Li River
The Li River area between Guilin and Yangshuo in Southern China is absolutely beautiful. Limestone karst formations reach out from the jungle-like growth at the sides of the river up to the sky. This is a favorite vacation location for both Chinese and Western tourists. There are basically two ways to cruise the Li River, taking the large multi-decked tour boats with comfortable seating and which serve lunch cooked on the fantail or by bamboo rafts powered by straight shaft outboard motors. My tour group was scheduled on a large tour boat.
The weather was not favorable for photography, there was a heavy fog and a mist all day long. This region gets 95 inches of rain yearly and April is the beginning of the wet season. However, there was a heavy drought in the area of the headwaters of the LI River and the water level was down pretty low. This forced the tour operators to curtail a large portion of the trip. So instead of sailing from the city or Guilin down all the way to Yangshuo, we took a bus part way, sailed down the river for several miles, ate lunch and returned to the embarkation point were we resumed our bus trip to Yangshuo.
Vendors await tourists at the makeshift embarkation point south of Guilin...
Some vendors can get a little pushy...
Large cruise boats awaiting passengers...
Inside the cabin dining area of cruise boat...
Getting underway...
Triple deck cruise boat with Chinese tourists...
Karst formations along the Li River...
I wish it had been a little clearer...
However, even in the mist and rain, the views were beautiful...
Bamboo rafts shared the river...
Food was cooked on the fantail of the larger boats...
Stopping for lunch allowed vendors the opportunity to pole out to us - IN THE RAIN...
Not an easy way to make money...
Selling phony jade statues...
The scenery on the return trip was equally as lovely...
As we disembarked...
We had to run the guuntlet of vendors again...
I llike this shot because of the contrast between the European woman in heels, stockings and yellow rain slicker and the gnarled peanut vendor she is ignoring...
Someday I will return to the Li River; hopefully on a brighter day. This painting shown in the Guilin Normal University Art Gallery shows the Li River on a brighter day. It would be worth returning for...
The weather was not favorable for photography, there was a heavy fog and a mist all day long. This region gets 95 inches of rain yearly and April is the beginning of the wet season. However, there was a heavy drought in the area of the headwaters of the LI River and the water level was down pretty low. This forced the tour operators to curtail a large portion of the trip. So instead of sailing from the city or Guilin down all the way to Yangshuo, we took a bus part way, sailed down the river for several miles, ate lunch and returned to the embarkation point were we resumed our bus trip to Yangshuo.
Vendors await tourists at the makeshift embarkation point south of Guilin...
Some vendors can get a little pushy...
Large cruise boats awaiting passengers...
Inside the cabin dining area of cruise boat...
Getting underway...
Triple deck cruise boat with Chinese tourists...
Karst formations along the Li River...
I wish it had been a little clearer...
However, even in the mist and rain, the views were beautiful...
Bamboo rafts shared the river...
Food was cooked on the fantail of the larger boats...
Stopping for lunch allowed vendors the opportunity to pole out to us - IN THE RAIN...
Not an easy way to make money...
Selling phony jade statues...
The scenery on the return trip was equally as lovely...
As we disembarked...
We had to run the guuntlet of vendors again...
I llike this shot because of the contrast between the European woman in heels, stockings and yellow rain slicker and the gnarled peanut vendor she is ignoring...
Someday I will return to the Li River; hopefully on a brighter day. This painting shown in the Guilin Normal University Art Gallery shows the Li River on a brighter day. It would be worth returning for...
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Randy C
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