Guilin and Yangshuo in This Summer

I learned Guilin from text book in primary school and I dreamed of travelling to Guilin someday. This summer, I finally made some time to realize my dream. We set out from Changsha by train for the convenient of the railway transportation. We arrived at Guilin in the afternoon. Guilin Railway Station was a little worse than we expected. It is small and crowded, but the good thing was the convenient location in downtown Guilin. We found a hotel near the Bus Station.
For the economical reason, we didn’t join a team, instead, we bought a tour brochure and experienced the beauty of Guilin with our eyes. After 11 hours train tour, we were tired, so we spent several hours to sleep in the hotel. We were shock at the beauty night of Guilin when we went out the hotel to find some food. The night was both quite and lively. Walking on the Xicheng Pedestrian Street, where bustling with noise, we saw many different faces from many countries, black Africans, white Europeans shuttling in different booths that sell antique and other small things. The bargain sounds from the owners and the tourists constantly came into my ears, but even so, I felt quiet and peaceful in my mind, some kind of feeling that I couldn’t express. The beautiful night gave me a beautiful sleep, sweet and happy.

Xicheng Pedestrian Street

The next day, we took a cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, we bought our tickets from the travel agency. We appreciated the picturesque scenery along the Li River and the distinct mountains. Different views at every new bend gave us surprise with a special angle. Along the Li River, we saw many fishermen rowing narrow raft. The captain told me that if we were lucky enough, we might see cormorants catching fish, but it was a pity, we did not have such good luck. Upon our arrival in Yangshuo County, we were recommended to experience an interesting activity. Wondering around the county, enjoying the beautiful scene, and communicating with the passionate local people, we were moved. Yangshuo West Street is a foreign street, where you could find a lot of foreigners, even the vegetable sellers could speak English. The famous dish in Yangshuo is Beer Fish. That was no doubt that we had this dish for dinner. The fresh fish meat was authentic than any other places in Guilin.

Yangshuo West Street

The third day, we took a bus from Yangshuo to downtown Guilin, the ticket was only 15 yuan. Then we visited the Reed Flute Cave in the afternoon. Being famous as the State Guest Cave in China, we were told that Reed Flute Cave has received lots of celebrities like former US presidents Nixon and Carter. There are reeds used for making flutes and pipes that grow at the cave's entrance, so that it is called Reed Flute Cave. This time, we were fortune enough for there was a group of tourists with a guide. Watching the magic landscape of stalagmites, stone pillars and stones in fantastic shapes and colors, and listening to the guide introducing the cave, we learned that the cave is 240 meters long and the length of the tour is about 550 meters in about 40-minute visit. My friends seemed much happier than I when visiting the Reed Flute Cave. It was much beyond our expectation. The final stop of our tour was to the Elephant Trunk Hill, it is where I knew Guilin from the picture of my text book. The Elephant Trunk Hill was the same to the picture in my memory, but much authentic. The hill looks like an elephant drinking water with its trunk from afar. We took some pictures even though I know I wouldn’t forget Guilin.

Elephant Trunk Hill