Woke up at 6.45 to get ready and packed up and met the others a 8. After me faffing for a bit and successfully getting some money out from and ATM we got on the road. The first part of the journey was a bit rubbish as there was so much traffic. When we then turned off on the country lane to Xingping there were then loads of tour buses going the same way. It meant that we were pretty much riding single file without much chance to chat. I even managed a few more chapters of War and Peace on my ipod :-)
There are 2 strange things I have noticed in China: firstly, the men often roll up their t-shirts when it is hot (men do that in India sometimes as well) which makes them look like they are wearing a western style womens t-shirt and secondly, they often bike round with a trailer carrying one or more children (cute). 
We arrived a Xingping about 10.30 and had a wonder round and an explore. The town is one of the oldest places I have seen in China so far. Some of the houses are wood and it is quite quaint but full of tourists and touts trying to sell bamboo rafting rides. 
I spotted a little kitten in a restaurant and pointed. Marrie obviously loves cats as ran over to say hello. The kitten was very playful and cuddly. She was very happy to sit on the front bag of Marrie's bike :-)Jean Marc just looked on with a "girls.... what to do with them" look as me a Marrie got all soppy with the kitten. She declared that she wants a cat and that it will not be money or the fact that she misses France that makes her go home.... it will be because she wants a cat! For me it might be more that I need to take Tweety Pie home :-)
We made our way down to the river and ate some fruit and looked at the view before braving the bartering to get a good price for 3 bikes and 3 people on a bamboo raft up the river. We were not sure whether just to leave the bikes and hike back for them or just get off with the bikes up the river. As they did not seem to charge us extra for the bike we decided to get a ride the 2 and a half hours up stream. 
As the raft we bargined for would not be available until 12.30 we went for lunch in the village. It was the first time that I had seen sweet and sour chicken on the menu in China (well one other time but I was not hungry then). I had to order it just to see how different it was to what we get as the standard Chinese dish in England. It was not too different but just more sour than the UK. I think in England we just get the sweet part. 
The bamboo raft was a 10 minute walk from the village. On the way we stopped at the famous spot to take a photo. On the back of a 20 CHY note there is a drawing taken from this very spot. The photo is of me holding a 20 CHY note and my travel toy Tweety Pie and wearing a Chinese hat that I found on the side of the road that has been accompanying me for the last few days. 
It had been blue skies and sunny for the last few hours and then just as we were getting on the raft we could see some serious clouds rolling in. We all got absolutely drenched. It was fun though. I was sitting in the front getting wind wept and soaked but it reminded me of sailing and I was happy. 
The boat ride is considered one of the top ten things to do in China and I can totally see why. Even though it was raining for about half of the 2 and a half hour journey the scenery was still amazing. 
The majority of the tourists are Chinese. We saw a wedding taking place on the rivers edge. 
The others were feeling rather tired having not got much sleep last night and so they decided to stay in Yangdi and I pushed on to Guilin as I have to get as far north as quickly as possible to meet up with Jenna in Chengdu. It was a shame to leave them so soon as they are lovely, fun people. 
I was on a mission to get to Guilin and raced there. It was hilly to being with to climb out of the valley but then I hit a highway and it was fast traveling. It was 60km and I reached Guilin about 5. It took me a while to find the hostel where I had booked a night in a dorm. Google maps tried to take me down some lanes only for pedestrians....By the time I got there and checked it time was getting on and I wanted to see the city in the light so deciding to shower later I just left my bags and bike and headed off for a wonder.
Guilin is known for its 2 bagodas in the middle of the lake so I headed there first.
There are loads of little bridges and walk ways over the rivers and lakes. 
They have done a great job of lighting up the town at night - especially round the lake/river area. Guilin is a medium sized Chinese town. If you have read other entries on this blog then you will be bored of me spouting on about how developed China is and how different it is to what I was expecting..... but basically it is. There are loads of shopping centers, fast food restaurants, banks and businesses. Guilin is well laid out, very clean and just a city really. It could be anywhere in Europe if it were not for all the Chinese people. There are very few new building - so actually probably more like a city in the new world countries.
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