"Is there a chinese woman following me?"

September 17, 2007, Yangshuo, China

Adam: The answer to the question above, posed to us by a man running down the steps at Moon Hill, was yes. In fact, one of the many women at moon hill who were trying feverishly to sell us water, coke, or postcards, was chasing after this man even as he fled from her insistent demand that he buy "just one." Amazingly, in this communist country we have found some of the most persistent capitalists around.

Valerie: We arrived in Yangshuo yesterday afternoon after a brief morning flight from Shanghai. Yangshuo, a small city in southwest China, is very picturesque, mostly because of the limestone peaks that surround the town. Today we rented some bikes and went for a ride out of town to Moon Hill. The climb up to moon hill was a bit challenging after a two-hour bike ride. We climbed 1,281 steps to the top -- this is why the Chinese are so "slim" -- they have "steps" everywhere.

(Us in front of "Moon Hill.")

Adam: It is true that the Chinese are big fans of steps. Some of the most impressive scenery we've seen in this country has been from steps. But the views from our bike ride were quite nice as well. At one point, we were riding up along the Yulong River and we stopped to take this picture in the valley created by the Karst formations.



Valerie: After our morning bike ride we went down to the docks and rented a bamboo raft for a relaxing ride down the Li River. Admittedly, at first I was worried we would not make it back, the bamboo raft did not look that "seaworthy" and much bigger cruise ships were passing us along on the river, creating large waves that rocked our little ship. But the ride was well worth it.

(View of the Karst formations from the Li River.)

(Our transportation down the river)

Adam: Afterwards we walked along the river through some pomelo plantations. One of the food highlights of Yangshuo is a dish best translated as "beer fish." It is made of river fish, beer, chilies, ginger, onions, and tomatoes, and is quite tasty. Tomorrow Valerie and I will go to a cooking course where we get to learn how to cook some of the other regional specialties.

Up Next: Back to Hong Kong via overnight train.