CHINA'S QUILIN : MESMERISED BY ITS NATURAL BEAUTY AND TRANQUILITY

My maiden trip to China, not without cautions from friends and relatives having numerous bad experiences before. I was told of toilet that stinks beyond your imagination; do not feel guilty at all when you bargain; the locals speak so loud just like soccer coach screaming down instructions to his boys; they spit right in front of you as though you are invisible; and so forth. Having that in mind, my first day was already besieged with news that my Indo live-in maid had 'absconded' while I was on transit at the KLIA. What a day to start with, I mourned. After a 4 hours flight, we put up a night at the Quilin's Sheraton after a sumptous dinner. In the morning of day 2, we were greeted with scenes of locals busy with their daily tai-jis. We soon arrived at the Crown Cave, a majestic limestones structure. To reach the entrance, we took a 'car' ride up which was so cool, similar to a roller coaster except we dictate our own speed. Do you find a camel at the background of the picture above? Day 3 - Set off for Yangshuo by coach where we then took a cruise down the Li Jiang river which brought us to the magnificent view of mountains of various shapes that will stay in our memory forever. Interestingly, we also found that the local fishermen fish with the assistance of a bird minus the net, of course. In the evening, we watched a musical performance " Liu San Zie" choreographed by the famous director, Zhang Yi Mou. It was almost a shopping day on day 4, where we visited the jade showroon followed by a silk factory. We were given an educational tour around the premise to experience the process of turning worms to beautiful silk which ended with models showcassing the many designs of the factory. The day ended with another visit to the Shangrila Resort before we returned to Quilin for a night. Long Sheng was our next destination on day 5 where we were subjected to gruelling coach ride for almost 6 hours on winding mountainous roads. This was followed by another tracking by foot up a hill of 880 metres for an hour or so. All these hardships were quickly forgotten when we were feted with magnificent view of terraced rice fields erected by farmers from the hilltop. We finally checked into the Maryland Theme Park and Hotel Resort, one of the many Taiwanese's investments in the mainland China. It was free and easy on day 6 where we practically had the whole theme park to ourselves since the crowd was rather small on a weekday. On day 7, we checked out from the Maryland to return back to Quilin where again, were given the last opportunity to empty our pocket before flying home tommorrow. This time, we were brought to a pharmaceutical factory known for its melon frost and another crystal showroom. Then, we had foot reflexology and body massage to refresh our aching and battered body which was of course, at our own expense. Not forgetting our family and friends at home, we bought souveniers and foodstuffs which finally saw all the remaining money left in possession cleared. The night ended late busy packing all the things bought for the past few days. On the final day 8, we managed to squueze a short visit to the Elephant Trunk Hill before dashing to the airport for another 4 hours flight back to KL bringing home sweet memories of Quilin but poorer by a couple thousand ringgits of hard earned money.