Entering mainland China: Yangshuo

Day 3 continues: Arriving to Yangshuo

The high speed train ride to Guilin was a great experience and unlike what I had read from some blogs, extremely easy with no hassle. The 2nd class is great, I would suggest to use more money only if you want have the business class as an experience.

As I stepped out from the train station, it really hit me hard that now we really are in China: only sign writing everywhere and no one spoke English. I knew I had to take some bus to bus station and then another bus to Yangshuo, but that’s it. I soon found 2 bus stops and the bus lines luckily had also English route description (written in super tiny font). 

Trainride views

The bus (number 22) came after few minutes and I tried to offer my 100 CNY, cause had just changed money in Germany and had no smaller bills yet. The driver didn’t speak any English (of course), but didn’t take my money. Luckily a young man behind me translated that it’s 2 CNY and no change available. As I asked where to change money, he offered to pay my ticket. It’s only like 30 cents in euros, but still I was so happy and grateful for his help. I was told before, that Chinese people tend to be ignorant and selfish, but my first meeting with Chinese person proved it completely wrong. Thank you to that amazing guy, he really made my day. He even made sure that I was sure that I knew where to get off since his stop was before mine.

Bus stops, luckily also some English with super small print. 

The bus stop names were announced also in English, but the sound from loudspeakers was so unclear that I had really hard time understanding the names. Managed to get off at right stop and didn’t see any busses anywhere. Great. Then some lady asked me “Yangshuo?”, and as I nodded she told me with body language me to follow her. Of course my first thought was that she’s trying to scam me (guess I’ve travelled too much in those countries where everyone tries to get money from you, especially in India and South-East Asia), but followed her anyways. My suspicions didn’t get any easier once we walked through a very shady “aisle” with only some random vendors there. We arrived to a small kiosk in the end of the aisle, where couple of ladies where sitting. After a moment of very loud Chinese discussion (they always seem to speak super loud), I was shown a pink paper with the sum I knew was right: 35 CNY.

I paid it but was still a bit suspicious. Instead of giving me a ticket, they pointed to go to a really old rickshaw that definitely saw its best day years ago. I jumped in with driver murmuring about my luggage. Me and the 2 Chinese fellow travelers tried not to fall out while the lady drove like maniac on a bumpy road, honking non-stop and passing everyone from left and right. I was mostly laughing, cause those are usually the most memorable funny stories to tell afterwards. It felt like the ride took forever (really about 25 min) and I actually thought that she’s going to drive us all the way to Yangshuo :D Luckily not, and we finally arrived to a street filled with busses. The lady pointed a bus for me, shouted something to the driver and drove away (still had no ticket). I got in and ticket lady just passed by me, so apparently everything was fine. 

The bus ride was good (again I was the only non-Chinese), but arrived to Yangshuo bus station which was quite far from the city. I was so tired that just took the closest rickshaw to get to my hostel. He dropped me off in the end of a walking road and pointed me the way. I realized quite soon, that it wasn’t the right place and located my position with a tourist map (didn’t have any internet connection. With lots of swearwords and frustration later I found my way with the help of a local lady (again, thank you for these awesome people). Lessons learned: in China there are million different bus and train stations in the city. Make sure you know to which one you’re going to.

I stayed in a very spacious 6-bed dorm, with only one Chinese guy staying in the same room. We “discussed” something via Google translator and all of a sudden he just lighted a cigarette in the room (basically in front of a no smoking sign). That was one of those moments, when you just think “WTF is happening here” and want to start laughing cause it feels so absurd. I signed with body language that no smoking and showed the signed, and he put his cigarette away looking very surprised, like it was the first time smoking was not allowed inside. At that point I just had to turn away cause I couldn’t help laughing at the whole situation.

Since it was getting pretty late, I headed out with an umbrella and towards the river side, since it was told to be one of the best parts in Yangshuo. Walked around a bit and pinned some good looking cafes/restaurants so I would find them again. River was pretty, but as it started raining really heavily, I decided to go for a dinner. While walking back, I spotted one Chinese girl looking for restaurants in the same street, and asked if she wanted to share a dinner. We went to this very local restaurant called David King (probably something completely else in Chinese) with only couple of tables and no menu. Luckily my friend could order some local specialties for us. She actually used to live in the area and was visiting to see how it was nowadays. We ended up having long conversations (and lots of tea) with her and the restaurant owner (translated by my friend). Amazing food and super fun night!

Local specialities at David King: Beer fish, some curry meat with potatoes, and crabs herb-chili-oil

Super cute decoration in small David King restaurant

Day 4: Scooter, tea and amazing views

I slept a bit later since I had hard time falling asleep (thanks jetlag). Got out around 10am and rented a scooter from hostel. As I still didn’t have my SIM card and therefore no connection, I had a real old school paper map with me (not super good one). The road was pretty simple, but there has often sand or water on the road, since it had been raining a lot. After driving uphill for a while the views started to be amazing with all the karst mountains (e.g. Avatar movie was filmed in an area not too far away from here). 

The map I relied on (no wonder why I got lost)

My ride and awesome pink helmet (Hey, I'm Else, 30 yrs old :D)

I was looking for a viewpoint and thought I had driven a lot further than I actually was, so followed a sign that looked like the right way. Ended up to a parking lot with a sign “Seven Star Tea Plantation”. Decided to have a look, which ended up being a great idea. I paid 60 CNY to get in and was given a traditional hat and a basket (had no idea why). Then a local girl walked up the hill with me and explained me some things about the tea plantation. We went to a viewpoint, but it was occupied by wedding photo shoot. The views were once again amazing, just can’t get enough of the beauty of this area. As the girl explained me how to pic tea and put the leaves to my basket, I soon understood why I was given the basket: to pick up my own tea to be prepared in the restaurant. She left me there saying, that I should have about half a basket to have good tea. Great, this will take forever.

There were only about 5 people in the area, and started talking with the only non-Chinese person there. She was an Austrian student living in Shanghai, so luckily I also managed to practice some German. After finishing the picking, we learned how to prepare Chinese tea, and what are the differences between black, green and white tea: it’s the same plant but dried in different ways. Learning something new every day! Got to make my own tea to take with me, will tell you later how it was.

Picking my tea with pretty decent views

Making my tea: picking, drying and cooking.

Cooking tea the Chinese way: 1. Heat water, 2. Put dried tea leaves to a small cup, 3. Pour water (about 1 desiliter) to a cup and cover with lid, 4. Pour the liquid to a bowl, 5. Pour the tea to minicups (couple of tablespoons), 6. Drink, 7. Repeat (multiple times)

Lunch with amazing views at tea plant

We were heading to the same direction, so decided to go together. She also had a better map, so wouldn’t maybe get lost again. We drove like an hour with couple of stops to see the views (and take photos) before arriving to the most popular view point in the area, Xianggong mountain. The scenery can be also found in 20 CNY bill. We climbed up really steep stairs and got up sweaty and out of breath, just to witness all the Chinese women there with high heels and fancy clothes. Seriously I have started to believe that Chinese women do not sweat like at all and some kind of superpowers to climb up all the stairs without looking tired. Not fair! But the view was (once again) worth every step and sweat drop.

20 yuan bill 

To see the sunset, we headed to another viewpoint about 45-60 min away. Got almost there before locals stopped us and told that the road was cut (my friend spoke good Chinese). My thought was of course, that they’re trying to scam us to pay for the ride (sorry, can’t help it), but as we drove a bit further, we arrived to a river bank that had flooded over the road. After discussing the options, we decided to pay them the 20 CNY each to drive us to the other side with their better motorcycle. My friend got a good one, but I had to jump to the back of a normal scooter, about ideal with my own one. So my friend got through the river easily, while my ride just stopped in the middle of the river. Great. Luckily after couple of tries the driver managed to start it again and drove me to the entrance. Surprise surprise, had to climb steep stairs, but didn’t have to regret it this time either. The sunset wasn’t maybe the most amazing because of the clouds, but the view was great. Ended up having a picnic up there with a Chinese couple (we had the leftovers from lunch with us, in China this seems to be very common). Drive back was a lot longer than I expected, more than 20 km, but most of it was along a highway, which made it a lot faster. Made it safe almost back to hostel, but ended up slipping and falling in the very last turn, about 10 meters away from hostel. Luckily I had like almost no speed so just got a bruised knee and muddy pants. Could’ve been lot worse!

The flooded river (road should continue there in the middle)

Clowdy sunset from Cuiping viewpoint.

Day 5: Bus to Dazhai

Woke up early to catch my 8 am bus to Dazhai (village in Longji rice terrace area). This time the bus left pretty close, so walked there about 10-15 min. Left early enough to stop at a rice noodle restaurant recommended by my hostel staff. It was good and cheap (10 CNY), but had once again no clue what was actually in it. Sometimes it’s better not to know :D The bus driver was waiting for me at the parking lot entrance, so made it super easy for me. Bus even left 10 min early, since I was the only passenger from Yangshuo. On the way I realized that I forgot to stop at ATM, so asked the driver if we could stop at one (thanks Google translator). We stopped in Guilin and the driver pointed me the way for ATM. He said that we leave at 9:13 (it was 9:06), so I had to run all the way to ATM and back, just to realize that he meant 9:30. Well, got money, which is the most important. Despite the fact that Chinese people like to listen music with no headphones and tend to speak super loudly, the ride was really nice and smooth.

Breakfast (once again, no idea what was in it, but it was good :D)

Will tell more about Dazhai then in my next post, hiking in the middle of rice terraces was definitely one of the most memorable experiences in my life.

Accommodation: Yangshuo Travelling with hostel

Really nice and spacious hostel with AC (a must with the crazy heat and humidity in Yangshuo). Staff was super friendly and organized everything I was asking for. Didn't try the breakfast, but heard it's really good (western style). The location is in the "tourist area" but you can escape the crowds by walking about 3 minutes. Bring earplugs, cause traffic on the main street is a bit noisy if your window is on that side.

Food: 

Restaurant: David King

Coffee: Zermo Coffee 

In the same area there are super cute cafes and restaurants. Only 5-10 min walk from from tourist hell.

Morning coffee at Zermo coffee

First stop: City life in Hong Kong

Background

We will have a 4-week study trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzen starting from mid June to mid July. I took one week off to see Hong Kong and hike in Southern China before the actual program starts. 

First stop: Hong Kong

I had to pack way too much, cause need clothes for business, hiking and for free time.
I'm gonna hate carrying all this!

Day 1: Arriving to Hong Kong

I had a 2,5h layover in Helsinki, long enough to have a coffee with my little brother at the airport and shops some Finnish snacks for travelling and hiking. My flight left from Helsinki at 16:40 and landed in Hong Kong 7:30 in the morning. Since my body didn’t really understand that it would be wise to sleep around 18 German time (wonder why :D), I arrived to Hong Kong dead tired after just napping a bit.

Little brother in Helsinki <3

Hong Kong Airport was a very pleasant surprise: it’s huge, but super convenient and fast. It took me only about 40 min to walk through the terminal, get through immigration, get by bag and find my way to the bus terminal, even toilet break included. Public transportation in Hong Kong is really good, and from the airport you can easily take an underground train or bus to the city. Bus was a slower option, but more attractive for me since I wanted to see more instead of travelling underground, and the also bus took me directly to the hostel while train would have required a change. With all the luggage I always try to minimize walking, especially in these places where you sweat like crazy the second you leave the air-conditioned spaces.

While I was super tired, I also knew that the weather forecast said it should be nice during the day and then just raining from the late afternoon, so just decided to suck it up and go out. Like I always do in new cities, I just started walking to some direction and ended up seeing the avenue of stars (like Hollywood boulevard with stars) and some pretty parks. Took the Star Ferry to Hong Kong island and there hopped on a double decker tram to do some DYI sightseeing. It took like one hour and with about 30 cents gave me a good idea of the business city and then the more residential areas. Btw, it’s crazy how high and narrow all the buildings are, no wonder why HK has like the biggest density. Also saw the place where the demonstrations took place the day before (and 2 days after). Hopped on a metro to drive back to Central (HK island city center).

Hong Kong island

Double decker tram. Public transportation in Hong Kong is really good, cheap and safe

Hong Kong gave a whole new meaning to 'concrete jungle'. The city has basically only these crazy high skyscrapers, SoHo was the only a bit flatter area.

Walked a bit in SoHo to see street art and then headed to Victoria Peak cable car just to find out that it’s not working at the moment. The QR-code for more info didn’t really help me cause I had no internet but found out that there are busses going up. Found the bus and this time even had the exact amount for the ticket (you get no change in buses/trams). The bus ride was quite scary one with really narrow road with huge drop on the other side and wall on the other, and crazy wannabe F1 driver. But we made it. The view was amazing once the rain started and the thick fog disappeared. Also met some guys up there who used to live in HK and they took me to this hidden restaurant that had no signs or anything to know that it exists. After more dim sums it was time to go to bed after staying awake for almost 40h.

Skyline view from Victoria Peak

Mad skills: managed to capture a lightning twice!

About the weather forecast: learned the first day that if it says it’s going to rain the whole day, it’s probably raining like 10-30 min some times during the day, so no need to skip all the outdoor activities. Just take your umbrella with you, and if it rains enjoy some amazing food or a cup of tea. The rain will most likely be over before you get a sugar overdose. Hong Kong has some amazing hiking places, but had to skip those because of the rainy weather. Maybe next time then!

Day 2: Shopping

Normally I try to force myself to get up quite early to overcome jet lag faster, but today I just needed to sleep so bad that I shut the alarm at 9 and slwpt til 11. Great decision. I was planning to walk around in the Mong Kok area and then head to HK island ro see mire of the street art. Somehow shops and cafes in Mong Kok caught me and ended up spending most of the day there. Bought e.g. a new carry-on bag since my old one's wheel was broken. I got really excited when I realized that most of the clothes were designed for short people. Midget heaven!! I found a bit weird that it's not allowed to try the clothes on, but some stores offered a possibility to return the clothes if they didn't fit. 

On my way to Mong Kok along the crazy long main road in Kowloon. Also my hostel was located by this road.

Since the train tickets need to be picked up from the train station, I decided to do that already the day before so I wouldn't have to worry about it the next day. The train station was huge but like the airport, very well organized. It reminded me a lot of airports. There was no line so picking up the ticket with reservation code and passport took me only about 2 min. 

Like mentioned, the weather in Hong Kong changed super fast from sunny to cloudy to foggy to super heavy rain. It started drizzling when I was about 30 m from the train station and had to run the last 10 cause it rained so heavily. Still wanted to see the music and light show (every day at 20, free) so dropped my shopping bags to hostel and headed to riverside (don't know if the water between Kowloon and HK island count as river or sea) with my umbrella. It rained like crazy but the show was nice. Afterwards I wanted to get Hong Kong specialty, roasted goose, but couldn't find the place with my offline map and ended up going to a local place for dim sum soup (which is always a good option).

My feeling in Hong Kong. Can't believe how much I can sweat :D Pic from Comic Street in Kowloon Park.

Day 3: Travelling

Headed for breakfast with some new friends from the hostel and then directly to the train station. I thought I had more than enough time when arriving about 45min before the train departure, but got really in a rush. First I had to go to ticket and passport check, then security check to rush to the immigration line (had to pass the tax free shop in between). After waiting for a while and clearing the passport and visa control, had just enough time to walk to the line when the boarding started (yes, there were 4 gates and a boarding time for long haul trains). High-speed train was super comfortable (even 2nd class) and every car even had own "flight attendant" (looked exactly like one) who served food and drinks (for extra pay). 

The 3,5h train ride from Hong Kong to Guilin was super comfortable except the literally constant announcements e.g. to mind the gap. The warning announcements and signs here are then another story and allow you to have a good laugh almost wherever you go.

Food

Tasted local treat pineapple bun (just like a Finnish bun with no cardamom) from the first bakery I found (and there are many in HK!). Other than that, I tried local tret: egg tart and pineapple bun plain and with butter and with pork (pork was the sweetest one, funny). Egg pancake was mentioned as a must, so did try it but for me the "pancake" tasted like paper and mostly enjoyed the ice cream. Let me know if you know a great place so I could give it another chance when going back to HK in July!

Left: Top: pineapple bun (with pork inside), Bottom: egg tart
Right: Top: pineapple bun with butter, Bottom: egg pancake

For lunch I went to the famous dim sum restaurant Tim Ho Wan. It was totally worth the little search, while I had some trouble with navigation. Btw, there are 4 of those restaurants in HK, totally recommend.

Dim Sum at Tim Ho Wan

Might not look so good, but it was delicious. Like most of the times, had no idea what's really in it :D

Passion by Gerard Dubois was a cute French style boulangerie with great coffee and delicious pastry, quiche, sandwiches, etc., huge recommendation for this!

For my next visit: roasted goose (a must try in HK)

Accommodation: Rainbow Lodge HK

Really good location right next to underground stop and only 600 m walk to main train station. By the noisy main street, so make sure to take earplugs with you. Cozy place, but quite tiny dorm (like every apartment in HK, so if you want more space be ready to pay a lot more than 130 HKD (~15 €)/night. For my 2-night stay it was great, just wanted an easy location, bed and shower.

Ready for my next adventures!