Yangshuo China Trip--Pictures added

We recently took at trip to what many consider to be China’s most beautiful province, Guilin. A 2.5 hour plane and 1 hour car ride brought us to Yangshuo. The scenery was striking! Lush green trees and plants covered the sides of the Karst hills. Karst is a type of hill that is very rounded and made of limestone. Almost like an oval rather than the jagged topography we have in many mountain and hill sides in the US and Europe. They are very graceful and plentiful. Supposedly, the flat lands have sunk leaving all the Karst behind. Not sure if I buy that explanation given how flat the land was as well the fact that there was more flat land than hills.

During our long weekend retreat we had the opportunity to visit villages where there was no running water except by hand pump, climb up 1,000 feet to the top of Moon Hill (800 steps each way) in the 95+ degree weather, see water buffalo up close while they were taking a dip in the river, watch a pirated copy of “Transformers” at the poolside restaurant while we ate a late dinner, wander into a tourist trap complete with crepes, fire cooked pizza, and French cuisine.

The natural beauty was something we had both longed for as it is rare in Shanghai. One night, we were fortunate enough to buy tickets to Yangshuo’s famous water and light show. Going into I thought it was going to be a bust, but tickets were hard to come by for the sold out shows. How good could a performance be if they had only 50,000 people to draw from in the town? The evening started off a little rocky when we were swarmed by 20+ people with cameras and video cameras taking pics of Ty. Thank goodness he was in his infant carrier for protection. The 1.5 hour performance was incredible. We were amazed!!!!! If they can put on a performance with singing, water displays, gymnasts, 100+ children in costumes that lit up as they “walked” across the water in a town like this I can only imagine what the opening and closing ceremonies are going to be like for the Olympics in Beijing 2008. I guess you will all find out as the director and choreographers that put on this production have been hired for the Olympics. I would not miss it!!!!!

What we did not long for, nor anticipate, was the greediness of our hired driver who every day refused for over 1.5 hours to drive us to places unless we paid him more money. We were quickly reminded by this guy’s actions that though we have the privilege to visit this beautiful land, we are still outsiders and should be taken advantage of. The tourists that visit this area are predominantly Asian so we stick out pretty easily.

The most important thing I have taken away from this trip was how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to become educated people. There are many farmers and painters that are affected by China’s one child policy and must decide whether it is better to have their 7-13 year old educated or use them in their fields or shops to help provide income for the family. Those that are lucky enough to go to school must pass a test at age 13 to see if they qualify for high school. If they do not pass their families will need to pay a very large sum of money to attend school. A sum, that given their poverty, they cannot afford.

I was very moved by the fact that Tyler has every possible advantage to learn and create a good and happy life for himself simply because he has the freedom to go to school. I hope that in the years to come, we will be reminded of our trip and explain to Tyler the importance of being able to attend school and choose one’s own path in life. It is a honor and gift that should not be taken lightly.

***Check out our pics of Yangshuo in my China album online*** You will find a link to my albums in the upper right hand corner of my blog