For people who aren’t from China, the ‘must see’ places tend to be Beijing, Shanghai, Tibet and Hong Kong. When I asked people from China what place I couldn’t leave without seeing the answer was always the same: Guilin. Though China is literally filled with mystical and magical places, Guilin and the Li River stand out as one of the brightest jewels atop a glittering crown. When my sister and her friend Jake said they were coming for a visit it gave me the perfect excuse to schedule a trip to this heaven on Earth. 
The three of us spent a little time in Shanghai (Read "The Point of a Printout" post for a mini update on that experience) before hopping on a plane to Guilin. We hadn’t even left the airport before someone was trying to get us to purchase tickets for a cruise down the Li River. We knew we were going to take the cruise, we already had a hostel booked for the cruise destination of Yangshuo, but we wanted to do some research before buying the first tickets that came our way. Plus, we figured they were probably way over priced at the airport since they would be able to get to us foreigners first. We turned down the offer.
We got to the hostel, asked about the boat tour and were told “No problem.” The tour would pick us up at the front door at 7am the next morning. The lady behind the desk said the boat held 40 people, included lunch and would cost 390RMB each. Damn. The lady at the airport had quoted us 300RMB for an intimate boat with 10 people and included lunch as well. Oh well, we cut our losses and bought the tickets.
The next morning we were down and ready by 6:45, ordered some coffees and tea to go, and the little van rolled in at 7:15. Our coffees and tea still weren’t ready. Again, we cut our losses and hopped in the van. It sped off and took us to a bigger bus that was full of wide-eyed foreigners, the same thought apparently running through all of our heads: what the eff is going on, am I in the right place, and am I about to get royally screwed?
30 minutes later we entered the gates to some golf-course community out in the middle of nowhere that was still under construction. We pulled up to a large building that was overflowing with foreigners and oversized luggage. This must be the right place. Another 30 minutes later and there were finally signs that we were going to load the boats. It was all accomplished in true Chinese fashion [Read: disorganized chaos. Scientists should study this unnatural phenomenon. It makes little to no sense that anything ever gets done in this country, and yet they have the longest bridge in the world, the biggest damn in the world, the most people in the world and the longest continual civilization in the world . . . . ] In the cacophony of crowds, hundreds of people were herded like cattle through six tiny gates, all expected to find their respective boat by locating the ridiculous stuffed animal or cartoon character that their guide held above the crowds atop a long stick. We found our happy little floating cartoon freak and followed it loyally onto our cruise ship.
When we bought our tickets we were told there would be forty people on our boat. There were roughly 90. I heard some fellow disgruntled passengers grumbling. I told them I understood. I described our situation and the misinformation we had been given. They laughed and said, “Seriously? We were told we were going to be on an intimate boat of 20 and we paid 420RMB each.” Suddenly I didn’t feel so bad. And the longer the cruise went on, the better I felt. Gazing at the otherworldly limestone formations that walled us in, it was easy to forget just about anything and everything. It was possible to actually let your mind go.
When we walked out of the hostel in the morning it had been raining. On the big bus it had started pouring. But once we got on the boat, the sunshine took a timid glimpse at us through the dark clouds. Apparently she liked what she saw for she kept her warm, attentive gaze on us through the duration of our cruise. They say all good things are worth waiting for. If there is no pain there is no gain. Well, our pain was merely a minor bout of stress, but the gains were unprecedented. Those five hours on the Li River were worth ten times what we paid, and not just for the breathtaking sites but for the overall experience; for five hours of time standing still; for the warm feeling that comes from so much more than just the rays of sun resting upon our skin.
Summary: If you take a trip to China, include Guilin on your itinerary. If you go to Guilin, give yourself enough time to visit Yangshuo. To get to Yangshuo, make sure you travel by boat. Once you’re on the boat, enjoy the moment, and look forward to sweet dreams and warm memories whenever you look back on that magical time on the Li River.
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