My first visit to Guilin was in Oct 2009, as it is one of my favorite destinations, I always wanted to go back and in May 2011, I was in Guilin again together with my hubby and some friends after a business convention at Genting Highland.
We love the unspoiled countryside, the natural landscaping and enjoyed the beauty of the mountains and rivers in Guilin. A Chinese Poet has once described : " The River looks like a blue silk ribbon, and the mountains resemble emerald hairpins" Though it was raining during our few days in Guilin, we were still able to enjoy our holiday in Guilin and Yangshuo and visited the Fur Lake, Xanadu, experienced the river cruise at Lijiang (Li River), watched the Osprey catching fish at Yulong River, and of course the highlight of our trip, "The Impression Liu SanJie", an evening show performed in the waters of the Li River which was directed by Mr Zhang Yimou, who was also the director for the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing.
The Air Asia flight from KL to Guilin in the morning, reserved a RIGHT window seat,
we were able to view the sunrise from the aircraft... beautiful !!!
Love the golden color which brighten up my seat area in the aircraft...
4 hours flight from Kuala Lumpur, we arrived Guilin at 10:30am and of course, had the popular rice noodles(we called meehoon in Malaysia) as recommended by nickee. Love it very much, the texture of the noodle is like spaghetti and the difference is ... it prepared in Chinese style.
Guilin Airport and our first meal in Guilin, the rice noodles
A visit to the Fur Lake
A visit to Xanadu on a rainy day
River cruise at Xanadu
Some of the scenes at Xanadu
River cruise at Lijiang (Li River) on a rainy day
In the evening. the "Impression Liu SanJie" - the sensational evening show performed in the largest natural theater in the world with the 2km waters of the Li River as the stage and the 12 misty mountains as the backdrop. The show was directed by Mr Zhang Yimou, who was also the director for the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing. The show involved more than 600 artists & villagers.
View of the natural stage - It was raining.....
every audience was given a disposable rain coat at the entrance
but luckily the rain stopped when the show started
Impression Liu SanJie
The following morning, we had our cruise in the Yulong river, the "Ah Mei" entertained us with the Liu SanJie Chinese folk songs and in return, our Sabahan group has also come out with our folk song "Rasa Sayang" .
Our Sabahan group with the "Rasa Sayang"
& the "Ah Mei" was singing folk songs with the Chinese Scholar in a debating way
We also watched the Osprey catching fish for the fisherman, the fisherman ties a string around the Osprey's neck just tight enough so that it won't swallow the fish. Once a fish is caught by the Osprey (bird), the fisherman pulls the Osprey in and puts its head up, while the fish tail is still can be seen at the bird's mouth, he then "massages" the fish out of the bird's mouth. The fish is then in the fisherman's bucket ..... no hooks, no baits ... but it looks weird.
Osprey catching fish at Yulong River
Yulong River
Silver Cave
SOME OF OUR TASTES IN GUILIN & YANGSHOU
A special dish during lunch, very crispy and delicious
The spicy taufu & yam cake
Osmanthus Trees are commonly grown in Guilin and usually flower during late autumn or early winter which giving out nice fragrant smell. The word "Guilin "means "Osmanthus Forest" in Chinese.
Osmanthus trees in Guilin
Osmanthus Ginger Tea - Good to have a cup on a rainy day
And... our Guilin trip ends....
