Send to friend Write a new story Print

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.
Views:245 Tags: Guilin
We are inviting travel buffs to write their travel experiences to share with others. If you are interested in writing for us, please reach us at info@chinatravel.com


I eager to visit Guilin after reading your travel story.