Guilin and its famous surroundings (for Chinese)

8.1.2018 to 13.1.2018

The MTR took me to the border town of Shenzhen and I had my first experience with Chinese surveillance mentality. They wanted all fingerprints and a new profile photo. Also, as soon as I crossed the border, the internet stopped working. So I turned on VPN to access Google, Facebook, and especially WhatsApp. The train station was a huge hall and as soon as a train arrived, the entire contents were allowed onto the platforms and allowed to board. I had to wait and spent my last Hong Kong dollars on coffee. We left the station on time and the service was good. As we left the train station, I saw huge building complexes and the first plumes of smog. I didn't know beforehand that Shenzhen is a special administrative region. When it was reported as the "factory of the world" in the 90s and still today, this region with 12 million inhabitants and countless factories is meant. The smog got worse during the journey and at times I couldn't see more than 200 meters ahead.

After three hours, I arrived in Guilin and left the train station. It was freezing cold and nobody understood me. My internet was used up and Google Maps didn't work. A lady from the tourist office understood some words and guided me to the inner city. Since I didn't know where my hotel was, I got off nearby and walked into a rain cloud. A very cold rain cloud. I also noticed the stares of the locals. Of course, I walked the wrong kilometer and turned around. Near my presumed hotel, I asked a local woman who led me to the hotel using the Chinese note from the tourist help lady. Completely frozen, I checked into my room, which had hot water but a door that wasn't completely sealed leading directly to the cold street. The air conditioning was equipped with Chinese characters and I went annoyed into the very cold bed.

The next day started with a very long hot shower to warm up. Then I explored the city and apparently was the only foreigner there. There are a lot of quirky things that I can't list conclusively. For one, there are young ladies in front of the shops with microphones shouting advertising slogans or using noisemakers to attract people into the stores. On a 500-meter shopping street, it creates a better atmosphere than in the Bayern Arena or usually at HSV 😄. Also, in front of a cookie shop, two people are stomping the dough to shrill disco music. The huge television screen on the marketplace running state television is also strange. Furthermore, nobody speaks English and you have to show pictures or use gestures to achieve anything. This can't go on like this...

After almost freezing in the second night and wanting to find connection, I decided to go to a nearby youth hostel. A good decision. The employees there, okay two, spoke English and I immediately booked the tours to the famous rice fields and the famous Karst mountains (don't know if they're called that). The bed even had an electric blanket and was huge for youth hostel standards. The air conditioning was running at full throttle and there was endless hot water. A dream!

The next day, I started the tour to the rice fields and was so grateful to finally have two guys from Singapore with me who spoke both perfect English and Mandarin. There was also a Chinese girl who didn't speak English. We formed a group and had 5 hours of free time. At first, it seemed like a lot, but as it soon turned out, just enough. If anyone has ever seen a photo of green rice fields with lots of water, glistening and shining in the sun when starting Windows 7, XP, etc... Yep, that's where I was. However, in winter, the fields are empty and brown 😂. But hey, that's okay, let's walk up countless stairs for two hours to taste the famous bamboo rice. By the way, there was only one open restaurant and a nice old lady took an hour to cook fresh rice in bamboo over an open fire. The scrambled eggs with chili (which was actually just chili with an egg, it was half offseason and they didn't have anything else 😄) tasted delicious. After a game of table soccer, we went back down and since everything looks the same, we made it back just in time. On the return journey, we drove too long and too far for my taste, along high cliffs with lax guardrails. But since I'm writing these lines, I survived and happily went to bed with the electric blanket. Before that, I had horse meat from the hot pot. I tried it, but then I got full from the rice.

The next day didn't start until ten. Before that, delicious European-style muesli with fruits and yogurt. Tomas got on the bus for the bamboo boat tour towards Yangshuo. 22 years old and a Mandarin student from Beijing. A native Dutchman and thus my translator for the day. Since we also got along well, the day went good. We took the bamboo boat in the best weather to Yangshuo and could admire the beautiful landscape with the karst mountains. They are even depicted on the 20 RMB banknote (Chinese currency). The weather was good and the landscape was also after two hours. By the way, this area around Guilin is a famous Chinese vacation spot and in the summer months, it's apparently completely black, full of people. On the return trip, we saw a beautiful landscape and took a little boat tour. It showed ethnic minorities and how they used to live. Every time a tourist boat passed by, they started dancing or clapping. Crazy 😂🤦🏻‍♂️. There was also a group folk dance with touching. Back at the hotel, it was time for bed. Speaking English all day is still exhausting for me.

On Friday, I rented a bicycle that was too small, the only one that I could pay with cash. The others required WeChat or Alipay. For that, I need a local account and a fixed residence. Cash only. I saw local rocks that are supposed to look like an elephant and in the evening, I drank beer with Tomas. What else. I also tried for the first time to gnaw the meat off a chopped-up chicken. I didn't dare to touch the foot and older Chinese people are the only ones who eat the head. Tomas was done because he only spoke Chinese at the rice fields that day and I briefly saw how the Chinese go crazy to Techno without moving, namely sitting down, in a local disco.

Last but not least, on Saturday, I went to the China premiere of Jumanji at the local cinema. The popcorn was great, the cola tasted like chlorine, and I found the trash can. Then I took the bus to the airport and with turbulence and lots of prayers, I flew to Shanghai.

Since I wanted some peace and quiet after Hong Kong, wanted to save my ears by taking the train, and wanted to see a bit of local China, I went to Guilin. It was the right decision. The best evidence is the photo of the man in front of the fire. He works for the "traffic control department" and writes tickets on only one street. Since it was so cold and he didn't have rooms available, he sits on the side of the road and warms his hands over a fire. All the Chinese people in the rural regions do this, just like cooking on charcoal. This ultimately has to lead to smog with all the cement factories and factories. They say it's particularly bad in Shanghai. So let's go there!