My Guilin Experience

Posted at: 2008-8-9; By shirllo; Clicks:1405

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Elephant Trunk Hill

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I visited Guilin three years ago and stayed at the Lijiang Waterfall Hotel. It was a fabulous 5-star hotel with a unique nightly display of artificial waterfalls cascading down the front of the building. Their breakfast buffet was fabulous and plentiful: with a wide variety of fresh fruits, pastries, jook (Chinese congee), dim sum, omelette, waffle and noodle stations, sushi, drinks, and much much more. Of course, the Li River Cruise was a must. With the breeze blowing in my face, seeing different scenes of the River and green hills at each turn of the boat, I felt a sense of awe and exhilaration. I also visited the other tourist sights: Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill, and Folded Brocade Hill, each unique in its own way. The Chinese people were friendly, and when I started speaking some Mandarin to them, I was greeted with a big smile, always!I had an experienced (over 10 years at that time) guide, Alex, who spoke excellent English and had a nice, calm demeanor. It was during our climb up Brocade Hill that I first noticed a tourist sign in Chinese with a funny English translation. (I have since discovered that there is a word for this: Chinglish). I pointed it out to Alex and we both chuckled about it. He told me that this was a known problem, but difficult to be addressed adequately. We shared in noticing and laughing about many other signs as we continued our climb. He made my Guilin experience very unique.As my travels continued to different cities, the Chinglish signs were indeed everywhere. Over a year ago. I read that the Chinese Government had singled out over 8000 signs to be corrected prior to the Olympic Games. As a result of my Guilin experience, I signed on with China Highlights Travel as one of their volunteer web editors on my return to the United States. I hope to be able to download and share some photos of these signs.

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nancy said at 2008-8-10 20:23:00

Rating: Excellent

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coca said at 2008-8-8 4:39:00

Rating: Excellent

Guilin is very beautiful. I visited it two years ago and was impressed by the area's beautiful natural scene.

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unclechina said at 2008-8-6 21:27:00

Rating: Excellent

Hi, Shirllo, I know Alex, we are good friends, thanks for uploading his picture there. I love Guilin, welcome to visit Guilin again.

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leomagic said at 2008-8-4 21:13:00

Rating: Good

I eager to visit Guilin after reading your travel story.

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