On our second to last stop in China, we headed out to one of the places I wanted to visit the most! Guilin was always a place I’ve been wanting to visit because of their interesting geological structures, but the mountains in particular. I really need to head back on my own terms to get a real intimate feel for the place and just discover the true Guilin, rather than the facade that we get with a tour group. Our first stop was at the Fubo Hill. Marvin and I headed over to to see Lijang River adjacent to our parking lot.

I always liked taking pictures of textures and more detail shots of the area, this was just a random wall that I found near the parking lot.

Photo of Papa Kuo!

Another view of the river, it’s pretty amazing to see how much pollution there is in this area as well. I also noticed while I was here that this was a premiere destination for some rock climbers as well.

I ended up going up to the top of the park to see the view from above. Here is an illustration of what the mountains look like, not really the typical large rolling hills that I was used to in the states.

A little gazebo, or area to relax.

The Fubo Hill Bell:

Cast in the Qing Dynasty, the Iron Bell is 2.5 meters high, and weighs 2.5 tons, with a diameter of 1.7 meters. The upper part of the bell is inscribed with sutras; and the middle part with inscriptions and superscriptions by Prince Pingnan and others.

Thousand Buddha Cave has three levels with a total area of 133 square meters (159 square yards). Climbing up along the winding stairs to the upper level, you will find 239 statues of Buddha in 36 enshrines from the later Tang Dynasty, of which the most precious is a self-portrait of Mi Fu, one of the four major calligraphers of the Song Dynasty and once served as a county official in Guilin. His paintings show great influence of the landscapes of Guilin. The original of this self-portrait of Mi Fu came from the imperial palace, with the calligraphy by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty and an inscription by Mi Fu’s son.

During our stay there, we found this nice watering hole were there were a bunch of patrons looking for a swim.

And I saw this one guy that looked like he was having the time of his life.

As we were leaving the area, I found this interesting looking landscape with a little fisherman in his boat that just set off the mood of this area.

Lastly, as I was walking away, I found this couple with interesting cards. Definitely different than what we use in the states, but probably the same amount of fun.

Later that night we headed out to the night market, Xicheng Road Evening Market, where I snapped a couple of nice street shots. Here is one seller with her lanterns.

Next up, a lady knitting while waiting for potential buyers to look at her merchandise.

A view down the street, with most of the vendors set up in tents.

There was also street food that looked a little compelling.

I made it a game to try to get some photos of Marvin, here is one of him strutting down the streets of the evening market.

Another happy customer with this food vendor.

The next day we headed up to Yaoshan Park. Here we road a couple of lift chairs up the mountain to reach the top.

Marvin posing with the red ribbons on top of Yaoshan.

We walked pass this wall decorated with the Chinese zodiac, each representing the 12 different years and different animals that represent the years.

We had a choice of our transportation back down, we could ride the lift chairs again or go on a toboggan ride. Marvin and I had to choose the toboggan.

I took out my camera to get a little long exposure shot of my view on the ride, it was pretty hard to get a nice crisp photo but I was able to get one!

Next Elephant Trunk Hill, or Xianbi Shan. It was a bit crowded and a little hard to get any photos in. I was looking to use my Medium Format camera at this time so the timing had to be just right. I still need to get those photos developed from a few years back.

I always like seeing what the people in other countries wear, and here is an example of a pretty stylish old man.

Last during our stay here, we headed to the Guilin Two Rivers and Four Lakes resort for a short little cruise on the lake.

We ended up seeing the traditional fishing methodologies with the birds, but not the photo that I wanted. I had envisioned something else, but hopefully the next time I visit will be more for the sights that I want to capture on my camera.