May Day - and Guilin

We're heading off to Guilin - think crazy limestone peaks which point upwards like fingers from an otherwise flat plain, with it's meandering rivers. It's a bit West and a bit North of Hong Kong. And the bullet train will get us there in 8 hours, at 223 kph! The train station is as big as an international airport - and this is the first day of the May Day holiday week, so it feels like half of China is travelling. It's easy, though, especially for those with motorised suitcases! Have you seen them yet? I failed to catch a photo - but passengers sit on them and zoom around to cut down the walking time between gates! There were also suitcases with built-in drinks holders and extra fold-out wheels to make transporting children easier!

In Guilin, we're staying by a lake which used to be part of the city moat. There's a golden and a silver pagoda which light up as the sun sets over the street market and the promenading holidaymakers. As so often, Katie and I are the only non-Chinese travellers we see and we are ever grateful for the translator apps. We find a great little restaurant by the lake and I'm not sure whether I've said this yet - but food isn't expensive. Four or five dishes for two people for supper might come to £10 - 15, or £5-7.50 each 😊

There's a throng of passenger and local boats, and bamboo rafts, on the Li river, all swooping their way down to the little market town of Yangshou. You might recognise the scenery from Chinese paintings - and movies - or even their 20 Yuan banknote!

Yangshuo was a hustling riverside port - but it won us over completely! It offered the best espresso for more than a week and, if you know how to look, there were genuine treasures in the upstairs rooms of the little tourist kiosks. Katie was so happy with the coffee and with her new necklace and silver bangle!

The necklace originally had nine loops of silver and tapestry - but looked it's stunning best with the five in the picture above. Revived by all the coffee and shopping - we stopped off at the Song-era market town of Da'xu on the way back to Guilin. Cobbled streets, ancient merchantmen houses and a lovely Qing bridge for carts, alongside the stepping stones for people.

And fun to see a bike-load of the green vegetables we like - on their way to market. Delicious!