In the immortal words of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, "That was a pretty good day." I woke up feeling a little under the weather and so canceled my 9 am meeting for a kayaking trip. But, then I was up, and after watching the town awaken from the rooftop garden, I decided to go anyway. They were kind enough to reschedule for a 10 am trip start, so I had breakfast at the hotel. It was a Western breakfast. It was kind of strange to eat with a fork again, but the fresh-squeezed OJ was a dream.
While I was waiting for the kayaking tour guide to pick me up, a couple was picking out bikes nearby. The woman asked in Mandarin and then English if I was alone. My brain processed the Ni shi yi ge ren ma? (literally "you are one person?") just as she started in English. Yes. After a little discussion with her husband and getting cleared up on what kayaking is by a very bilingual hotel receptionist, all three of us were going. Well, this is a welcome variation.
We are driven into the country to launch. We spent a nice couple hours slowly paddling down the Li River with a stop at a small village for lunch. I am informed that the village is over 200 years old. I reply that that is older than my country to some laughs.
I'm summarizing a lot: the mountains just go and go, and the pictures do not do them justice. The minibus ride back to Yangshuo from where we put out was amazing, through all the small villages on a back road. Then we walked around and I bought some chopsticks and Xue gave me a coupling lessons in haggling (mainly, I just watched her, but I got a feel for the byplay). My intuitions weren't far off. We went out to dinner (my treat, since they had been treating all day - "Going Dutch" is not a Chinese concept). And then out for a drink in the heart of Yangshuo's tourist night life. They taught me some songs. We also sang a few verses of Country Roads (take me home...). We sat on the second story, communicating in a mishmash of English and Mandarin. There was a lot of simple joy in just getting an idea across or learning to say a word just right.
China is a very musical place. A lot of people sing. As we sat on the second floor balcony of a restaurant in the heart of (commercial) Yangshuo, a duo was working the al fresco crowd below: an erhu (think small Chinese cello) and wood flute. Apparently, they were playing a lot of classics; my compatriots (odd to use that connotation given different nationalities ;) would sing a long. My favorite, which Tao would sing while we were kayaking, is Shan Ge (mountain song). It was a nice way to spend an evening.
Speaking of songs, the Bejing Olympics song is still viral. In an internet bar in Tangkou, one person played it out loud, and then people started humming along. For the next hour, someone would randomly start humming it only to get shouted down by everybody. It's a really catchy tune.
(Now that I have a social life, getting all the pictures uploaded is hit or miss. Each picture takes about two minutes on average, when they work.)
While I was waiting for the kayaking tour guide to pick me up, a couple was picking out bikes nearby. The woman asked in Mandarin and then English if I was alone. My brain processed the Ni shi yi ge ren ma? (literally "you are one person?") just as she started in English. Yes. After a little discussion with her husband and getting cleared up on what kayaking is by a very bilingual hotel receptionist, all three of us were going. Well, this is a welcome variation.
We are driven into the country to launch. We spent a nice couple hours slowly paddling down the Li River with a stop at a small village for lunch. I am informed that the village is over 200 years old. I reply that that is older than my country to some laughs.
I'm summarizing a lot: the mountains just go and go, and the pictures do not do them justice. The minibus ride back to Yangshuo from where we put out was amazing, through all the small villages on a back road. Then we walked around and I bought some chopsticks and Xue gave me a coupling lessons in haggling (mainly, I just watched her, but I got a feel for the byplay). My intuitions weren't far off. We went out to dinner (my treat, since they had been treating all day - "Going Dutch" is not a Chinese concept). And then out for a drink in the heart of Yangshuo's tourist night life. They taught me some songs. We also sang a few verses of Country Roads (take me home...). We sat on the second story, communicating in a mishmash of English and Mandarin. There was a lot of simple joy in just getting an idea across or learning to say a word just right.
China is a very musical place. A lot of people sing. As we sat on the second floor balcony of a restaurant in the heart of (commercial) Yangshuo, a duo was working the al fresco crowd below: an erhu (think small Chinese cello) and wood flute. Apparently, they were playing a lot of classics; my compatriots (odd to use that connotation given different nationalities ;) would sing a long. My favorite, which Tao would sing while we were kayaking, is Shan Ge (mountain song). It was a nice way to spend an evening.
Speaking of songs, the Bejing Olympics song is still viral. In an internet bar in Tangkou, one person played it out loud, and then people started humming along. For the next hour, someone would randomly start humming it only to get shouted down by everybody. It's a really catchy tune.
(Now that I have a social life, getting all the pictures uploaded is hit or miss. Each picture takes about two minutes on average, when they work.)
Hope you saved the pix on the camera. Thanks for keeping us up to date. Hope your heading south where its warmer. Love Dad
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