Yangshuo and my birthday

Yangshuo is a town in the south west of Yunnan Province. We approach it at night, travelling by bus, and most of us are sleeping. As we draw near to the town we can see the fantastic karst limestone peaks lit up. The town itself is throbbing with bars, and restaurants and amiable drunken tourists (both Chinese and western) weave their way between the street stalls.

The next day I wake up to find that I am now 53. Peggy and I take a short walk around the town, which is now quiet, to get our bearings. The town is nestled on the flat land alongside the Li river and amongst the karst peaks, which are spectacular. I have never seen this type of scenery before. I look for a bakery and buy small cakes to share with the group later for my birthday. It is strange not to bake a cake and do all the usual birthday things such as having cards and presents to open, but I really appreciate the e mailed birthday wishes and messages from family and friends. Katie sends me an e card, of the 4 of them doing an animated can-can, which makes me laugh till I cry.

Yangshuo town

We walk along a walkway to the peak closest to the town. In the various viewing pavilions there are pictures of the famous people who have visited the town – mainly Chinese and American premiers. I decide to add my birthday picture to the collection.

Helen’s 53^rd birthday photograph in Yangshuo

In the afternoon some of us take a trip along the river on small bamboo boats. Actually the boats used to be made of bamboo, but nowadays they are made of plastic pipes, made to look a little like bamboo. This is a very touristy activity and there are dozens of these little craft already speeding up and down the river or waiting for tourists.

Boats waiting on the river

This particular section of the river is famous as it is featured on the 20 Yuan bank note.

Harvey modelling the scenery with a 20 Yuan bank note

There is a scramble at the water’s edge as tourist groups jostle for position and clamber across the little boats, while their tour group leaders shout instructions into their microphones.

All aboard

The little boats take off upstream, with their outboard motors roaring and it becomes kind of race. Sometimes the boatmen amuse themselves by spraying the boat behind, particularly if it is occupied by young attractive Chinese girls, who squeal appreciatively.

Boat on the river

After about 20 minutes the boats pull up on a small shingle island in the river. This is an opportunity for the passengers to view and take pictures. In this particular section of cliffs the white limestone is supposed to look like horses.

Chinese girls pose for a photo

me in my usual photo pose

More importantly it is also another opportunity for the locals to relieve the tourist of their cash via a few make-shift stalls and cormorant fishermen who rush up and put a coolie hat on your head and a pole with a cormorant on each end on your shoulder, so that you can take a photo and pay him for the pleasure.

Zoe as a cormorant fisherman

Then we are off again and going with the flow of the river is rather more peaceful and we are able to take in the spectacular scenery.

Water buffalo

In the evening we go to a show which is directed by the guy who did the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. It is in an open air theatre which uses the river as part of the stage and the karst scenery as the back drop. It tells a traditional love story about a beautiful singer and a peasant boy and also highlights the traditional life of the local people. The staging and effects are stunning and the scope and scale of the performance is enormous. Nearly 600 people including young children take part and there are also cormorants and water buffalo! At one time dozens of women dressed in costumes lit up with LD lights appear to walk across the water. A great birthday treat for me.

Scene form the show