Back in Yangshuo
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
1
5
6
Trip End
Ongoing
Yangshuo, China
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
11-9-07.......Went for a morning walk along the river. Met with my friend Boby. He was another student at the school I worked at a couple of year ago.
11-10-07.......We have decided to stay in the Yangshuo area and explore some of the side streets and hidden areas of town. We found an old abandon park. It is kind of a secret garden called "flower blossom garden". It had been closed for sometime. A private school was going to be built there but the government has other plans. It is a fantastic setting. As we walk around the walled in park we found an unlock gate and saw a worker. We went inside to ask about the park and to ask if we can visit it. The caretaker looked at us as if to say this place is a mess and closed but since you are already in "go ahead". At one time this must have been a beautiful little park. It has natural sculptured stones, several ponds and bridges and lots and lots of scenic spots for pictures. We spend a couple of hours just wondering around. Each day now we try to find a restaurant that we have not eaten at before. Today we ate at a place on the river that we have had evening tea at but have never eaten at. The food was great. It is only a few doors down from my hotel but on the riverside of the street.
11-11-07...........I was woken this morning but the sound of fireworks. They got closer and closer so I went out onto my balcony to see what I could see. There was a guy with a cart full of fireworks and he would go about 10 yards the take a bunch out and like them. In front of him was a man with a pole carry full of paper and every 10 yards he would stop and through out these papers on to the street. Just then coming around the corner was a group of people. At that moment I knew what was happening. It was a funeral. Several people dressed in white and others in red. I watched as they past by. A little later Dawn came by. While I was watch the possession I kept looking at a scenic spot that I had never been to right at the end of my street. It was the "Green Lotus Peak". We decided to go there and see what it was all about. It was a combination of museum and workshops for a number of different artists. There was a printer, a painter and a paper maker. The museum was of found natural stones that were displayed on or in beautiful works of wood. It had paths that ran along the peak and after a 1-hour plus tour you were left on your own to explore. From the two-story pagoda you can see fantastic views of the River Li.
11-12-07.......After yesterday we decided to see more art works. There is a place about an hour's drive north of Yangshuo called Yuzi Paradise or Yuzi Sculpture Park. 9:00 sharp our drive arrived and off we went. The park is now only in phase one which is about 150 acres the whole place when completed will be over 1000 acres and include over 23 peaks. It is a working park. It has the largest workshop in china to make art. There are basically four parts: one for wood, one for stone, one for metal and one for clay. They are like huge airplane hangars. All the work produced there goes into the park. Hundreds of artist from around the world come to work here and leave their works. There are also facilities for students to stay and learn. The part was an idea of a rich Thailand businessman and he has a very impressive home right in the middle of the park. There are places for children to play and places just to wonder around the trees but everywhere you go there is sculpture. Dawn saw a place on the map that sounded interested it was called the crystal palace. So we went off to find it. After a while we decided that the map must be wrong because it was not there. We did find the W.C. (bathroom) so we took advantage of it. It was even a work of art. After I was finished Dawn translated a sculpture sign outside the bathroom, your right "crystal palace". After over 1.5 tour and almost 2 hours of wondering around on our own we headed back to Yangshuo. Cost including a guide $10 each but well worth the cost. I want to go and visit the wholesale venders that day. We found some very interesting bracelets.
11-13-07...........Stayed in town today. We explored more of the side streets. Met some students from another province and talked for a while. It was Lisa birthday today. She is one of Dawn's roommates. Lisa and Julia both work in the same shop selling purses. They work from 10am to 11pm. I think I have mentioned all this before. They get only 2 days off a month. They had to get special permission from the boss to get a couple of hours off so we could go and have dinner and a little party then they were back off to work. We had a great time.
11-14-07...........Once again we explored the town. We were looking for the apartment that Cinderella had told us about the other day. It sound nice and Dawn and the girls might need a new place because the landlord was talking about renovated their place. We looked and looked and found a lot of new places around town but not the apartment. We did find a restaurant called Treasure Island. It is a hot pot place. You are given a starter soup (placed on a heater on your table) then you can select from the menu and items that you might wish to add to the soup. It was great. I had earlier thought about taking a cooking class but decided it was going to be a hassle (my bell pepper thing) but this was just as good.
