After checking out of our hotel, our bus took us to the dock for the Li River Cruise. Everyone on the ship had been assigned seats, and our guide said mine was at a window. We opened this large window, and I took most of my pictures from my seat. Once I walked up to the viewing deck at the top of the ship, but our window view was much better. During the cruise, we had a mediocre Chinese buffet lunch, but that was no surprise because our guide had warned us to eat a big breakfast.
still misty
after the sun came out
Water Buffalo
Local Fisherman Using Cormorants to Fish
The weather was misty at the beginning of the cruise, but after a while the sun came out. The whole cruise felt like I was cruising through a Chinese painting. Four hours later, we disembarked at Yangshuo. It was hot and muggy as we walked through the very interesting crafts market. None of us felt much like shopping, though. Besides, we had spent all of our yuan on the spectacular show we would see this evening.
We checked into our hotel and cooled down in our air-conditioned rooms. At 6:00 we went to dinner. The food was excellent at this family-owned restaurant. One of the dishes was eggplant strips in fermented soybean sauce. Soybeans have to set in water for a month to be fermented. Fish cooked in beer was another specialty. We were served ten different dishes, and all were delicious.
After that, we went to Impression San Jie Liu, the spectacular outdoor show which was created by the man who created the Opening Ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics. A cast of 600 local farmers, fishermen, children, and other people who work or go to school during the day participate in this elaborate production. From March to November there are two to three productions every night except when there is heavy rain. The lighting, sound, and effects were superb. It would be mind-boggling to rehearse, make costumes that light up, paddle boats, and manipulate long strips of red silk cloth attached to both sides of the water stage with mountains in the background.
It has been hot today.
5232steps, 2.2 miles