POINTS OF INTEREST NOTES
DATE: 4/2/2007
LOCATION: Guilin, China
NAME: Li River (Li Jiang) cruise
ENTRY COST: Unknown (included in package) but $50-$60 is quoted on travel sites
RATING: 4
1 – Avoid, 2 – OK if nothing better to do, 3 – Worth seeing, 4 – Worth special trip, 5 – DO NOT MISS!
DESCRIPTION: Almost everyone has seen those Chinese painting with the numerous sharp limestone peaks. Guilin is where they are located and the Li River meanders through the heart of them. From a landing about 40 km south of Guilin, the large flat bottomed double deck cruise boats take you on a 4-5 hour cruise down about 40 km of the river to Yang Shuo a 1000 year old small historic town.
Along the way you experience these Karst peaks set in bamboo forests from an endlessly changing point of view with countless photo opportunities to try to match the look and feel of those familiar Chinese drawings.
About midway in the cruise, a traditional Chinese lunch is served. There are opportunities to “upgrade” your lunch by purchasing fresh fish or other local fare. Of course, each tour and boat will have some variation on this but all will include a meal on the river.
Not much more to say on this as, certainly in this case, a picture is worth a thousand words.
OTHER COMMENTS: At the end of the cruise, the landing is the start of a long street of vendors and shops. A cart ride for 10 RMB per person by passes all that and quickly gets you to your transportation.
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