China: Day 1

We arrived Guilin at approximately 9am in the morning and right after we exit-ed the airplane we felt the super cold breeze. Had to endure the cold weather till we got to our luggage. After the customs, yadayadayada, keluar airport.

First stop in Guilin was to see the Golden Pagoda. We walked around this beautiful park (unsure of it's name) which I thought was absolutely beautiful. The landscapes were clean, neat and well-organised. They even have CCTV installed around!

Amazing, isn't it? A park this beautiful built in the middle of a city.

While on our way back to the van, we saw a man selling sweet potatoes. Got a piece of it for 5 yuen, which I thought was kind of expensive. Or is it not? 

Isn't it ironic? Why is it that China, which has one of the world's biggest populations, can still make tracks for cyclists across the city as compared to Kuala Lumpur, which is relatively small? And the motorcyclists here use battery-powered bikes and they don't go over the speed limit, are not required to wear the helmet. No rempit okay.

A usual sight in China. People selling raw sugar canes. The Chinese people like to chew on sugar canes, it's like a habit of theirs. No wonder they have strong teeth. Even toddlers chew on them.

Just next to the halal restaurant that we had lunch at was this mosque. Beautiful mosque I must say. Unfortunately it wasn't prayer time yet so we moved on to our next destination.

We arrived at Shangri-La park, a man-made park dedicated to educate visitors on their local ethnic groups and minorities, as well as their arts and crafts. The first thing that we did was ride on these boats which took us around the park. It felt like one of those water-based rides that you can find at theme parks. But overall, the ride showed us a stunning view of the park's landscapes.

Into the cave!

After getting off the boat we went to visit a few other buildings in the park.

One of the ethnic minorities singing and chanting to their traditional songs.

See the bags behind there? This lady made them!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this bridge was built without using any nails.

After that, we went on to visit this mansion located in the park. The zen architecture that the mansion possessed was absolutely amazing. I was in awe of how smart they can be when it comes to utilising space but at the same time still making them look artsy.

Horns used to turn them into craft. 

Yes, that is a whole mansion. Took us quite some time to walk through the whole house.

And that, was the end of day one. We then headed to Yangshuo, where we stayed at for the rest of the trip. Apologies for the senget-benget and the hefty amount of pictures. I'm just too lazy to edit and select. Haha