We had a leisurely morning. Some of us picked up jars of famous Guilin hot sauce – Hua Qiao. We met as a whole group at 10:00 a.m. to visit Fubu Shan – a Buddhist shrine (with one Taoist statue) where Scott paid 100 Yuan to buy a small turtle and release it into the Li River as an anonymous good deed.
Next some of us climbed two peaks. Both had spectacular views and MANY steps. The first, Solitary Beauty Peak, had 388 steps each way. The second had a mere 277 steps to reach the top. At the top of each peak we enjoyed the seeing the karst formations and views of Guilin.
Tired from climbing but still interested in the city, we visited the local art college. A teacher there demonstrated traditional Chinese ink painting on rice paper. A trip to Reed Flute cave next along with more steps – 122 of them. The cave, however, was spectacular along with being cool, moist, and colorful. Highlights were stalagmites and stalactites in the shape of Santa, a foot, a snowman, a dragon frightened by a mirror, a city, and a melon patch just to name a few.
Then our group split in two. As seven of us opted for foot and body massages we discovered that the Chinese have a gift for soothing the mind and body. After being lifted bodily and spiritually, seven joined fifteen to hear the tales of the Tea Plantation. Tales included the wearing of traditional woven hats, walking in the tea fields and tasting some delicious tea. We especially liked the fermented tea with ginseng. While most of the tea group was enjoying tea, Brian W. was enjoying a nap on the bus. Mr. Yao, our friendly bus driver and otherwise known as the professional coach manager, believing the bus was empty, securely locked it and went off to do whatever it is that bus drivers do when their group is on a tour. Brian awoke to an empty, hot bus. Finding the doors locked he pulled a MacGyver and crawled out a back window. We applaud Brian for not only having the ability to escape but the foresight to first toss out his water bottle and book!
The end of the day brought us to the Guilin Airport to depart for Guangzhou. Jim sends his thanks to Mr.Yao for finding his lost hat on the bus and Karen does the same with regards to her sunglasses.
Total Step s: 787 x 2!
Karen Gaul

To reach your loved one for the next 36 hours, you can call our hotel number at: 86-77-3282-9988. That should get you the front desk. You can then ask for your loved one’s room number. Remember, we are 12 hours ahead of EDT. Here are the room assignments:

Bethany, 452
BJ, 449
Brenda, 439
Brian S., 441
Brian W., 429
David, 431
Deborah, 433
Debra, 452
Dixie, 433
Doug, 441
Jim, 447
Judy, 449
Karen, 450
Katie, 427
Linda F., 448
Lynda H., 451
Michele, 448
Rick, 447
Scott, 429
Sharon, 450
Toni, 451

David attempting to escape
Deb the snake charmer
Debbie crooning it up

From the Great Wall to the Great Firewall: the New China

Most of us awoke this morning happy we could still feel our legs after yesterday’s hike up the Great Wall. On the itinerary, it said Independence Day, and although we have lost our sense of time, we knew it was not yet July 4th. There are two “Independence Days” scheduled for the trip and it means time we have on our own to explore in small groups what interests us.

A group of about 10 set out for Mao’s Mausoleum, an imposing structure on Tiananmen Square where strict security is the rule and a strict protocol of what kind of behavior and dress is required to pay homage to Chairman Mao is enforced. No photos are allowed.

The group of 10 split up and there was the Gang of Four: Sharon, Dixie, Katy and Judy looking for the lockers provided to keep cameras. As if he were our guardian angel, what we thought was a Chinese official, an elderly man dressed in blue, whisked us off, and like Moses, parted about six lanes of traffic and led us to the front of the line at “The People’s Hall of Lockers” where we deposited our cameras. He then led us back across six lanes of traffic through crowds to a “premium place” on the long queue leading to view Chairman Mao. No one seemed to resent our being placed there. As it turns out, he was not a Chinese official, but another Chinese entrepreneur. We were happy to pay him for his valuable service, as opposed to the extortionist referred to on the Wall in yesterday’s blog.

Impressions of the viewing of Mao in his glass-covered casket from the Gang of Four and others ranged from, “this was obviously a place of respect with people, especially children, placing flowers at the foot of the casket”, “lt was a place of reverence, not a tourist attraction”, “Chairman Mao looks like his body had been prepared by Madame Tussaud” to “he looks as well preserved as Joan Rivers!” We all agreed that the whole scene was awe inspiring.

After the Mao viewing, the Gang of Four had a rendezvous with one of Katy’s former Pitt students, now an American expat businessman in Beijing working for a Hong Kong-based merchant bank.

We met at “798 Art Zone”, also visited by other of our group members on Independence Day. The “798 Art Zone” is Beijing’s version of “Soho”: a former electronics factory that was converted into studio space for aspiring Chinese artists.

Over lunch at a trendy café, the Gang of Four was able to discuss with this young man what it was like being a young person in today’s China.

Well, what we heard and what we were to see in “in your face” art would surely make Mao roll-over in his casket. (I gotta go back and check him out tomorrow!) What stuck in our minds was how the young man described the creative ways young people developed to get around the government’s attempts to prevent access to certain websites….to “get around” the Great Firewall of China.

In spite of the great reverence paid to Mao when viewing his casket, we were to see irreverence in current artistic renderings of him and his legacy. Near “798”, BJ, who was with the family of one of her current students in Beijing for the summer, was surprised to see a parody on a Mao propaganda poster. It was a likeness of a Mao-era propaganda poster, but instead of being in traditional red and yellow, it was in pink and yellow.

Jim gave a great illustration of the China most of us had envisioned before our visit to Beijing and the New China we have been surprised to find. He went to an old Daoist Temple that seemed misplaced in what had become a section of steel and glass high rises. This is not your Grandmother’s China!

DEVELOPING NEWS….NCTA Group featured as main entertainment at Uyghur Nightclub!!!
Fresh off the press….a group of 16 NCTA group members knew something was up when they were seated at a table directly in front of the stage and the music began just when they took their prominent seats. The belly dancers appeared, some wrapped in snakes, and it was just a matter of time until prominent members of the NCTA group were coaxed on stage and on chairs to bump and grind along with dancers. It is clear from the display that NCTA group leaders, who didn’t have to be coaxed too much, were chosen based on their belly dancing skills! Pictures soon to be posted!
(Uyghurs (pronounced wee-gur) are a Chinese minority of Turkic descent who are Moslem and live in the far west of China near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan. You have heard of them recently in discussions of placement of prisoners from Guantanamo. The released Uyghurs were sent to Palau.)

Judy Spector