4/25/18 Cheng Du to Guilin/Longsheng

4/25/18

Cheng Du to Guilin/Longsheng

We took an early flight from Cheng Du to Guilin to meet our new guide Kenneth. He will be with us for the rest of our time in China. From Guilin train station we headed directly from the airport to Longsheng. It was a 2 hour van ride to the mountains, then a shuttle bus along a river to Longsheng. From there we had lunch at the base of the mountain and then took the tram to the top were we explored. They grow corn and rice in these terraced fields along the mountain side. Historically, this area has been less fertile grounds for growing and the minority groups (non-Han race) were pushed out from the more fertile farming lands. They have been farming the mountainous fields for hundreds of years and now that it is becoming more of a tourist attraction, they are abandoning their farming to work in construction. Many hotels are being built to support the tourism industry. A bit sad to hear.

Our first stop, waiting for the shuttle bus



Our shuttle bus



The restaurant for our lunch



The base of Longsheng



Catching the tram to the top.



The view going up the tram.






Hayden, Lydia and I were in one tram car. Katie, Eliza and Kenneth were in the other.



At the top



The girls rode down with one of the Yao villagers.  The girls were playing hairdresser and did Katie's hair to match.  The Yao women are known for their long hair, which is only cut twice in their lives.  The front bun signifies that this woman is a mother.



Our ride to the hotel was 20 minutes up a steep and winding dirt road. We had to pack in five of us in the back seat of a Toyota Four Runner. The kids loved the ride: bumpy, steep, and muddy. They kids were yelling for more. Our original hotel was having trouble with electricity and water, so we switched to this hotel. It was brand new, but they need to work accessibility.

This is the parking lot; we originally thought it was the hotel.

But we finally go to the hotel, unpacked and had a very nice dinner including a free range chicken, cooked in bamboo. I am sure it was a coincidence, but just before we had the chicken, there was a rooster walking through the hotel and was snatched up by the hostess.



Chicken cooked in bamboo.



It was a bit foggy, but this was our view from our hotel.