Yangshuo

On Friday we took a cruise down the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo. The Hotel of Modern Art is located between the two. The cruise was about 4+ hours long and traveled through the karst rock formations that have made this part of China famous. These formations are very tall vertical jagged craggy looking things that line the river. It was very beautiful, but unfortunately it rained and was foggy for most of the ride. This made visibility poor and not a lot of fun to be out on the boat deck, but we took was was handed to us. Our boat (which carried at least 200 people) was one of probably 50 on the river that day. And at $60+ a head... it's a lucrative business.
The boat docked in Yangshuo, where we stayed at the Paradise Hotel for the night. Technically it's a 5 star hotel, but remember this is based on the Chinese rating system. (We have now stayed in 2,4 & 5 star, and apparently moldy bathroom tiles are a must have no matter what the rating!) the only hotel we haven't seen mold in was HOMA. I also must mention that this 5 star hotel set us back $90 for the night. When our river tour guide found out we were statying there he was quick to mention that only rich people could afford to stay there. That made me feel somewhat uncomfortable and sort of... sad or.... just not quite right knowing that to his standards $90 a night was extravagant. It made me think about the extreme overspending and unnecessary consumerism in the US. It also led Jpe and I to a discussion about when the tide was going to turn (or is it tables that turn??) for the Chinese and what this would mean for our own country's future. We've experienced a lot of super friendly, eager, smart people who are hungry for progress. And we've only been here 10 days! Gives one a lot to think about.
back to Yangshuo- we really liked this "village" of 40,000. Joe described it as being cooler that Boulder wishes it was. Like Boulder, it is nestled on the edge of the local rock formations. It has some tourists areas but also some cool little bars and people. However, unlike Boulder, it is not crawling with yuppies, but seems to maintain a working class status. We found a little bar with wireless called Loove where we sat a had 2 gigantic beers and a glass of milk for under $2. Audrey found some folks who were entertained by her curly hair as well as a little dog who she could chase around. We found some dinner at a brick oven pizza place which was about as good as generic cardboard pizza. The beers were cheap, so all was good. Audrey discovered a little boy in the courtyard who had a battery powered motorcycle toy and she hopped right on. He shared with her and even let her drive! Very sweet. We did a little shopping where Audrey drew several crowds, then went back to the hotel. The next day we spent a few hours in the morning wandering around and found a nice park complete with some little kiddy 'amusement parks.' Audrey rode a little roller coaster and spinny carnival ride and loved it! If it were up to her we would still be there. Alas we had to leave, located the bus station and hopped one to Guilin to make our way to Longsheng. We all really liked Yangshuo and wished we had a full 24 hours there.