Hezhou and Huangyao

After enjoying a pleasant evening and morning at the hot springs in Hezhou, we are now in Huangyao where The Painted Veil was filmed. The weather has turned damp and colder - mid 50's - but we still managed to enjoy our morning coffee on the hotel terrace.

Sun-Ling enjoys the hot springs in Hezhou.


Morning coffee on the terrace in Huangyao.

Silver Beach - Beihai, China

We had planned to bag some beach time at Beihai.  I originally had my eyes on Weizhou Island, 36 nautical miles off the coast of Beihai.  It turns out it would cost us $85 US just to make the roundtrip, due to the government ferry monopoly.  And it wasn't certain whether there is lodging right on the beach.

We opted for a hotel right on the beach at Silver Beach in Beihai.

We are pleasantly surprised!  The beach has a lot of activities: wildlife viewing, clamming, fishing, night shrimping, jet skiing, speed boating, swimming, umbrella lounging, beachcombing and tourist watching.  Since it is HUGE L-shaped sandbar, there is plenty of room for everyone and lots of shells for Sun-Ling to pick up.

The view from our hotel room.


The touristy part of the beach.


A local foraging for shellfish.


Sun-Ling shelling.


The tropical waters.


Wildlife.


Sand dollars.

Yunnan to Guangxi

We have left Yunnan and arrived in Baise, Guangxi.  We did so with some trepidation.  While we enjoyed our travels in Yunnan very much, we were uncertain about Guangxi because of our previous experience in 1994:

1.  I stopped eating meat, as I witnessed too much consumption of non-domestic animals and inhumane treatment of animals in general.  I have since become an ovo-lacto vegetarian.
2.  I vowed to not return to China for the next 10 years.  On a daily basis we experienced unpleasant encounters where people either took advantage of us or scammed us or tried to, in their unrelenting pursuit of financial gains.  I did break my vow and returned 5 years later.

2008:If our bus ride into Baise is any indication, things have not changed on either accounts.  The bus carried 8 dogs wrapped like flower pots in the luggage compartment, despite of our protest.  After 5 hours, the dogs were finally unloaded - on their way to be someone's dinner.  

The driver decided he can now get on the expressway, but not until he collected 5 RMB each from the passengers.  Most of the bus goes along, but we made a call to the station.  The office verified that our tickets were supposed to have taken us on the expressway 40km ago.  Money was returned.  The driver was persuaded into taking the expressway.

Our bus.

Bamei Village - Yunnan, China

After four afternoons' clambering up and down the rice terraces, we left Yuanyang and embarked on two days of bus rides. On the third day, we arrived at our destination, Bamei, a famed village only accessible by boat through a cave until three years ago. We stayed a night, at Mr Nong Guesthouse, to enjoy the tranquility of the village and take in villagers' way of life.

We are poled through the cave.



Sun-Ling enjoys a cup of tea on the porch of our guesthouse.


Bringing the cows home.

Yuanyang Rice Terraces

We have seen photos -- we have expections. We have reports of unrelenting fog -- we budgeted extra days. We came and saw the terraces. Words cannot descibe the awe we feel for the stupendous Hani who engineer the terraces.

The Bada terraces.


Longshuba terraces.