We booked a tour out to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. I still can't figure out whether or not it was a good idea. It was certainly stressful. We did know there would be "shopping" included in the tour. It was mentioned by the hostel and I remembered how our tour two years ago was detoured through a tea house where they tried to sell us our weight in green tea.
We left the hostel at 7:30am, which seemed an ungodly hour. We stopped to pick up a family from New Zealand and were on our way. We drove until 10:00 and made our first stop, a jade factory. We were herded into a small, bleak room and met by a robotic woman who sharply told us the finer points of the jade stone in its various forms. She mentioned several times the prized "happy family balls" which could be carved from jade. After the third time she said it we were in poorly masked hysterics. We walked through the "factory" where we saw three disinterested people twisting jade around on machines. Then we were brought to a showroom where jade bracelets were forced onto our hands and ordered to look around. After 45 boring minutes we were allowed to leave only to wait in the parking for the driver an extra 10 minutes. We stopped off at one of the Ming Tombs, which was average at best. I don't really enjoy going to an ancient site only to find it immaculately repainted and overly manicured. Pulling away from the parking lot here the guide told us it was too early for lunch so we would be visiting another jade factory. We were sentenced to another hour here, which was equally unbearable. Then we went off for lunch. Entering the "restaurant" the guide said she would go book our table while we walked through ANOTHER factory, this one for cloisonne. When we did enter the restaurant it was nearly deserted so apparently a reservation had been truly necessary.
When we finally pulled up to the parking lot for the wall it was 14:30. "Be back by 15:45!" the guide cheerfully shouted at we made our way to the cable car. So after driving and visiting jade factories for seven hours she was giving us a generous one hour and fifteen minutes to explore the only thing we had wanted to see in the first place. We were up there about two hours, both out of spite and to preserve sanity.
On the way back to the hostel she tried to hold us hostage and force us into a tea house. We rebelled and, after an argument, were released.
The next morning Iona, William, Jessica and I left by train for Guilin. It was a 27 hour ride, but we thought we'd be cheap and adventurous and take the lowest class. We were in non-reclining seats that faced eachother. Next to us was a woman with the smelliest feet in all of Asia and she insisted on putting them on the seat right next to whoever was sitting close. People stood in the aisles. People smoked in the doorways. Everyone stared. Sunflower seeds were spit at our feet. It was fantastic.
We arrived in Guilin physically exhausted but invigorated by the fresh, warm air and our escape from the train. We hoppped on a bus to Yangshuo right away.
Yangshuo is breathtaking. It is nestled in the foothills of limestone giants. Every street you walk down greets you with the view of a towering hill of brilliant green. We rented bicycles and rode around the rice paddys until we reached the Li River. Then we jumped on bamboo rafts and drifted downstream for two hours. Along the way we saw vendors on floating bamboo stores and restaurants offering us drinks and roasted fish. Occasionally we would go over a small dam and have splash. A floating photo station was waiting to take a picture of our adventure and offer us a printed copy of the shot. Just like Disney World!
It was an amazing place and good to see China outside of a big city.
No comments:
Post a Comment