This summer, I only had a week for vacation before starting my new job. The place that we chose to go was Guilin, heaven on Earth. If you are ever contemplating on whether to visit China or not, then I say yes and go to Guilin. It is the most beautiful place ever. Here are some of the moments that we captured.
Train Trip: 26 hours
We decided to splurge and get the soft sleepers. It was totally worth the extra money. If you are going to travel by train in China for more than 12 hours, then buy soft sleepers.

I was on the top bunk of the soft sleeper compartment. If you travel anywhere in China for more than 10 hours, I highly recommend the soft sleeper.

These were some of the girls from the Nanjing branch. They were also heading to Guilin for a vacation. They however only got the hard sleepers.

These were the other two guys in the same sleeping compartment as us. The guy in the black shirt snores like crazy.
Day One: Explore Guilin and hike Seven Stars

By the time that we got to the top, I was freaking tired. It wasn’t that far, but in extreme heat it seem far. By the time that we got back to the hostel, I was bright red with a bad sunburn.
Day two: Cruising down the River

We were on the raft with a father and daughter who were from Europe (I put Europe because I can’t remember what country they said they were from, it might have been Holland)

Taking the fish out of the mouth of the cormorant.
(The cormorant’s neck is tied so that it can’t swallow the fish)

The water felt so good and you could actually see through it, even if you can’t tell by the picture.
Day three: Longji Rice Terraces

We went with a small group of people (There were 6 of us all together: a guy from England, a girl from Ireland, a girl from Australia, and two others from America)
I am showing this picture because it shows our group hiking up on the hill. I forgot to get a group picture)

At the end of the day, we went back down to the main village and found a teashop while we waited for the rest of our group since we hiked a different direction.
At the teashop was an adorable girl with her grandmother. The teashop was owned by the little girl’s father.

She was nice enough to unwrap her hair so we could take a picture. This is the part her hair that she has not cut.

She is wrapping the additional hair that she has cut before back with her other hair, so she can wrap it back up onto her head.
Day four: Chilling out close to town, so we can take the train later that day

One of Ryan’s professors would take self-portraits in the bathroom mirror whenever he went on vacation. Now, it seems that Ryan wants to try it too.

If you ever see these steamers in China, most likely they are selling baozi which are one of my favorite Chinese food.

This is a cicada, which is found in most parts of China. You will usually found them in tree making a very loud sound that sounds more like electric alarm. The interesting thing about them is that some Chinese people believe that it is a symbol of rebirth. However, sometimes you will find these bugs cooked on a plate.

While walking around the lake, we came across this shop where some people were practicing traditional Chinese instruments.

She was doing a very beautiful dance with the fans.
That’s the great thing about walking around parks in China. You’ll usually found people dancing or doing tai chi, especially in the morning.
I extremely enjoyed our trip to Guilin, if though I got sunburnt on the first day. I just wished we had more time there. It was so beautiful. Definitely a most see!