File Under "Things I was Surprised to See on the Street in Communist China"

After a day at the beach, we headed to check out the biggest market on Hainan Island.

Hey, what's that guy have in his hand?

No. Fucking. Way. 

Poolside on Hainan Island

The last five days of our trip were spent at a beautiful resort on Hainan Island, a tropical paradise in the South China Sea. It was a great way to decompress after a very hectic trip. 

We had reservations at another resort, but the Chinese Government decided to take the entire place over just days before we were scheduled to arrive, in order to provide the Prime Minister housing during the BAO Forum For Asia Conference. 

We ended up at the brand-new Mandarin Oriental Resort, and it was beautiful. 

Chinese Brewpubs and Leaving Yangshuo

On the way back to town, we saw some people rock-climbing. Apparently, the karst limestone formations that make these incredible towers are perfect for rock-climbing, and Yangshuo is one of the premier climbing destinations in China. 

While we were walking down "Western Street," the main shopping drag of Yangshuo, we saw a a great sign. 

It said "Homemade Beer," and not too many people felt as happy about it as we did. 

Maybe it was the bar menu?

Here's where they brewed the beer. They sold "light" and "dark", and we went for a pitcher of dark. It was creamy, but not thick, and reminded me of an oatmeal stout. After a pitcher, we walked back to the hotel. 

On the way back down the shopping street, we saw a couple places doing caricatures. Part of me said "globalization!" but most of me said "no way that AI shirt gets hung up in the States." 

Party At the Moon Tower

Er, hike to the moon cave. 

I can never resist taking pictures of tourists taking pictures next to signs telling them to take pictures. I especially liked this one, because of the translated sign reading "Hailed Moon Platform." Sometimes, it's the translations that make sense, but are still just a little off, that amuse me the most. 

Here are some shots we took along the way. The stairs were pretty shallow here, but they got much steeper. There's the Moon Cave through the trees, one of a few rest stops, and the two of us at the summit. The hike only took about 45 minutes, but it was steep enough that some people (including our guide Susan) had trouble making it all the way up. 

Susan, it should be mentioned, was a very cute 23-year-old whose English was just barely not good enough to be a full-time English-speaking tourguide, so she only dealt with Chinese tourists. We kind of stumbled across her on our way from the Li River cruise to the hotel, as she was our point of contact for the River Show tickets. We both thought she was a good tourguide, witha great personality, good-enough English, strong knowledge of the region and a real willingness to help us do whatever we decided we wanted to do. 

We made it to the top, through the cave and to the best view. Here's the panaroma. Notice the woman fanning my mom -- she fanned my mother all the way up the mountain, then all the way back down, while also lugging a cooler full of cold drinks. That turned out to be a pretty good business decision for her. 

Then we were off, biking back to Yangshuo, to check out of the hotel and head to Sanya, our last stop on the trip. 

Cause and Effect during Lunch In Yangshuo

Our lunch in Yangshuo was a study in cause and effect. 

Our guide eats sugar cane, I eat sugar cane. 

Our guide eats duck feet, I eat duck feet. 

Two women ask to take pictures with us, people begin rushing up and forcing toddlers on me. 

Lunch was the duck (including the feet above), bok choy, and a fish. I remember the lunch was tasty, but not much else about it. 

Bicycling and Boating Through Yangshuo

After spending the night in downtown Yangshuo, we got up early and went for a long bike ride outside of town. Today was the closest we got to the Chinese countryside, to the life of the Chinese peasant. At times, we got pretty freaking close. 

We rode through small villages and down country lanes for an hour or so, before arriving at the raft push-off point. 

The raft trip was scenic, peaceful and very, very slow. By the end, Ellen was crawling at the (metaphorical) walls to get off and do something. 

There were a few "rapids"... Here's a video of us charging over one of them. Watch the whole video for a few seconds of our crazy-faced guide and a quick peek at a floating, battery-operated laminated rafting photo station. 

I mean, clearly we needed a closer look at this floating tribute to Chinese capitalism, enterprise, technology and salesmanship. Turns out, there was one of the platforms cranking out the same laminated 8.5"x11"s after every "rapid." Outraged at the first platform's 30 RMB ($4.25) final offer, I stormed back to our raft. Ellen wasn't too pleased at having passed up the opportunity to buy a photo, but luckily there was a similar platform after every "rapid," and we were able to pick up photos for 15 RMB a pop downriver. The student becomes the teacher. 

Also, our guide managed to hunker down and twist up a handrolled while we were haggling. Good for him.

This lady was selling water guns. Looks more like a bilge pump to me, but I still thought she deserved to be preserved forever on the interweb.