Harbin, Guizhou Province, Yangshou, PEK Trip Report

Places covered in this report: Harbin, Kaili, Xijiang, Leishan, Congjiang, Zhaoxing, Chengyang, Yangshou, and Beiging.

Recently returned from a short, one-month trip to China. For the first three weeks I traveled alone. For the last week, I met up with my mom, dad, uncle and aunt.

You can check out my photos at www.onceahighway.com</a>.

For some details on the places I visited, read on.

Harbin- Since I traveled directly (LAX-PEK-HRB in about 20 hours) from the States and landed on a Saturday in the middle of Ice Lantern Festival, I made a reservation (or so I thought) at a pretty nice place (Tianzhi Hotel). Cost was about 398 rmb per night. The hotel sits on the main walk street (Zhongyang Dajie), one block from Zhaolin Park where the Ice sculptures are, and just two blocks from the river. The location was excellent. The room was nice with western toilet, hot water, comfortable bed, and TV. But the best thing about the hotel was the huge buffet breakfast that was included with the room tariff. There were about a dozen kinds of dumplings and steamed rolls, a similar number of stir-fried dishes, tons of kimchi-style veggies, several soups, juices and more.

Ice Festival- The centerpiece of the festival are the ice sculptures in Zhaolin Park. They are somewhat interesting but not awe inspiring. You will need to see it twice to get the full effect: once during the day and once at night when the sculptures are lit up. Cost is about 40rmb. A little more impressive, but a lot more expensive are the snow sculptures on Sun Island Park. They're giant and even include several building sculped in snow where you can go inside to warm up and have a beer. But to me, the best part of the festival was sliding along among the throngs of ecstatic locals on the iced-over river below the Flood Control Monument.

I had lots of good food in Harbin. The restaurant connected to the Tianzhi Hotel had excellent food at reasonable prices. The French Bakery near the hotel was overpriced and only fair. But the hostess was very friendly so this isn't a bad place to warm up and watch bundled up people stroll by. There is a good new bakery six or so blocks up (south) Zhongyang Dajie on the west side of the street. I had a super seafood dumpling feast at a nice restaurant on the north side of Youli Lu about a block west of the shopping center by the at the Flood Control Monument.

Zhongyang Dajie is basically a pedestrian mall flanked by western styled buildings. It's nice enough. But it is really only of interest if you miss European architecture. Same with the St. Sofia Church.

What I remember most about Harbin was walking across the frozen river and hanging out with the people below the Flood Control Monument.

Guiyang- The CAAC bus dropped me off very close to the main bus station. From there, I took a pleasant two hour ride Kaili.

Kaili- I stayed at the Petroleum Hotel for the first night. It was a pretty rough joint and not a good deal (#11 on the LP China map). In the drawer next to the bed I found a pamphlet that describes how to pleasure your customer with out giving him AIDS. Classic! The next day I moved to a nice place near the CITS office. Cost was about 96rmb for a single room with heat, hot water, western toilet, and clean and comfortable bed. This hotel is located at #12 on the map. And like the Petro, had a different name than indicated in the guide.

The lady that runs the CITS is very nice and helpful. For some reason I thought Kaili was a small town. It's not. Although I'd read several negative comments about Kaili, I found it pretty interesting and the people, friendly. Had a couple of excellent and super cheap buffet-style meals at a little joint on the SW corner of Wenhua Beilu and Yingpan Donglu (about 12rmb for all you can eat and one beer). From Kaili, I grabbed a bus for the short ride to Lieshan.

Leishan is sort of a mini Kaili, with a river cutting across the middle of town. I could find only a couple of hotels and both are on the same street, 10-15 minutes from the bus station. From the front door of the bus station head right, down the street toward Rongjiang. Take the first left and cross the river. After a few blocks, just before the hospital on the right side is a hotel. It looked nice enough. But if you walk a block past the hospital, you'll reach the hotel where I stayed. It's on a roundabout. This place reminded me of a Swiss chalet (sorta). Very nice room for about 120rmb. Like all of the above hotels, no English was spoken or understood.

Leaving Leishan- Catching the bus to Xijiang is simple: just go to the bus station and ask around. Attendants were very helpful (no English). Buy your ticket on board. Catching the bus onward from Leishan to Rongiang>Congjiang, etc. is a little less straight forward because the bus doesn't stop at the bus station. The through-bus route stays north of the river, bypassing downtown. I couldn't ascertain the exact route, so I headed to the petrol station at far south edge of town where all routes converge. The bus passed though at 8:00 AM. I think it actually passes both of the aforementioned hotels, but I didn't want to risk missing it. The four hour trip to Rongjiang is paved but bumpy and very windy. If you're prone to motion sickness, take measures before boarding the bus. Note: Those bags the driver hands out aren't for peanut shells.

Xijiang- The road to Xijiang is mainly dirt but good and scenic. We picked up a guy and his freshly slaughtered pig mid way. He just plopped the carcass down in the isle and forever changed my opinion of "Chicken Bus". It was pretty cool.

The main street in Xijian is for walking only. There's a small square with a totem pole in the center. On the square is Maio's Home Guest House where I stayed. It's a traditional Miao house with a general store below and eight or so guest rooms above. Rooms on the top floor open on to a patio with an awesome view. And the view out the back window of the rooms is also pretty spectacular. My room with electric blanket and squat toilet cost about 48rmb. Meals cost 10rmb and included all the homemade rice wine the hostess could persuade me to swill. And after everyone (including the hosts) is liquored up, the singing begins. Miao's Home Guest House is highly recommended.

Xijiang is definitely worth going out of your way to visit. The Village's intricately constructed wooden houses cling to steep hillsides and overlook lovely rice and vegetable terraces. This traditional aspect of Chinese culture is rapidly being replaced so check it out before it's gone.

Leishan to Congjiang- The first four hours are across what seem like a never-ending series of mountain ranges. Somewhat scenic. From Rongjiang to Congjiang takes two more hours. The road runs along a big river, past several small villages and is more interesting.

Congjiang– Just a commercial center along the river. I stayed at a dive hotel across the street from the bus station about a block further east. It was OK. I did a 40 minute walking loop to burn time: from the bus station/hotel go west down the main drag until you can cross the river on the bridge. Continue west on the opposite side of the river forking right to keep near the shore. Check out the indoor market. From the market, scope out the ferry crossing. Take the ferry for a couple of rmb and head back.

Congjiang to Zhaoxing- The direct bus didn't show up so I took a bus heading to Liping. It took a pleasant couple of hours to get to Pilin junction. I got off at the corner and waited for a bus heading south east. After a short wait a bus stopped and thirty minutes later I was in Zhaozing. This route seems much simpler than disembarking at the Xin'an junction, walking into town and then finding a ride across the hills (as recommended by others).

Zhaoxing- There are almost twenty guesthouses in this small village! Still, I only saw one other westerner; and she was doing her doctoral thesis on the Zhaoxing's tourist industry. This is a pretty amazing place: Traditional buildings; classic faces; and gorgeous countryside. I stayed at the Dong Village Hotel (or GH?) on the main street. An extremely clean room, comfortable bed, heater, western toilet and sweet, street view cost about 80 rmb. The proprietor is a very nice and helpful guy and even gave me free internet access. There are a lot of sleeping options in Zhaoxing, and while Dong Village Hotel isn't the cheapest, it is the nicest. I spent three nights here and did plenty of walking to the surrounding villages. Zhaoxing is a gem and not to be missed.

Zhaoxing to Chengyang- I caught a bus right outside the GH at about 8:00 AM that arrived in Sanjiang five or six hours later. In Sanjiang there are two bus stations. I arrived at the one at the base of a hill on a crowded commercial street. This is the station with busses to Chengyang. But for busses to Guilin you'll have to walk across the river. There's a good city map in the waiting room of both bus stations so finding your way to the other station isn't a problem, just a fifteen minute walk. The short bus ride from Sanjiang to Chengyang was nice enough.

Chengyang- After Xijiang and Zhaoxing, Chengyang was a letdown. I stayed at the Dong Village Hotel. And although it shares a name with the hotel in Zhaoxing, they have little else in common. This place is big and drafty but still clean and friendly. I was the only guest. They have a big patio with a good view of the village's famous wind and rain-proof bridge. I imagine In the summer the patio would be a sweet spot to hang out. My room was big and had nice balcony but no heat (about 50rmb).

The village was OK, and they have free singing and dancing in the main square every afternoon. I saw a couple of other guest houses under construction in the village proper. There's a small fee to get close to the bridge, which I don't mind. But you're hit with a barrage of high pressure salesgirls as you cross it.

To get back to Sanjiang, I just sat by the bridge and waited for a ride. A mini van picked me up after a short wait.

Sanjiang to Guilin- Six grueling hours of dust and bumps.

Guilin to Yangshou- You know the drill. Buy a ticket on the next bus; and no matter what they say, don't listen to the touts. One hour in a very nice bus.

Yangshou- My first visit since 1988! Only the karsts remain the same. Stayed at the brand new Li River Retreat. Far from the cheapest place in town but… Wait, the Li River Retreat's not in town. It's is a 25 minute walk up the river and on a whole different planet. The retreat's website describes the place pretty well. What it doesn't say is that 1) the food is superb; and 2) the host and hostess are great people that know what travelers want and will do what ever it takes to make you happy. And the sunrises from your room's private patio aren’t bad either.

On to the activities… I rode a bike around for the day. But was a little disappointed. The city has grown so much that it's quite a trek to get out into the quiet countryside.

For this part of the trip, I was joined by my mom, dad, uncle and aunt. So we weren't as budget conscious as I normally am. We did some pretty touristy stuff; including hiring a guide and minivan for the day; and rafting down the Yulong River. We checked out Yulong Bridge and planned to start rafting from there. But it's too far from the nice scenery. So we drove down the river a ways and hopped on rafts a little closer to Moon Hill. Rafting wasn't as lame as it could have been. But not great. And real expensive. The best thing we did was rent a boat from Xingping to Yangdi. The boat costs about $60 for the two hour ride through the nicest stretch of the river. The boat easily holds ten people. You may need to arrange it in advance. But during the summer, I'd think you could just show up and pay for a seat.

Beijing- Not much to add to what's been said many times before.

Jade Market across from the Temple of Heaven sells just about everything you could want; Except fake Olympic souvenirs. In fact, the authorities seem to have a pretty tight grip on "Beijing 2008" stuff. But I found very good prices on Olympic tee shirts on West Street in Yangshou.

Be sure to check out the Lama Temple. There's now a subway stop right at the corner.

Great Wall at Mutianyu- There were no crowds since it was mid-winter. This is a very scenic section with easy access. I recommend taking the tram up and riding the toboggan down. It's a pleasant ½ hour walk on top of the wall between the tram and the slide. The toboggan is a blast. Just make sure that you let the person in front of you get at least a 30 second head start so that you can go as fast possible without rear-ending them.

That's about it.

If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Travel far,
fds