Although I have planned for this trip as early as March, two things seemed to threaten my plan.
One was of course the H1N1 pandemic. Practically everyone I knew advised me to postpone the trip. Good thing I did not listen to them although they meant well!
The other was an advice from my feng shui master. He told me that the month of August was not a good month for me to travel especially out of the country. I would not be in the best of health and with the H1N1 threat, this really got me worried. I was also warned of the possibility of suffering from broken bones, bruises and cuts. And that I should avoid all water activities.
Looking at the itinerary planned by blogger Jam, we would be going on a river cruise, doing rafting and possibly kayaking! Now if I were to avoid all water activities, I might as well stay home!
So I just ignored all these advices. And guess what? Something happened during my rafting along the Yulong River in Guilin. Yes, I met with an accident! Oh, don't worry! I am back in one piece, but I'm still in pain over it now. That's the price to pay for throwing caution to the wind!
In fact, I had completely forgotten my feng shui master's warnings, until after the accident and Jam reminded me about it. I was like, Oh my God, so it was fated to happen!
I shall talk about the accident (even have photos to show!) in my future posts, but for now, let me bring you to my very first day in China.
AirAsia had only one flight daily from KL to Guilin and it was at 6.40am. I had to leave my house at 3.30am. Guess how many hours of sleep I got the night before? Well, I started packing only at night and by the time I finished, it was almost 2am! So my sleep was more like a short nap. Haha!
Fortunately, I did have some sleep on the 4 hours flight, although it was rather uncomfortable sleeping in the AirAsia plane.
Anyway, fast forward to China. My expectation of Guilin was somewhat like a small town with lots of mountains and very few modern buildings. And so I was rather surprised to find Guilin to be quite a modern city!
Look at the wide roads and busy street!
By the way, the name Guilin means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus". This is due to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city. Unfortunately, I did not realise this so I did not take notice of these trees!
I noticed that the people there like to ride on electric motorcycles like this lady in the photo below.
Wow! Didn't realise the Chinese are so environmentally friendly! Those electric bikes can zoom past you without making a sound. Pretty cool!
They even have dedicated lanes for cyclists and bikers. Not bad!
Oh, by the way, the night life in Guilin is pretty "happening".
Of course, this is only one part of Guilin. There are many other aspects of Guilin that make it a nice place to visit like its variety of hills formation, rivers, lakes, caves and parks. More photos in future posts! : )
After we arrived at the Guilin Liangjiang International Airport, we headed straight to the place where we would be staying for the next two nights. It took about half an hour to reach Guilin Backstreet International Youth Hostel.
Oh, you didn't think we would be staying at some 5 star hotels, did you? This was more like a backpacking trip for us, so no luxury hotels!
More on this hostel, why I think it sucks and is totally overrated, and our first dining experience in Guilin city in my upcoming post, so stay tuned!
FIRST COMMENTER
Wow that sounded scary that what they said came true... how long will you stay there for?
Can't wait for more posts about your China trip. Did you self-quarantine for 1 week after coming back? :P
War...Rad and day-dreamer were so early? Didn't sleep? :D Anyway good morning Foong! Finally your first post on China aye. :)
Yeah! If I were you I might postpone. My family wouldn't agree either. War...your Fengshui master gave you such advise? Hahaha :D Broken bones, bruises and cuts? Is like he was asking you to stay put at home.
By the way...you have a Fengshui master? For real?
War...an accident did happened huh>? But I'm glad that you are one piece again.
You only had 1 hour of sleep? You must tired then. But the excitement is really something right? Ha :D Ouh...on the plane you get to sleep lar!
I thought too you know. But my...Guilin is so modern...and clean to. The streets are wide indeed.
Forest of Sweet Osmanthus? Ouh...now only I know. War...these ladies don't have to put on helmets?
So many photos huh! It looks like KL. LOL :P
Ouh...the hotel sucks huh! Waiting...
wah, your feng shui prediction came true. That's scary. @_@
The city does looks nice. But I can't wait for scenery posts and photos.
"More on this hostel, why I think it sucks and is totally overrated"
Is that why the hostel is named Guilin Backstreet Int'l Youth Hostel? Haha...just kidding. That's why I don't put up at youth hostel unless I really have to. I had a really bad experience in Sdyney so I don't like hostels.
Waiting in anticipation on more stories about your trip :)
Guilin is relatively small in China, but I guess it is still big by Malaysian standard.
I believe this 'town' is poor, so you see many motorbikes there. Had you been to the prosperous coastal cities you'll see lots of cars. In fact, China has overtaken the US to become the world's largest car market.
BTW, electric bikes may not be as green as you thought. Much of the electricity in China comes from coal.
OK, waiting for more updates!
I feel grateful to be back in Malaysia, Foong! Feel grateful too my grandfather had migrated to here. I cannot imagine myself living in China. The country is only a good getaway for vacation, don't you think so?
Welcome back. Many think that China is still not so develop. I was having a same thinking too before I went to China. Once you are there, you will start to think that Malaysia is way behind China. Developments are everywhere in China. From your nice photos, Guilin is also a developed place.
the place looks cleaner than our country! And the fact that when you said "busy streets" Looks kinda empty to me hehe :P. Not much vehicles around there...
Electric bikes rox! We should promote more here. Guess they have upgraded from cycling to zooming bikes now :P.
Their night views are nice!
You got into an accident? I am glad you came home in one piece.. sure don't want anything happening to our lively blogger. Hope it wasn't all bad... get well soon ok?
good morning.. glad to come by to see yr guilin post.. i have never been there yet though i would love to be, not this year, hopefully next.. so i will be following closely to your posts-to-be on guilin... thanks for sharing!
(btw, Glad u come back in one whole piece.. hahaha...)
oooh, Guilin is so modern with concretes and neon lights all around!! surprise~~ perhaps my impression of Guilin is only on their more attractive natural scenery - mountains and waters.. :p
i'm like you, always only start to pack my things the night before departure.. and i always cannot sleep well if i'm going to take an early flight the next morning..
i had a classmate she once finished packing her luggage 3 weeks before our short 3D2N trip, can't remember where, but i thought 3 weeks earlier is kind of funny.. she was too excited, hahahaha!!
rad, yeah, it's scary that it really happened! We were in China for 10 days : )
day-dreamer, well, I think I only self quarantine for 2 days. After that, must go back to work! : )
tekkaus, yes, checking on the time, I just realised daydreamer posted the comments here at 4.37am! Wow! Either she woke up real early or she didn't sleep! Anyway, you used to be like that too last time, right Tekkaus?
tekkaus, I guess most people would postpone, but at that time, I did not think the H1N1 was that serious yet. Furthermore, if I were to postpone, how long should I postpone? The H1N1 pandemic could worsen and last for 2 years or more!
Yes, I have a Feng Shui master although I only consult him once a year : )
Even though I had some sleep in the plane, it was not a proper sleep as it was very uncomfortable. So, yes, I was tired on the first day!
Yeah, no helmets. Kind of risky, but then I had a ride on the motorbike too without any helmets and went rafting on the river without any life jackets. Haha!
Yes, Guilin looks very modern, and some roads are bigger than KL roads : )
lina, scary, yes. More scenery photos coming up in future posts : )
mei teng, not all youth hostels are bad. The one I stayed in KK was not bad and the one we stayed in Xingping, China was really clean and nice! : )
khengsiong, oh so their electricity comes from coal?
I guess if Guilin is a small poor town and already had roads that are comparable to KL, then I can just imagine how huge their bigger cities will look like!
jam, me too! You are right! Somehow I still prefer home sweet home in Malaysia. It's a good place to go for vacation, however. And I totally had a good time there despite some minor problems! : )
superman, yes I think we all didn't realise how developed China is. Malaysia is definitely way behind!
ladyviral, haha! Actually, the streets were pretty busy at certain times of the day, I just happened to snap those photos at the time when it was less busy : )
Yes, we should have more electric bikes here in Malaysia! More environmentally friendly!
My accident was not that serious, but it wasn't that mild either. But thank God it did not spoil the rest of my holidays there! : )
reanaclaire, you are going to Guilin in future? That's great! It's a great place to go, provided you know where to go. Glad my blog posts will be of help : )
SK, yes that's my impression of Guilin too before I went there. All mountains and rivers and lovely sceneries. Actually they have those too as you will soon see in my future posts.
You also like me, do last minute packing? Hi five! LOL!
What?! You classmate packed 3 weeks before a simple 3D/2N trip? That's way too early! Not much to pack what, for just 2 nites. I prefer to travel light. Also hate to do check in of luggages at the airport. Such a hassle! : )
I too thought Guilin is more mountains and rivers and wooden huts. I guess I need to get away from the old movie perception and fastforward to realtime. LOL!
The city looks modern and clean. Those bikes would work great for Mat Rempits sneaking up quietly on victims, eh? Right, no helmet? And no life-jacket provided for rafting? Dangerous, wor! And you lived to tell the tale.. Oops!
I feel consulting a fengshui master not relating to feng shui per se is akin to consulting a fortune-teller. I was on the verge of saying you could now ditch your fengshui master since you went ahead ignoring his advice when I read that you did have a mishap. Glad you made it back safely, Foong.
Looking forward to the next episode.
Oh btw, I saw AirAsia's full page fares in yesterday's papers and wow! they are so cheap! Ticket to Guilin is RM69 or something like that I think. I suppose all this promotion is in part due to the H1N1 flu. Well, there is always something good in something bad, and vice versa.
Whatever.. Indeed, home sweet home. Have a nice day.
haha I did sleep last night, Tekkaus! only for few hours though. I fell asleep at 3.30am and woke up early :)
You have a feng shui master? Wow
Can't wait to hear about the incident. And get well soon ya!
I thought Guilin is a place full of old buildings & antique houses. My oh my the place is so modern. Look at the 3 lanes road. Can't find it here in Malaysia except in highways.
my friend did ask me to join them to guilin, but i worry that the expenses that might be spent over there.
other than the outdoor activities that u mention what else can be done in guilin?
hi.. hopping over from eugene's blog.
just dropping by..
Did u write any post about food in China.. XD..
omg accident? hope you're doing well now.. glad you're back home! and yeah, more pictures! =)
the city view during the night is nice.. especially the lighting!
kenwooi.com
I was at Shanghai in June 2006. It was so hot and dry at that time. Most of my friends got sick during the trip and some after the trip.
Sorry to hear abt the accident. Hope you are ok now!
guilin in china is something like ipoh is to malaysia, a smaller city but still much much bigger in size
wow foong, you really made it shorter than usual but i bet this will be like many many parts! hahaha
hmmm, next time think of feng shui master's warnings! well it's worth the fun and excutement 9i guess =)
night life in china is really lively most esp in the city. makes me reminisce...hehehe
Me too! Never been to China before..
Thanks for sharing the pics.. Looks great! Maybe I'll go there someday. We have plans to.. but not in the near future..
So tell me, do the Chinese people like to spit everywhere??
p/s: I'm glad you're still in one piece.. ;)
Wonder when we will get the electric bike over here. Been wanting to have one for a long time already
wow, fong, love your pictures, i know there will still be more to come from your trip :)
accident? glad that u came back in one piece :P
update more :D
Foong! glad to see u back in one piece ;)
and I can't wait to see more pics!
I can see that it's very organised and the roads and walkways are wide. Not like KL!
Cool trip! And really cool motorcycle. :)
btw, thanks for the birthday greetings. i miss being here. :)
wat is the h1n1 death amount in china....maybe after ur trip...u need to quarantine yourself.
Wah, so nice I want to go to Guilin and find some pretty China chicks there too.
Welcome back Foong! I oso never been to China but hubby has. :)
Oh it looks pretty clean there too yeah?
good day foongpc
it is my first time to visit your blog and i love the contents! i have gone through your First Day In China Story and glad to know that you are okey after the rafting incident.
i have been to hong kong, china with my boyfriend and our bestfriend. we spent 5 days there and really had fun. however, we weren't able to visit guilin as 5 days is but a short time to visit all the wonderful places in hong kong.
have a great day and stay safe! hugs!
Wah, Guilin is so modern. Looks like there is no traffic jam there. :):)
happysurfer, well I wouldn't say it's very clean but it's cleaner than KL in many ways!
Haha! Mat Rempit using electric bikes? Since when do they become environmentally friendly? LOL! But yes, it's so quiet they can sneak up on you without you realizing it!
Yes, I saw the AirAsia promotion too. Makes me think of going for holidays again! : )
rad, you only slept at 3.30am? That's very late!
che-cheh, yes I have my very own fengshui master ; )
Yes, Guilin city is indeed modern with 3 lanes! Even better than KL, right? : )
goolooloo, well, Guilin is a place to enjoy the natural landscape like the hills, rivers and caves. Mainly that's about it. Of course you can also do shopping at the night streets. But if you are willing to spend more days, you can go to nearby towns like Yangshuo, Xingping and also places like Longsheng to experience other attractions. My 10 days there cost me about RM2K in total (including airfares and accomodation)
dolly, hi, thanks for dropping by! I will post about the food I ate in Guilin soon : )
kenwooi, will elaborate on the accident in future post! I'm more or less OK now. Still recovering : )
The night scenes are nice but I'm afraid my camera could not really take very good photos in the dark : )
wenn, hi! Thanks for dropping by my blog! I hope to go Shanghai - never been there! If Guilin already quite modern, I can imagine how modern Shanghai must be!
Ooh, you and your friends got sick? I guess we must be really careful and take care of health when we go holidays! : )
pete, thanks! I'm recovering : )
johnny ong, not sure if that's a correct comparison, but I think you may be right! : )
ayie, yes there will be many parts but I will try not to blog only about my China trip all the time, in case you and my other readers get bored! haha!
So you miss the night life in China? : )
cashmere, it's good to go China now before things get too expensive. I predict that one day in the not so distant future, China will be as expensive as Singapore in terms of holiday there.
Well, during my trip, I did encounter people who spit! But I think KL people also like to spit. So it's quite normal to me, although I don't like that habit of spitting in public places! : )
borneo falcon, oh you are waiting for an electric bike? I think it's a good idea if all bikes in Malaysia are changed to electric ones. No more air and noise pollution! : )
betchai, thanks! Yes, many more to come! : )
annant, thanks! I'm glad I came back in one piece too! Haha! Will try to update more but depends on my free time lah : )
monica, thanks, me too! More photos coming up! : )
eiling, yes the road is indeed wide, even wider than some KL roads. I was really surprised! : )
rej, welcome back! It's a cool bike alrite! : )
vialentino, not sure of the statistics in China. But I feel Malaysia's H1N1 cases more serious now with so many deaths. So going to China is my way to escape from the H1N1 actually! I quarantine myself for 2 days only! After that must get back to work! LOL!
neo, haha! No problem finding pretty chicks in Guilin! Even have them in the hostels where I stayed! But most Guilin girls are darker in skin colour. You prefer dark or light? LOL!
mariuca, oh your hubby has been to China? You should have followed him. But I'm jealous because you've been to Japan. LOL!
Yes, some parts of Guilin is pretty clean, well cleaner than KL. But don't expect it to be as clean as Singapore, not yet anyway! : )
maxivelasco, hi! Thanks for dropping by my blog. Glad you like the contents! Good to know you had fun in Hong Kong. Maybe you can try visiting Guilin next? : )
molly, well the roads can be pretty busy at certain times, but no, they don't suffer from traffic jams like we do here in KL!
i miss the food trip there! ahahaha!
no disco nightlife but more of shopping night life =)
You would be surprised, in most of the cities in China, they are very modern. And they have a better standard of living than most countries.
I have yet to go to Guilin but have heard so much about it. It's nice to hear your experience and views in your coming posts.
The food in Guilin must be mind-boggling! Every time I'm in China, I'm at a loss as to what to eat! :P
Have a lovely weekend and a great week ahead!
wowowee, I envy you now hehehe.. I want to go there in China someday!
ever been into china hopefully someday
Wow! So many comments here already? Amazing. I wish I could have so much. But then again, it's ok. Hahaha :D
War...you have your own Feng Shui Master? Is it Joey? Ha :D
wow i would love to go to china someday!
Lucky you!!! I haven't been to China yet, but it's def on my list of places to travel.
You said, Yes, I saw the AirAsia promotion too. Makes me think of going for holidays again!
Foong, China is so big that in order to see the meaningful parts, one has to make a few trips and take in a few cruises.
Hope you are healing well from the accident in China.
I have step foot in China, I have step foot on the Great Wall.. but I've never step foot on Guilin.. :)
ayie, shopping and eating is my kind of holiday too! : )
eastcoastlife, I am indeed surprised although I have heard from people that China is very modern.
Food mind boggling? Not really, we try to eat what the locals normally eat but not all the time! To me, the food is OK.
Maybe you should make Guilin your next holiday trip! : )
chubskulit, thanks for dropping by! Well, you should go Guilin for a holiday! : )
bluedreamer27, I hope to visit your country Philippines someday too! : )
tekkaus, no it's not Joey : )
floreta, hi, thanks for dropping by! Well, you should go China before it becomes expensive! : )
rozella, well you can be as lucky as me too. Go visit China! : )
happysurfer, yes, I'll plan another China trip sometime in future, but not to Guilin again of course : )
merryn, I have yet to step foot on The Great Wall, so maybe I'll go there next time! : )
i thought you suppose to bring me along!
bad foong, bad foong.
what happen in the accident?
no picture to share?
faisal admar, I actually invited you what, but you were afraid cannot get halal food in China, remember?
Will post about my accident in future and will have pictures too : )
i've never step foot in Guilin but at least i've conquered the great wall of china. hehe, i'm so proud of myself.
life ramblings, I hope to visit the Great Wall in the future! : )