Guilin - China Through Nature’s Eyes

When you first land in Guilin ( Guanxi Zhuang Province)what greets you is a cool breeze even in the warm Chinese Autumn. For Travellers going to Guilin during the Chinese National Festival (1st to 8th of October every year) another surprise awaits. It is that one week when the city’s designated flower, The Sweet Osmanthus, blooms. The name Guilin itself translates to “ The Forest of The Sweet Osmanthus”.
Guilin is famous for its natural history. It boasts of a 22000 strong population of lime stone mountains called Karst formations and the topography is called Karst topography. This happens because of melting of layers of soluble bedrock made of Limestone or Dolomite.
On our arrival before checking in at the hotel we had a Chinese Breakfast. It is called the Mifen Noodle Soup and it is the speciality of Guilin. Various cut vegetables like Spring onions, beans and onions along with meats like pork and lamb are put into a bowl of boiling hot rice noodles just removed from the boiling pot. It is then sprinkled generously with roasted peanuts. You then take it to a large kettle where there is some rice stock. Once you’ve poured yourself some stock, next to this is a station which has a lot of sauces ranging from the mildly flavoured Soya sauce to the fiery hot chilli-garlic sauce, again a speciality of this region. Add some sauce according to your preference and your yummy noodle soup is ready. All this for 3 Yuan! If you’ve taken a 5 am flight with the rubbish they pass-off in the name of food on the flight, you will really appreciate this food. This then became our favourite option for breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout our stay in Guilin.
Also on the roadside pushcarts they sell another speciality of the region, the Pickled Tofu. It is a thick layer of tofu (The hung-curd of soybean milk) with a spicy curry like sauce on top. Yummy again.
A Cable car ride upto the Yaoshan Mountain is a very nice experience. You can spot trekkers beneath your feet in the car. Also the scene from the top of the mountain is picture perfect. A layer of mist settling over the karst mountains gives a dream-like effect.
Karst formation has lead to the birth of many caves with stalactites and stalagmites in the area. One such cave is the Reed Flute Cave. Like all tourist attractions in China, the administration has made an attempt to make the place more attractive by lighting up the stalactites and stalagmites with many a colour lights. Although personally I find it a little too ‘Fruity’ for my taste it is a big hit with the locals and tourists. Some even get married in this cave, I was told, for a fee of course. With or without the lighting the cave is truly a marvel of nature and is quite beautiful. Like all Chinese stories each formation has been imagined to be a character. Dragon, snake, Demon, Monster and even the Statue of Liberty have been envisaged.
Mount Fubo is a small mountain named after the famed General Fubo who was a benevolent ruler of Guilin. One can climb up the mountain (if you have scaled the Great Wall, this is like child’s play) and get a view of the Guilin City. Quite a view, I must say.
The Elephant Trunk Hill is another attraction of Guilin. The Rock formation gives you the impression (with the help of a little imagination, of course) of the head of an elephant with its trunk in the water. In fact there is similar rock formation visible at a distance from this very place which is even more close to the shape of an elephant’s trunk. There are also some ancient Pagoda’s in this area.
A Cruise along the River Li ( a arduous 5 hour long journey ) is also on the cards. The Journey begins in Guilin City and the ferry boat takes you to a village called Yangshou and drops you off there.
The cruise gives you a glimpse of the topography in General, the beautiful undulations of the Li River, daily lifestyles of fishermen, shepards on the banks and womenfolk doing dishes or washing clothes by the river. The ferry staff will also be selling you strange stuff like snake-wine ( A Jaar full of snakes topped up with wine). One can also see some ancient villages from the Tang dynasty.
Yangshou is a village only in name. It has something called the West Street where the locals will be selling wares ranging from fridge-magnets to fake Gucci Purses. It is like a shopping district of a metropolitan city!
Guilin is a pleasant diversion from Cities like Beijing and Shanghai and one would like it to be that way!
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China 2000 Years Ago

I am in the City of Xian (pr. Sheeyan). This is the city from whose eyes you can see the history of China. From the Lantian Man to the Bronze Casting techniques developed in the Zhou dynasty period to The Terracotta Warriors of the Qin (pr. Chin) Emperor Shihuang to the Travelogues of the Silk Route during the Tan Dynasty, it is all here.
Like the Patterns emerging through a kaleidoscope, a plethora of historic patterns are forever merging and disintegrating in your mind. The Shaanxi History Museum is resplendent with the fossils, artifacts and antiques of the whole spectrum of the colorful Chinese history. But even more majestic is the Museum of The Terracotta Warriors. 8000 soldiers made of clay make quite a visual in your psyche and remain there forever. Infantry, kneeling archers, standing archers, officers, commanders and generals stand tall at the service of the Emperor who believed that this army would serve him in his afterlife on Earth (apparently he did not believe that his soul would go to heaven!).
Modern Xian is a mix of Mall-Brand culture and traditional native people (whom the locals call ' Minority People') especially the Chinese Muslims who have a street dedicated to their community. The Modern Structures go hand-in-hand with the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower of the Tang Dynasty.
The Xian experience is very unlike that of any other city. Be it the Choing Qing (pr. Choing Ching)cuisine (although not truly from this area, which is a medley of vegetables and meat which is to be put into a pot of boiling soup that is kept next to you where you add your own sauces ranging from mildly flavored to fiery hot!) or the relaxing Tui-na Massage or the Tang Dynasty Palace Music & Dances show ( both of which are very much recommended by the author)each experience enriches your mind, the feeling which I could describe only as 'Floating in the air'.
Indians are in for a treat because here is a Pagoda called the Wild Goose Pagoda established by a Buddhist Monk called Xuan Zang who is better known in India as Hiuen Tsang. Yep, he is the same fellow who visited India during the reign of Asoka The Great and carried back with him the philosophy, the scriptures and the comments of Buddhism. He is pivotal in the spread of Buddhism in China.
Just go to Xian and enjoy!
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Travels in The Middle Kingdom - Beijing

About the Place: Beijing has been the capital of historic China since 1700 years. it is the 'Northern Capital' (the name Beijing means just that) and the climate is generally cold. There is also snowfall in the winter. The city is riddled with the Chinese Poplar Tree which is like a fern tree and helps the city fight cold winds.
It is also important from a modern China perspective.
What to see: The Famous Olympic Structures : The Water Cube (a favorite of Michael Phelps, as he won all the 10 medals in swimming here. He described the pool to be a little deeper therefore he could get a better 'float'), The Birds Nest and tHe Athletics Building. The Dragon's Line the passes between the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube which is supposed to facilitate the passage of the Dragon through the city bringing Good Luck. The differently shaped Morgan Plaza Hotel which has become famous ever since Bill Gates stayed there for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The Tienanmen Square (capacity 500,000 people!), The neighboring Communist Party Head Quarters, Mao's Mausoleum and The very famous Forbidden City. Forbidden City was out of bounds for common people until 1924. It has some invaluable collection of artifacts from the Ming Dynasty period onward. In my Opinion forbidden City is to Beijing what The Louvre is to Paris.
The Summer Palace: This is a symbol of the luxurious life the Royalty indulged in. The important landmarks are The Kunming Lake, The Marble Boat, The Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, The Seventeen Arch Bridge, The Tower Of Buddhist Incense, The Longevity Hill and the famed Long Corridor (700+ m long) with it's detailed paintings.
The Great Wall of China: The Ju Yong Pass part of the Wall is in the vicinity of Beijing city. This is an imposing structure which is 6259 km long! Climbing the wall makes you realize why the Chinese people are so lean and fit! The Anngle of the wall is so acute in some places you feel you are climbing a vertical wall with steps! After all that Huffing and Puffing when you do reach one of the watch-towers the view of the pass and the part of the wall visible is simply breath-taking! the best part is it makes one realize the level of fitness he or she is at because hoards of senior citizens will be climbing the wall with very little effort and I at least felt like Humpty-Dumpty before them.
What to Eat: Beijing has no dearth of the spectrum of cuisines from around the world.
For Meat Lovers: There is the Xianji Restaurant which serves a Jianxi Province Cuisine and what I liked there was Braised Pork with Vegetables, The Plain Fried Rice, The Braised Pepper (The Cillies of China are not at all spicy), The Noodle Soup and The Curried Tofu
For Indian Food Sticklers There are ample restaurants for the Indian Food Lovers, the famous one being called Ganges. You get even Dosas there.
For the Vegetarians: China is a difficult country for hard-core vegetarians. Nevertheless Indian restaurants serve the usual fare with Dal Tadka and Rice and the Curd quality is very good too.
What to avoid: The guides would love to take you the Pearl Factory and The Jade Factory since they get generous commissions from these factory outlets. But The stuff is so prohibitively expensive that you'd not touch them with the long end of a stick! Very Avoidable since the same stuff is available at a fraction of the cost outside.
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