Mmmm Goi Sai, HK...Ni Hao Guilin and Yanshuo

Like Woods said, we wanted to get the Da Bian out of Guilin the minute we got in. We got put in the slums and I kid you not, there was a dude just walking the street with a meat cleaver (and he wasn't trying to sell any meat). I thought about taking a pic for the blog, but I didn't want to get my arms cut off. But hey, what can you expect for RMB230 a night, TOTAL. That's less than $10 a head. Oh, and they had this special card that you have to put it in a slot (thats what she said!) that turns on the electricity. Weird.

So, CUT TO the next day. We get a call from our tour guide to go on the LiJiang RIver Tour. It takes us from the city of Guilin to the city of Yanshuo on a beautiful 52 mile river tour. The scenery is gorgeous. But what was more amazing is we meet this Chinese woman traveling on her own...and yes, I know those of you reading this right now are thinking that I tried to hit on her. Well, you'll be proud to know that I DID...in CHINESE.

"Dua bu chi, xiao jie, ching wen, ni yiao ka fe, cha, hai shi wou?"

DOPE! But she was married. However, the truly remarkable thing was what we learned from her as a native. For example, I fit the typical stereotype that the Chinese have of Americans: loud, open, friendly, rich, frank, positive, and unhandsome. I told her I thought Chinese people smelled bad. She agreed.

After getting to an over commercialized Yanshuo (where you can buy a ROLEX for $50), we went on a lazy river ride on bamboo boats. That was probably my highlight of the day. Below is me singing on the river, "muo li hua" to the people next to us (video to follow):

Anyway, this is a totally verbose blog, and on top of that, I am trying to do this all over a dial up connection. Lesson 1 from China, NEVER take my broadband connection for granted ever again. See, I'm learning already.

Next stop? Who knows...we're playing it by ear. :)