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--- Guilin

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‘Fabled’ is a bit too strong a word for the city of Guilin in Guangxi Zhuang, China. In fact, it’s a fairly ordinary city, relatively clean and modern. Its claim to fame is location, location, location — situated up the Li Jiang, easily one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. With a kayak, inflatable, or some other small boat you could, as many do, put into the water right at Guilin. Most tourists, and there are droves of them, take one of the many busses to a deeper spot downriver where boat after boat takes a roughly three-hour cruise to Yangshuo. We did that and it’s a nice ride. However, embarking around nine in the morning and disembarking at noon means you miss the soft misty-pink sunrise colors. Going by small boat and camping on the river would make for a more interesting experience.

Meanwhile, the standard tourist version is easily arranged for around $50, with busses leaving to the boat launch from the hotels. The view above left is from a balcony in the Guilin Holiday Inn. It is... well, a Holiday Inn... clean, comfortable, reasonably priced. It is located at 14 Ronghu Nanlu and can be contacted by telephone at +86 773 223950. Pictured above right is Banyan Lake, at the far end of which is the CITS office, 14 Ronghu Beilu, reachable at +86 773 222648. The building in the foreground of the picture at right is the Ronghu Hotel, 17 Ronghu Lu, +86 773 223811.