Guilin

We started off the day with a boat cruise down the Li River.  The scenery was gorgeous, plus the weather was terrific - lots of sun..finally no more smog!!  A very relaxing day which was much needed.  Also exciting news on the cruise is that my two good friends go engaged.  Right in front of the hills that are on the 20 yuan note.  It was very romantic and everyone was there to watch so exciting for us.

Some weird things noted on the boat includes the kitchens in the back - the food, as you could imagine was not very good.  THere were also guys on "bamboo" boats selling trinkets and fruit (but the "bamboo" was PCP pipe painted to look like bamboo).  

After the cruise we took a walk around the country town and saw the gardens, fields and how the rest of China lives.  It was so funny because we stopped at one point and were mobbed by a load of people.  When we took a few pictures they all wanted money - another set up to get the money flowing around the country side - which isn't that bad, its just that we weren't warned so none of us knew what was going on.  We also stopped by a farmers house to look around.  It was rustic and what you would expect a farm house to look like.  THere was a huge pig (probably dinner at some point) right next to the out door toilet.  On the inside it was not what you would expect.  A fridge bigger than the one I had in Australia and a flat screen TV.  I can only assume that the tourists have paid for most of this.  They even had a dishwasher (which I haven't had in over 3 years).  

Then back to the hotel for a quick rest before going to the light show.  The show was created by the same guy who did the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympics.  It was amazing the different visual effects that he created.  It took place on a lake so there were lots of the bamboo boats and it seemed like the entire town was involved in the production.  

After the show we again went back to the hotel and dropped off some of the people.  We got a pretty good group to stay out and hit up the town together.  It was Chen, Jonny, Brandon, Shaun, Brad, Nathan, Anja and Andy.  We were headed to go try Chen's favorite dish…DOG.  Of course I wasn't up for eating it - but wanted to see what it was like and watch the others.  The dogs that they eat are not the ones most people think of, but are actually raised on a ranch.  So it is really not that different to a cow or pig that is raised for slaughter.  Its just difficult for Westerners to get their head around since we only raise them as pets. 

Well our night ended around 2:00am and I ended up eating the dog…yep the Pescatarian ate a dog…"When in Rome…" We got about 1/2 a kilo of dog and a nice big fish.  The fish dish they call beer fish as it is cooked in beer and it was delicious.  When the dog came out we weren't sure what to expect, but it just looked like a beef stir-fry and smelled amazing.  Brad, our gastrologist, tempted me by saying that if I have one or two pieces I wasn't going to get sick.  Oh really, okay then why not - so I had some and then figured I should document the tasting so had another.  

That night we played one of Chen's drinking games.  One glass is in the middle of the table and everyone takes a turn pouring beer into it - who ever is the last one to pour when it overflows looses and has to chug the glass.  Chen was the first to loose, the Nathan, I was next but after that we started to get the hang of it…except for Brad.  Oh poor Brad, I think he got the brunt of it and lost the rest of the night.  The total bill, for the dog, fish and about 25 - 600ml beers was about $50 USD.  SWISH.  We really should have had more, but I'm not sure the rest of the group could handle it.  This night was great because it was the first time some people let down their guard to get to know each other.  

The Chinese say that if you drink with some one you can respect them.  If you drink with a businessman you can respect him and if that businessman can drink more than you they are a better businessman then you are…well if I was in the country I would be a really good businessman (really any Australian would be when put up against the Chinese for how much you can drink).  

The last day in Guilin we stopped by a Cave - which was kind of like Disney World.  Very easy to walk through and all lit up.  We also stopped by the Elephant Rock, which is as they describe it a rock which looks like an Elephant.  Really just a few time fillers before our flight to Shanghai...