China Part Two

After arriving in Guilin we decided to bus/boat down the Li River to Yangshuo.  The ride was amazing!!  There were karst limestone towers were everywhere and it was stunning!




The Cat:




A fisherman on the river:


Dave and Mikelle:


We walked through some super cool old stone villages:


We ate lunch with a cute Chinese couple from the boat ride (which tasted a lot better than dim sum!) When we got to Yangshuo we found a $10 hotel and went to a night show created by Ang Lee, the man in charge of the 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremonies. It was very cool to watch!  The show was all in Chinese so we had no idea what it was actually about. :)




The next day we hiked a peak in the park for a nice view of Yangshuo:


Mikelle enjoying the view:


There was a fortune teller at the top and for $0.50 I got to pick my fortune.


Apparently this means good luck: (Actually, I think that's the only thing this guy could say in english, never mind which card I chose)


Dave made a friend named Michael who agreed to take us to the village where he grew up. We took a bus to a tiny village covered with rice fields and helped the locals sow rice!

 


Rice:


Sesame Seeds:


A farmer hard at work:


It was beautiful, everyone was reserved but welcoming, and they fed us a lunch of fresh peanuts, chestnuts, and an array of packaged snacks. We ate lunch with Michael's mother, and with him translating we were able to ask her about her life. Oh, and of course we drank tea.


Michael's mom:


Her kitchen:








Here's another local showing off his grandchild:


We ended up giving Michael some money to buy a "dictionary" that he claimed could only be bought in a different city." We're pretty sure it was a fib to get our money, but we didn't mind paying him after he spent his day giving us such an unforgettable tour.

Later that night we found a firework store! They're all legal, as long as you light them at the river. We lit a bunch of cool fireworks and then ended with the grand finale. We had an enormous roll of giant fire crackers- at least 6 feet long- and I was nominated to light them since I was holding the lighter. The "wick" was about a third of an inch long, and as I tried and tried to light it I was suddenly aware of explosions in my ears and firework material exploding against my face. Without even thinking I ran away screaming, worried about my ears (and new rip-off Northface jacket.) I got firework stuff everywhere! In my hair, my mouth, and I could hardly hear out of my right ear for being so close to the darn thing! After nearly blowing my face off, and when everyone else managed to stop laughing, we found the wick- 6 inches or so with 30 seconds of time to run away.
I'll post the video, it's pretty funny to see me scrambling away in a panic.