Free & Easy Travel to Guilin, Yangshuo & Guangzhou, etc from 20/1/2005 to 26/1/2005

Photograph taken at Yuexiu Park, Guangzhou

Photo above - Photograph taken at Fisherlady Statue, Zhuhai

Photo - Top Left - Photograph of myself & my elder brother (Heng Wah) taken as Fir Lake Park, Guilin.

We managed to get a cheap Air Asia return flight from KL to Macau. There were 4 of us, i.e. my elder brother, his travelling companion, Tang & wife & myself. We arrived at Macau Airport just around midnight. Since we did not make any hotel accomodation, we stayed at Macau Airport until about 7.00am and then boarded the first AP1 bus direct to Barrier Gate. After immigration clearance at Macau and Gongbei, Zhuhai, we had our breakfast. Mr. Tang & wife were too tired and immediately checked-in a 3-star Gongbei Hotel to catch up with lost sleep. My brother & myself took a local bus and visited the statue of fisherlady by the seaside. In the evening, all of us took a sleeper bus from Gongbei to Guilin. Our very first experience on the sleeper bus -very clean and well carpeted, no shoes allowed inside and had to be hand-carried or kept in plastic bags. The sleeper bus was full of passengers but the journey was delayed for more than 2 hours as the bus driver drove very slowly in order to meet with another bus to transfer 2 additional passengers. We only arrived at Guilin at 9.30am the next morning and checked-in at Tai Lian Hotel for a good rest until lunch. The food at Guilin was reasonable and delicious especially pork ribs (We had them daily in various cooking styles), Guilin yam, various vegetables. However, fish & prawns caught from the Li Jiang River are not as tasty as those back home in Malaysia. As we were in Guilin during the winter season, in one of the restaurant, Mrs. Tang noticed what looks like roast piglet on display; however, when I looked at it closer (especially on the ears and nostrils), it was actually a "roast puppy". She was shocked. Dog meat is a delicacy here especially during the cold winter months.

In the afternoon, we met a taxi lady who took us around visting places of interest at Guilin, such as Elephant Trunk Park, Guilin City's landmark of the twin Bayan Lake & Fir Lake, Fubo Hill, Decai Hill, etc.

The next morning, we visited Seven Star park with the taxi lady and her younger sister (a university student) who act as our guide. Her intention was to improve her spoken English by communicating with us. We proceeded by bus to Yangshuo. Yangshuo was a backpacker's paradise in Guilin and famous for its West Street or Xi Lu. We had a walking tour of around Yangshuo and met a number of foreigners. After lunch, we took a bus from Yangshuo to Xingping. From there we boarded a Li Jiang river cruise to Yangdi and viewed the picturescapes of gorgeous karst peaks with breathtaking sceneries all along the Li Jiang River.

That night, we took a night bus from Yangshuo direct to Guangzhou.

We arrived at Guangzhou at 6.30am and proceeded to Victory Hotel, Shamian Island and stayed there for 2 nights. At Guangzhou, we visited a number of attractions such as Yuexiu Park or 5 Rams Park, Zhen Hai Lou, 6 Bayan Tree Temple, The Chan Family Ancestral Temple, Temple of Bright Filial Piety, etc. TheVictory Hotel in Shamian Island was a nice & confortable hotel. Shamian Island also reminded us Guangzhou past Colonial History and the existing colonial buildings. From mid 18th to mid 19th century, Shamian was the only place where foreigner traders were allowed to abode. It has various colonial buildings, churches, a French and British Sectors, etc. The American Embassy was also located here, thus, security is tight and almost crime free. We met a number of American families who came here to adopt Chinese Babies (usually girls). You can see lots of American couples pushing prams with Chinese Babies.

We stayed at Victory Hotel, Shamian for 2 nights, after which, we proceeded back to Macau via Gongbei for our night flight back to KLIA.