Spring Festival Holiday Part 2

大家好！ 

Kunming to Guilin 1/02/19

Our first tourist destination in Guilin was Elephant Trunk Hill. This spot got its name as the hill looks like a ‘giant elephant drinking from the river’, this river being the confluence of the Taohua River and the Li River. This place has even been a tourist spot since the Tang Dynasty (618-907!!) which I think is pretty impressive. It was quite interesting to look at and sitting at the river side eating some snacks was something I think we were in need of. There’s actually a little story (folklore if you will) surrounding this hill, it is said that the hill is an embodiment of a God Elephant who used to be the Emperor of Heaven’s mount. It then got separated from the emperor during a war and was stranded in Guilin severely wounded and was looked after by a kind couple. It then fell in love with the life in Guilin and decided to stay, and eventually became the Elephant Trunk Hill.

Next on our list for that day was the Prince’s Palace. It was first built in the Ming Dynasty and since its construction, 14 kings from 12 generations have lived there and it has a history of over 630 years which makes it older than the Forbidden City in Beijing. It continues to amaze me how much you’re surrounded by history and, for me at least, at the time not even know it! This place was quite scenic and it was really good to walk around and take it all in. The next day we caught a bus to Yangshuo and this place was absolutely beautiful, I loved it so much! First of all the bus journey to get there was so refreshing as you were just surrounded by mountains and so much greenery (which for China is quite unusual) and this quaint little place has almost just integrated itself into the mountains, and I can’t really describe how incredible it was to see. I remember feeling so at peace (I may sound dramatic here but I am a sucker for nature).

On the first day in Yangshuo we explored the area around our hostel, we ended up walking up a little hill hiking trail and then we found an amazing little street with lots of different shops so we pretty much went into all of them and I definitely got too excited. There was also a Madame Tussaud’s which was not the best, but it was fun to visit and we definitely stayed in for too long considering how small it actually was. For our last day in Yangshuo we made sure to make it worthwhile, so we got an early start and of course we had to hike up a mountain. We made our way up Mountain Xinping - which was without a doubt worth all the hard work because the view at the top was so amazing I still can’t believe it when I look back at pictures! It was by far the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen and we stayed at the top for quite a while just soaking it all in. After we stopped being so awestruck by the view from Xinping we made our way to the Li River which is the picture that is on the 20 yuan note! It was quite odd seeing it in person and we spent a little while when we first got there trying to figure out which part was on the note but once we found it Suzie made sure to get a picture of it which she had been waiting the whole trip to do! After that we took a boat ride around the river and then made our way back to Guilin - I was actually quite sad to leave Yangshuo because I just found it so beautiful and peaceful - and for our last day in Guilin we visited the Reed Flute Cave, once inside you get a tour round the cave which has coloured lights all throughout it highlighting all the intricate details that are in the cave. The cave was discovered in 1959 and is thought to be around 700,000 years old. 

Guilin to Guangzhou 05/02/19

When we first arrived in Guangzhou we came across a temple and  when exploring more of the city we came across an area that seemed to have a lot of European architecture including the Sacred Heart Cathedral, which is considered the ‘Notre Dame of East Asia’. It was built 130 years ago and was designed by two French architects. Many places in China have European style buildings as during different wars places became occupied and it was quite interesting to see such an impressive building in Guangzhou. We then decided to hike up another mountain! This time we went up Baiyun Mountain, or otherwise known as White Cloud Mountain. For hundreds of years this has been a famous scenic spot in Guangzhou and it was a really great spot to see the view of the city in its full glory. On our way trying to find the entrance to start hiking we ending up meeting a really kind Chinese family who noticed us struggling with a taxi driver and walked with us to the mountain as coincidentally they were planning to hike up it as well. They were so kind and made sure to give us some fruit before they left to hike the mountain and we made sure to thank them for all their help and took a picture together as well.

And it wouldn’t be a trip to a Chinese province without seeing a few temples so we also made our way over to the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. It was originally built in 537 and like many Buddhist temples once you walked in it was so serene and a great place to saunter around and take in all of the atmosphere. Now it wouldn’t have been a trip to Guangzhou without seeing the Guangzhou tower so we made sure to fit that in on our final night to see it all lit up in multicoloured changing lights. We spent way a lot of time taking pictures in front of it but it’s all for the memories and Instagram posts!

Guangzhou to Taiwan 09/02/19

Last but definitely not least Suzie and I headed to Taipei! We first stopped in Taipei for two days before we headed to another city and then heading back to Taipei for another couple days before we had to fly back to Tianjin! But before I dive into the other city I’ll say what we first did in Taipei. There were so many night markets in Taipei! There was one right next to our hostel and as we were heading to go and see the rainbow bridge we stumbled across another night market that sold endless amounts of street food and clothes so we went around nosing around the stalls and trying a few delicious foods that we didn’t know. We then caught a train to another city fairly close by called Hualien, and I can honestly say I fell in love with this place! Our hostel was fantastic and the people who worked there were so kind, helpful and generous and they definitely made our trip a lot more memorable. We stayed about a 20 minute walk away from the beach so of course one of the first things we did was to take a walk down and take a peek to see what it was like. It was absolutely incredible and the serenity of the view, sky and the sound of the crashing waves made me feel very peaceful. Throughout our stay in Hualien we explored a lot, we found an incredible Buddha statue, an amazing night market which had a lot of options for food which all looked delicious and on one of the days we rented a couple of bikes and with the help of our amazing hostel, we found a bike trail that we could cycle right along the beach, and although the seats on the bikes turned out to not be the most comfortable it was totally worth seeing the view of the cliffs and the incredible beach!

For most of our days in Hualien Suzie and I explored the Taroko hiking trails which is one of Taiwan’s most popular tourist attractions. It’s a spectacular national park with so many different hiking trails that you can explore your way through, with buses that take you to each stop, you could spend days making your way through the entire park. With the much needed help of one of the workers in our hostel (who became sort of like a friend to us by the end of our stay there) we found all the information about the best trails and what were the must see spots. I love being surrounded by nature and if you’re similar to me you would love this place, with so many caves and waterfalls with crystal clear water running down into rivers, you never stop taking pictures and taking moments to stop and admire the beautiful place you’re lucky enough to be exploring. 

With a few new friends made along the way our time in Hualien sadly ended and we went back to Taipei for a few days before we had to catch our flight back home to Tianjin. With our few days left in Taiwan we tried to make the most of it all. We hiked up a few more mountains, which as always though tiring were worth the cardio of getting to the top and seeing the incredible views which you never seem to get tired of. We were also lucky enough to be in Taiwan at the same time as the famous Lantern Festival so we hopped on a bus and went to surround ourselves with culture and lanterns being lifted up into the sky (although I must admit at the back of my mind I was aware of how damaging it is for the environment... I didn’t participate in buying a lantern but admired how they looked. Look after the planet!) That aside it was really something special to be amidst such a wonderful cultural experience like the lantern festival, it will definitely be an experience I’ll never forget. And last but not least... we visited... a cat village. Yup. A cat village. Now I am both a cat and a dog person so I cannot describe with words how cute this little village was. In the 1990s, the village’s mining pits closed and the number of villagers dropped, with just a few hundred people left living there and with a few stray cats, and after a few years of them caring and feeding them the numbers of cats jumped into the hundreds! I now have several pictures of random cats on my phone and I do not regret it, they were all so cute! While in the village there were a few souvenir stores and cafes that you could stop by and buy as many cat themed things as your heart would let you and one shop was even playing an ABBA song... sung by cats instead of ABBA. Visiting this village was the weirdest and funniest experience and every second was fantastic! 

And that is the end of my Spring Festival travels, it was such a blast and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to go to all of these wonderful places. I hope you all have enjoyed hearing about my travels as much as I’ve enjoyed writing about them. 

Alyssa.