Beijing
Beijing 
was
a starting point of this trip, but except for one afternoon walk around
the hotel, I had not time to
explore this interesting city. From Beijing, I flew to
Guilin in Guangxi province.
Guilin
Guilin is one of the most famous tourist destinations of China. The river Li
flows through karst region with many limestone peaks towering around it. It
creates very picturesque views. However, I found the city itself less remarkable
than the country around and spent only one night here. First, I headed to the
mountains northwest of Guilin.
Longsheng and Longji
Longsheng is a small country town deep in the mountains in a region heavily
populated by minority people. It is famous for Longji - the Dragon's Backbone
Rice Terraces (about 20km away) - an amazing engineering work of terraces and
terraces of rice fields in the steep hills surrounding farmer villages. First I have
explored hills around Longsheng to avoid tourists and get a feel for the
real life in the country here. It was a serious hike trying to follow the disappearing trails in these really steep hills, but
it was rewarding. However, I have
to admit that the experience of the Longji surpassed this experience greatly,
despite the tourists. I hiked further to the hills to a Yao village and
ended up being invited to a farmer house for a lunch (it is a way for people in
this village further away from the tourist action to make some extra
money). The wooden houses are very plain inside. They are very well built though and
quite large. They stand on pillars and the area underneath the house is used to animals.
Yangshuo
Yangshuo is a little town just south of Guilin and it is a backpackers
hang-out. Very laid-back with good and cheap accommodation and food, it is a
place to spend several days and relax. The countryside around the town is
amazing and even though many of the interesting caves and hills were turned into
tourist traps, one can easily avoid those and head on a bike trip to the fields
and travel among villages admiring the great scenery. I did leisure 30km trip the
first afternoon and more demanding 60km bike-ride the next day . It was a great way to explore the area.
Hong Kong
Initially I planned to take a bus from Yangshuo to Hong Kong (about 12h). Then I
decided to save some time a buy a plane ticket to Shenzhen (just 1hour bus ride north
of Hong Kong). Unfortunately, the plane was delayed and I spent basically the
entire day on this trip as well. However, the airline showed great respect for
its customers - we were sent to a hotel, got lunch and a hotel room to rest
until the airplane arrived. In Hong Kong I stayed in a guesthouse where my room
was barely twice the size of the bed. The illusion of space was created by large
mirrors on two walls. But it was very clean and the owner was helpful. Hong Kong
is an impressive city with great modern architecture, nice green parks and some
traditional market streets. I really enjoyed views of the city from Victoria
Peak
on the Hong Kong island.
