We took a quick 2 day trip to Guilin.  We were a bit more adventurous booking the hotels on ctrip the night before and figuring out the logistics as we went.  We were about to cancel for fear of rain, but it only showered briefly and was actually quite pleasant.  The sun even came out on our 2nd day.

Day 1

We took a 1 hour bus ride into Guilin town center, booked our tour, and ate lunch at an ok restaurant.  As we walked out the back of the restaurant, we saw all the specialties we had (luckily) missed out on, including snake and rabbit.  Then our driver took us on 3 stops - first to Solitary Beauty Peak; then on a bamboo raft ride; and finally to a cave.  We slept on the hour bus ride to Yangshou.  My dad told us that "Guilin is the most beautiful place in China; Yangshou is the most beautiful place in Guilin."  Of course, it sounds better in Chinese.  We take a short taxi ride to our hotel - 360 rmb ($50) for a queen deluxe room with the requisite hard bed and killer mosquito but otherwise fine.  We ate another feast next door, and Alan drinks "bai jou" ("white wine" but tastes like rubbing alcohol) to kill the germs, a trick he had tried in Yunnan with JMX.  We ended the night with the famous "The Impressions of Liu's 3rd Sister" show in the open theater, looking out onto the water with the Guilin mounts as a natural backdrop.  Simply amazing.  It's what made director Zhang Yimou (the director of the Beijing Olympics' Opening Ceremony) famous.

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Day 2

We started the day early with a bike ride thru the gorgeous hills of Yangshou.  After an hour, there's a break for a gorgeous river raft ride.  We ride another hour to lunch at Moon Hill cafe.  The return trip to the hotel is a grind though because we're on a main road with honking buses and snorting trucks.  We decide to cancel our Li River cruise and get to our next hotel, my surprise for ML. 

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