Travels with Kathryn

The Longji Rice Terraces have been on my “I want to see this” list for some time, and today, I have finally done it! Earlier this week, I had been rather concerned that I would be seeing them through the haze of thunderstorm, but the weather Gods were smiling down on me.

Anyway, let’s start at the beginning – with breakfast. The hotel gets quite poor reviews for breakfast, particularly from Western tourists, but compared to similarly fancy hotels I have been on this trip, I felt there was a good selection. I also thought you might enjoy more photos of the general grand charm of the hotel:

Kevin was waiting for me at 9am as agreed (I managed to avoid getting incvolved in a morning exercise class) and we headed off to the “Guilin Longji Terraces Scenic Area” (you guessed it, passports and ticket purchasing required) which is about a 2 hour drive from Guilin. These are how over 2,300 years ago (the Yuan dynasty) local people cultivated the steep valleys in order to grow that staple crop – rice. Apparently, these did not become a tourist “thing” until the 1990s when a photographer named Li Yashi moved to the area and its his photographs that put Longji on the tourist map (and my list). Interestingly according to Kevin, tourist numbers are way down since pre-Covid and maybe its not having the same draw for Chinese tourists (who prefer the theme park experience) although I did see a couple of Westerners, but not many…

The terraces were cultivated by the local Yao and Zhuang people who still live here and retain much of their local customs and traditions (unlike in other areas we could mention) and therefore our first stop was Huangluo Yao Village which I was reliably informed translates as “long hair village”. There is a reason for this. Whilst the ladies have colourful dress, they also have incredibly long hair, which is wound tightly around their heads. I was talked into seeing “the show,” and I was glad I did as it was actually a good opportunity to see the traditional costumes alongside song and dance numbers. It was also rather delightful to see an old village that looked like a village – no rebuilding, no replicas, and no tower blocks. You can really tell that tourism here dates back to the 1950s… Anyway, the show: firstly, we had a short re-enactment of the “Clothes Drying Festival”. This happens on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month (most recently 6th June) and on this day the women wash and lay out their traditional costumes in the sun – no commentary given on whether they do men’s traditional costumes as well or whether these stay dirty…

There was then an opportunity for audience participation, and luckily they only wanted men – although this did make me a little sad to not have my group with me and thus did not have a man to force into participating. It essentially involved trying to find male volunteers (who were somewhat reluctant), been given a drink, being chosen by a lady, being takn off stage and given hats, coming back and then being paraded around in a circle whilst having their bottoms pinched. I am sure had I understood the Chinese, it would have been more meaningful!

Finally, there was some hair unwrapping. So, I had admired the ladies’ very thick coiled hair, but in reality sections are added (their own previously cut off ponytails I understand) to bulk it out at each stage. I suspect my thick hair would go down quite well in this village if only it grew down instead of out. In any event, as an unmarried lady my hair would be covered by (in my humble opinion) a rather unflattering hat. Only married ladies wear their hair coiled on their head, and if there is a knot in the front, they have children.

After this, it was off to Ping’an village. There are a couple of options, but this has the oldest terrace (at 700 years old) and the excellently named “Nine Dragons & Five Tigers Viewing Point”. So, Pnig’an village is home to 190 families of 7,000 people who cultivate these terraces. There are 15,862 fields in all different shapes and sizes, with the biggest being 0.62 m2 and the smallest only big enough for 3 rice seedlings.

I spurned the idea of a shuttle bus – I love hiking up mountains me, stairs are my friend and all – as this gave me the opportunity to actually walk up and through the terraces. My “up” training from earlier in this trip is certainly cominging in handy! There was no crying, no meltdowns, just a very, very sweaty me.

Well, its magical. I had another one of my – I am so privileged to have seen this moments. The rice was planted only 10 days ago, so the terraces are mainly water with little green soots. The best time to come is now, or in September/October when the terraces turn yellow.

I took many, many, many photos… Just a small selection of the climb up to the Seven Stars with the Moon (which means seven round hills shining like starts) viewpoint.

On route we were gifted a cucumber by a lady (apparently she is the mother of a friend of Kevin’s or maybe I just looked like I would appreciate it – and I did), and just before the top we did stop for an excellent meal of bamboo rice and a side of braised aubergines. Bamboo rice is, surprisingly, a mix of rice, vegetables, and what may have been related to chorizo stuffed inside a piece of bamboo and then roasted. It was delicious. As were the aubergines.

I then finished my final ascent (photos above), and then we walked along to the “Nine Dragons and Five Tigers” viewpoint which is thus named for the 9 mountains which stretch from the top down to the Jinjiang river, and then the 5 hills sides opposite which are cultivated to look like tigers (which stripes) guarding their side of the valley. Let us use our imaginations, people! Anyway, this meant more photos:

A fantastic day. Maybe I need come back to see them at another season…

Anyway, the day wasn’t over yet as on the way back we stopped off at a tea plantation so I could be forced to pick tea in mosquito infested tea bushes whilst in 41 degree sun. Oh, the life of a tourist! Suffice to say it is very hard work and I was not going anywhere near fast enough to pick the 2 bags full per day that would be required.

After that hard work, I got to sample their full range of teas and have purchased some jasmine pearl to enjoy in my new teapot when I get home. I have even been given detailed instructions on how to do it properly, e.g. one does not steep the tea, one brews for 10-15 seconds, one always discards the first teacup full of water…

By the time I returned to the hotel it was 7pm so I decided I would have a quick refresh (no point doing more than that as its still very hot and humid) and head to the Xicheng Road Night Market. This was something of a disappointment. Four stalls does not a market make… However, I did get to have a lovely wander around the lake which as its now a little cooler is being frequented by locals out for an evening stroll, or even, taking part in mass dance work outs again (I may even have joined in briefly)!

I returned to the hotel, dined on my bag of lychees purchased yesterday (I should buy these more when I am home, they are lovely) and washed everything I had on today – slight hiccup in that the waste water pipe in the washing machine had come adrift, but I managed to catch it before too much flooding had happened and angle it into the sink. The colour of the water was somewhat shocking, mind you. I have also done a full re-pack as tomorrow I am leaving Guilin and have a 7.5-hour train journey to Zhangjiajie.

I have had a fantastic time in Guilin, I am so pleased that I came – it has made such a contrast from the Uygur Autonomous Region, almost like being in a different country. I had not realised how much I had missed green and things that look like they are crumbling a little, and the rice terraces certainly lived up to my imagination. Delightful.

The answers to yesterday’s question (the 8 countries that begin of end with a “y”) are: Germany, Italy, Hungary, Norway, Paraguay, Uruguay, Vatican City and Yemen.