace

Look at how long their hair is!

Unbinding their hair. Notice the woman in the middle holding the hair that has been cut?

All of their hair arranged. I think that would be really heavy.

Yangshuo - Day 3

I am determined to finish telling you all about this vacation. Eventually. On our 3rd day in Yangshuo, we rented e-bikes and drove into the countryside. I think that this was one of our favorite days as a family. We got off the beaten path some and the scenery was beautiful. We meandered our way to a restaurant overlooking the Li River. After a delicious lunch, we took another path back to Yangshou. At one point, the country lane (which at this point was just for bikes and pedestrians) was so narrow that only one bike could fit. We had such a great time on the e-bikes that Andy and I have actually been pondering getting one.

Andy and his girls.

The road less travelled....

Me with the T. She was waving goodbye to some pigs. Tori adores pigs.

Tori making friends with the people at the next table. I personally think that she was after their grapes.

View of the Li River from the restaurant

The farmer's restaurant was located in a very old small town. Looking into one of the houses.

Part of the small path. What breathtaking scenery....

Finishing the day off with ice cream (gelato, or in Becca's words "that yummy Italian ice cream")

Yangshuo - Day 2, the 2nd (delayed) installment

Aren't these an impressive sight? Here is the delayed 2nd installment of our second day in Yangshuo. After a yummy lunch (女子吃 - hao chi! "good eats"), we had a bit of a drive to board a boat on the Li River. The Yulong River was relaxing, but the Li had some truly spectacular views. The boat traffic was pretty heavy at some parts - in fact, we even saw a smaller boat run into a larger one. I think that is the first time I have seen a boat crash. All of these mountains have names. The driver of our boat kept calling out the names to us (of course in Chinese). We understood some but not all of what he was saying. This 2 hour cruise was a great way to see the mountains. At the end of the cruise as we were getting to the place where we were going to dock, we encountered a TON of boat traffic. This gave me another first - I had never been in a boat traffic jam before.

Taking a break to play by the side of the river.

 手 (show - "the hand") 

This is what a boat traffic jam looks like....

Mmm, Fruit!

There are many things that are wonderful about living in China. But one that our family enjoys on a daily basis is the fresh fruits and vegetables. Each day on my way to catch the bus home from the University I walk by a fruit stand. This is what I bought today:

For only 13 Yuan! (which is less than $2!) We have enjoyed trying some fruits that we had never seen before. The large green fruit is a youtzi - similar to a grapefruit, but a little sweeter. The smaller green fruits are juzi - similar to an orange but just a little more sour. And because fall is in the air (and to welcome Andy home from his business trip) I bought apples to make a pie. Who knows what I will buy tomorrow?

Yangshuo - Day 2, the 1st installment

On our second day, we loaded up the troops to see a very old banyan tree. This banyan tree (which is called, "The Big Banyan Tree") is over 1000 years old. 

We then went to Moon Hill. This is a famous small mountain in the area that the top of it looks like the moon. This was an experience. When our van pulled up, it was surrounded by local village woman. As we climbed out, 2 women attached themselves to our family asking us to buy water and other things. Our guide had told us if we tell them "later" and then buy something on the way down, then they will follow up but not really bother us. This proved to be true. Two nainais (a respectful term for a woman of grandmother age) came with us, chatted with us along the way and even helped out with the kids and directions. At the end we bought 2 waters (rather overpriced water) and everyone was happy. Our kids were such troupers up the mountain. They led the way and we often had to tell them to slow down. The view from the top was spectacular. We surprised our guide and hiked up and down the mountain in much less time than she anticipated. Go, super-hiking kiddos!

Can you see why it is called "Moon Hill"?

One of the nainai fanning Tori

The required photo at the top

Andy and Tori jumping down the steps

Yangshuo - Day 1

We arrived in Yangshuo in the evening, got dinner and settled into our hotel. We woke the next morning rested and ready to start a day of touring. We ate breakfast with a familiar friend and then met up with our guide. For those of you who know us, you might be surprised that we hired a guide. We are after all people who took a road trip last year in a country where we could barely string together a sentence of the language. But knowing that it would be incredibly busy and wanting to maximize our time (not having to scramble around figuring out tickets or transportation), we thought this would be a good idea and our guide Lily was wonderful. 

We found a friend to have breakfast with....

We started our morning by taking a bamboo raft ride along the Yulong River. This was such a wonderful way to see the mountains. This is a smaller river that contains several waterfalls. After the first one when Tori got wet, I wondered how this was going to go. She was almost hysterical! I calmed Tori down and the rest of the trip was really enjoyable. We spent almost 2 hours going down the river. Josh was ready for it to be done, but Becca wanted more waterfalls. We then had lunch in a small country restaurant and went to Silver Cave. I have been to several caves in the U.S., but a Chinese cave is an experience! I know that in Mammouth Cave they only use the lights for select periods of time in order to preserve the formations. Much like how the Chinese do other things, the caves are a technicolor explosion. I am not sure how it affects the cave, but seeing it is breathtaking and beautiful. After a quick dinner, we finished our day off by attending the Impressions show in Yangshuo. We had been to the Impressions show in Hangzhou. Both of these shows are choreographed by the same man as the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. The water is the stage in this amazing show. What a great end to a tiring and truly wonderful day!

Ready to go!

Enjoying the scenery

Going down the falls

The spectacular Silver Cave

One tired little tourist

Trip to Guilin

Happy Golden Week! This week commemorates the revolution and when Chinese celebrate the beginning of modern China. This is also a holiday for Andy, the kids and myself and a great time to travel without having to use vacation time. :-) Last year we went to Hangzhou and Huangshan (The Yellow Mountains). This year we decided to travel to the area of Guilin and the Li River (pronounced "Lee"). We stayed in the beautiful city of Yangshuo. The area is known for its unusual mountains. In fact, many people are familiar with the mountains as they are featured often in photos and paintings about China. We left Friday, October 2nd. I am going to go back and detail our trip day by day. Let the blogging begin.....