Wednesday.
On arrival into Guilin, I had to navigate my way on two buses to the hostel through rain and the cold with no English signs and limited mandarin knowledge. Where had I taken myself to?Fortunately the group of people I had heard speak English on the train were going to the same hostel so I tagged myself onto their group and onto a very busy bus.
Given the size of my bag, I stayed downstairs as walking up the bus steps was just not an option. Although we were on the bus and knew we needed to get of at Guilin South train station, the map of stops was in Chinese and we had no idea where to get off. One of the guys from the other group, whose name was Pedro, attempted to ask these two Chinese girls who were wearing identical cat ear hair bands if they spoke English. They giggled at him instead. Typical.
However, we were none the wiser so he tried again, this time using an app on his phone to try and translate. It sort of worked as they were able to tell us we were 12 stops away. Unfortunately the bus got particularly busy and it proved hard for anyone to move past the monstrosity that was my backpack. Life was great.
We finally arrived at the hostel and it was time for a well deserved beer and some dinner. Two of the guys, Felix and Ming , wanted to source some duck neck for dinner so we went in search. Whilst wondering in a shopping mall, there was a “9D experience”. 20 yuan (£2) for 10 minutes – why not? I chose the roller coaster option and I spent the next 10 minutes on a roller coaster in a virtual reality and needless to say I came off it feeling a little sick and dizzy so a good £2 well spent.
Dinner was clay pot rice that was super spicy. No duck necks.
Headed back to hostel for beers and a night out in Guilin. China nightlife is bizarre. Girls were giving free drinks out left right and centre and the choice of music was ridiculous. I am the Music Man mixed with some horrific techno beats was not my choice of fun. However hostel Tsingtao in 600ml bottles for £1.20 was very enjoyable.
Thursday.
Up early and feeling far from fresh for a trip to the rice terraces. 2 and a half hours and a replaced flat tyre later we arrived. Still raining we bought some snazzy plastic footwear to attempt to keep our feet dry. This was today’s attire:
Unfortunately due to the rain the views weren’t great but we managed to see some pretty impressive views. Again, millions of steps which was a bit of a mare but I certainly couldn’t complain about being cold anymore!
Quiet night in at the hostel with dinner there being enough in one portion to fill a family of 6. All for £3. Bargain. I also needed to do washing. It was only after I took it out of the machine that I realised there was no dryer and it was raining outside. Good start.
Friday.
Another early start but this time we were off on a four hour cruise down the Li river and into Yangshou. The trip is a popular one for Chinese tourists (which there were many of) as the scenery is picturesque and can be seen on a 20 Yuan banknote.
We didn’t have quite the same view but the rain didn’t make it any less impressive. A four hour trip might have been a bit excessive though. Lunch provided consisted of bean sprouts, pickles, egg and some plain rice. Not great – explained why everyone else on board bought their own picnics – we obviously missed that memo.
Yangshou itself is a pretty place. Much more traditional unlike the concrete city that was Guilin but as a result was much more touristy. The group were keen to head up to the tv tower on top of one of the mountains so we acquired a map and made our way.
Ming was directing us and told us to cut through the market. The market was almost deserted. It started by selling some typical weird animals such as eels and frogs and fruit I’ve never seen but as we ventured further in we began to see the dead animal carcasses. It started with ducks cut down the middle and hanging limp over a table but it very quickly descended into goats, rabbits and sadly cats and dogs.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I saw a cage with 5 or 6 kittens in there waiting for their fate and it nearly bought a tear to my eye. How can people think it’s a normal thing to eat? I made a swift exit after that not wanting to see any more upsetting sights. I nearly made it until I saw the remains of a dog, still with teeth intact. This market was in a different world.
We finally made it to the base of the route up to the tv tower. The steps started again and I have to admit, I did not feel like doing that again so I returned back to Yangshou with Pedro in search of other sights and a toilet. We met back up with the others an hour or so later and headed back to Guilin.
Another night was planned at Muse so after some more cheap beer and not so cheap G&Ts we returned. This time it was short lived for me though as the novelty of the appalling music and performances had worn off. Smoking is still allowed in clubs in China too so the air was pretty stuffy too. After a couple of hours we headed back to bed leaving Felix and Thiemo pulling some edgy shapes on stage.
Saturday. This morning we could lie in. I’d booked a flight to Beijing in the afternoon so I said my goodbyes and headed off to the airport after lunch.
See you soon Beijing!
lifeshouldbeonebigholiday. 
