Guilin and Yangshuo

One of the highlights of the part in China ! All the more that Hangzhou was disappointing (if you hadn't understood...). A good climate (heat, sun and some humidity), beautiful landscapes, nicer people... all this made my stay there pleasant and memorable.

One of the Guilin's lakes

Guilin is a typical Chinese city (which means at least 1 million of inhabitants) with a flavor of South-East Asia. People are more talkative, opened and smiling. Maybe the same difference as between Paris and the South of France...

Who wants some popcorn ?

And who wants some Ni... oups !

They sure know how to stay healthy

Two pagodas of Guilin

Yangshuo is said to be a small town but I can ensure you that it doesn't really match the "small town" criteria of France (but Japan...). Its setting is quite magnificent. It was the good occasion to ride on a bike and enjoy the beautiful landscapes under a scorching sun, guided by a local (in exchange of a reasonable amount of... you know what I mean), wearing my fashionable ski trousers... (it was supposed to rain !!!) But you can see this with the pictures !

Yangshuo

And when we leave the town...

My guide...

...and me

My visit in Yangshuo was the occasion for me to have a passionate debate with some young Chinese. Searching for some help in English, especially about the accent (and they were asking a French guy... Haha), we ended up discussiong about various subjects and especially the Irak war and the Tibet's incidents. This was a big surprise for me to discover that these Young ones clearly despised USA as I thought Chinese to be the opposite way. Concerning the Dalai-Lama and Tibet, they had an firm opinion, unfortunately full of holes... They didn't know neither the origin of the conflict nor the several achievements of the Dalai-Lama (Nobel Price of peace...). Starting from this point their opinion (Tibetans are "independantists" who try to destroy the country) was quite understandable. As my knowledge of the situation was quite as bad as them I couldn't really provide any good arguments except the "Nobel Price" one but it was enough to make them doubt and start rethinking the situation. Anyway, the conclusion is that I should inform myself more and so should do the Chinese (but with other sources than the Chinese government...) !

My first fried rice of the trip (what a beautiful way to end this photos' series)