MAINLAND CHINA
EXTRAVAGANZA – Postikorttikiina
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| Good Morning! |
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| #guilin#postcard#google images |
Hong Kongin
huvipuistojen ja intensiivisen kouluviikon jälkeen suuntasimme katseemme kohti
mannerkiinaa. Mulla oli jäljellä kiinan double entry viisumista toinen visiitti
ja ajattelin, että matka Guiliniin ja sen lähistölle voisi olla hieno homma.
Tänne siksi, että mesta tarjoaa huvipuiston (kyllä siellä sellainenkin on) sijaan enemmänkin palan hienointa Kiinaa.
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| Our room in the train |
Meillä kävi vielä säiden kanssa tuuri eikä saaste pilannut täysin näkymiä.
Matkaaminen kohteeseen tapahtui Junalla Shenzhenistä. Yliopistoltamme pääsee
siis suoraan metrolla mannerkiinan puolelle noin 25 minuutissa. Jopa erityinen
Shenzhen viisumi on helppo saada aamulla jos ei ole tarvetta käydä muualla
Kiinassa kuin kyseisessä kaupungissa. Tuossa kaupungissa asustelee vähän yli
kymppimiljoonaa kansalaista ja muutamia hyvin mielenkiintoisia elementtejä on
esim. rajanylitys lapsille, jotka on käyty synnyttämässä Hong Kongissa. Nämä
lapset sitten saavat luvan käydä koulua Hong Kongissa ja heitä kuljetetaan
isoina ryhminä omista pisteistään. Löytyyhän lentokentältä toisaalta jonot
filippiiniläisille kotiapulaisille myös eli tehokkuus on täällä ykköshommia.
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| Happy dim sum |
Junamatka
mannerkiinan sisällä kesti 13 tuntia ja vähän päälle. Paikanpäällä tehokkaasti
vierailimme postikorttikiinan maisemissa ja täytyy sanoa, että aika vaikea
kuvailla yhdellä sanalla Guilinin meininkiä. Taitaa olla jonkunlainen sekoitus
Swedish house mafian keikkaa, luonnonpuistoa, Super marioa, Kiinalaista
turistiryhmää ja vanhoja perinteitä….tarvitsen syvempään analyysiin enemmän
kuin 4 päivää paikanpäällä.
Trip to Guilin
After an intensive week of presentations and Chinese it was
time to head to Mainland China. I had applied for a double entry visa and only
spent one entry during my Beijing Trip. On Thursday 11th after my
Chinese lesson we took the MTR to Shenzhen…which is easier than taking the MTR
to Hong Kong island from the Uni. After some very messed up conversations with
our beginners Chinese we ended up getting tickets to the Guilin long distance
train 30 minutes before the train departed. This train ride was going to be a
13 hours ride so we stacked up on food from a kiosk and just made it to the
station on time. The room provided for us was very nice indeed and there was
even boiling water for our food ready to be poured on those ultra healthy
instant noodles. All in all the train experience was more fun than I though it
would be…we had heard some bad stories from people who ended up with standing
tickets for a similar journey.
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| Downtown Guilin |
Since the train departed in the evening we arrived in Guilin
early in the morning all fresh and ready to explore the area. This is when the
bargaining started too. I tried to buy a map and we immediately noticed that
the trip is going to be a rip off without some good bargaining tactics.
Fortunately beginners Chinese helped us quite a lot again since we had just
learned the last week how to bargain and complete sentences around that theme.
After taking the bus downtown we almost accidentally spotted one of the hostels
we had written down and asked them for a price for our rooms. Our accommodation
for 2 nights in Guilin cost about 12 euros per person…and this is for a really
nice room!
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| Li River |
This morning got even more productive since we were on a bus
to Li river area already 11am. Once we got to the riverside it was time to
cruise the river for a couple of hours and see the idyllic landscape in the
area. We stated that it’s almost like searching through Google images while
exploring Guilin. This cruise got a
surprising ending though as the end location was not Guilin. What happened was
we got dropped off on some interstate and some random couple stopped a van for
us to go back to Guilin. Great success because we even got a random gift (a box of spicy
cookies?) from some Chinese student in the van.
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| Cruising the Li River |
Back in the downtown area we noticed the amount of electric
scooters as well as lack of rules to drive them. The other thing was that
Guilin was somewhat different with its architecture than I had expected if only
the main street and downtown area is taken into account…perhaps the tourism
industry has shaped it to be the Disneyland of Chinese culture. Every single
little peak and park had an entrance fee (negotiable) though our student I.D
was very helpful in bargaining. The other thing we got to see during the first
evening was the elephant trunk hill as well as all the extravaganzas/light
shows going on in the parks. The ICBC building in Guilin is perhaps one of the
most ridiculous things I’ve seen during my exchange. The fact that this
enormous black block with LED extravaganza next to the most traditional looking
Chinese buildings exists is hilarious.
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| ? |
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| Marioworld? |
The next morning our hostels reception recommended us to
have breakfast in congee city. This place was a point and pick type of dim sum
palace. With very low prices and great flavors we were thankful for our hostels
people for advising us to go to such a place! The dining habits of the locals
were of course somewhat interesting since half of the things end up on the
floor but that makes the morning much more entertaining!
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| What happens in Guilin after the sun goes down... |
The other must do thing in this place is the rice fields
that we though are just right next door…after a 2 hour ride to the location we
changed our mind. The way to see the place is the greatest scenery and even the
sun began to shine because we had ordered perfect of weather for that day! This
place is also a lot of walking, hiking, steps and all that action. You are able
to buy a ride up the hill…this is 2 people carrying you for some RMB (we did
not use this transportation though).
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| Finally on the top |
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| Rural China |
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| The rice fields |
The day at the rice fields was quite long but the work out
really pays off! It was utopia once we got to the top of the hills…especially
the less crowded areas. There is a possibility to spend many days hiking in
this place and I wish we had had more time to explore the fields. A night at a
hostel there is probably pretty cool with a sunset and sunrise over the valley.
Great stuff! The evening continued with another very confusing conversation at
the Guilin train station. We finally
managed to get tickets back to Shenzhen after some beginners Chinese. By the
way there isn’t a way to book tickets online for the trains.
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| Ummm...how did you buy tickets in Chinese again? |
The last day in Guilin began with a visit to the Reed Flute
caves. We just hadn’t experienced enough LED lights and extravaganza since this
cave is some hilarious stuff again. It is great scenery but a monorail and a
multimedia show inside the cave? Even though it is a little bit too much we
were stunned and what is even better is the photo stand inside the cave. These
groups of people who probably had a pre paid photo in every stand just walked
in front of the camera having for example cashew nuts wouldn’t stop eating more
when the photo was taken...it was fun to observe. Another great thing we
spotted was a show called ‘’turtle prime minister’’ which we did not want to pay
to see but the name is pretty epic.
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| Yes. Amazing. |
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| The hollywood photo stand inside the cave |
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| ''You have 3 minutes until the lights go off'' |
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| The monorail to the caves... |
The weather kept getting better and better so we decided to
be sporty and hiked up one more hill to see Guilin one more time before the
train ride home. The moment on the top of this last hill could be one of the
top moments of this exchange. This trip will be remembered for quite a while
and if you’re planning to go to China you have to see Guilin and it’s
surroundings!
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| 2013 Crew wishes you a rice filled year! |
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The last hike
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