If you’ve ever spent 12 hours on an uncomfortable bus then you may have some sympathy for my travels last weekend when I visited Yangshuo. Coupled with the discomfort of 5ft long metal bunk beds and poorly surfaced freight roads traversing China’s southern interior then you know you’re in for an unpleasant journey. Experiencing this twice in 3 days was verging on the bounds of my tolerance and I certainly wont be in a hurry to repeat it. That said the destination was just about worth the discomfort!
Surrounded by karsk peaks the spectacular back drop of Yangshou is located in Guilin, Guangxi Province, Southern China. My company had arranged a weekend trip there so about 70 of us from various departments piled into two buses on Friday night after work which took us on the tortuous journey arriving the next morning (having got stuck in heavy traffic overnight). Our first destination was a trip on the famous Lijiang River which is featured on the back on of the 20 Yuan bank note. With everyone fairly bleary eyed this was the perfect way to begin the day with the scenery certainly being an eye opener.
Although the area now clearly caters for the tourist industry as it’s primary source of income it is still significantly poorer than the larger cities which was a new side of China to me since most of my time has been spent in the massive mega-cities. The main thing which still resonates with me everywhere I go in China is the rapid development going on, often at the expense of the natural environment and done at such a pace that the quality is pretty bad.
Whilst our boat (along with about a hundred others) slowly meandered down the river most people were busily snapping photos of each other and the landscape in predictable Chinese style. The weather was a bit overcast but I think my pics came out OK.
To be continued…
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On my fifth day in South Korea I headed east by train to Chuncheon, the capital of Gangwon province, a much quieter affair than Seoul with more of a country feel to it - they obviously don’t see a huge number of westerners here as the stares I got were far more pronounced. I’ve often been mistaken for an American whilst in Korea due to the massive US Army presence there but in general I’ve found people to be a little more gracious if they know you’re not one of them!
Arriving around lunchtime it was time to find some food and as Chuncheon is famous for its “dak-galbi” (닭갈비), a spicy stir-fried chicken dish with vegetables (as seen before), it only seemed a fitting place to start. In fact Chuncheon has a whole street with restaurants which serve nothing but dakgalbi so there was plenty of choice!
“Dakgalbi is prepared by marinating chopped chicken in spicy red pepper paste with peppery seasoning for about one day. Cabbage, green onions, sweet potatoes, and cylinder shaped rice cakes are then added and the ingredients are all placed in a large cast iron pan. The mixture is then typically stir-fried at the table… Dakgalbi can be enjoyed on its own or wrapped in lettuce leaves for a fresh, crunchy sensation. After most of the Dakgalbi has been eaten, rice is then stir-fried with the remaining sauce in the pan.”
If this has wet your appetite you can learn how to cook it on mykoreankitchen.com 
Once my stomach was full it was time to find a bus to the next place of interest, namely Soyang Dam. Whilst I was waiting a van laden with bananas pulled up and started flogging them to the oldies also waiting - I couldn’t quite imagine spending my whole life selling nothing but bananas but it is nice to see a place where there is still room for this sort of individual enterprise.
After a rather hair-raising bus trip up the side of the valley (more on this later) we arrived at the top of the largest sand gravel dam in East Asia which commanded an expansive view over Lake Soyang. Build in 1973 the dam rises 123m with a depth of 530m and a gross storage capacity of 29 billion cubic meters of water - it was built for the purpose of flood control, water storage and hydroelectric power production. It’s an impressive feat of geoengineering but pales in comparison to what’s been done to the Yangtze River in China.
Walking down to the lake’s edge you can take boat for the other side and the untold mysteries that the misty Majeoksan mountains had yet to reveal… To be continued.
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After a pretty intense beginning to my travels Wednesday was a little more relaxed - I ventured south again to the Seoul’s main tributary, the majestic Han River. As rivers go the Han is very broad at over 1km wide but only 514km long and was historically used as a trade route to China before the country was divided. Today river traffic is mostly limited to tour boats and to that end I took a 1 hour ferry round-trip which was pleasant but rather unremarkable for what could be seen along the river banks (mostly high rise apartments). It probably would have been better to go at night when you can see Seoul on in all its neon glory.
Along the rivers northern edge is a cycle path so for a nominal fee (3000 won / £1.50) I hired a bicycle (a tandem no less!) and spent another hour “speeding” along trying to avoid the Tour de France professional-looking types and generally stay upright at the same time as taking photos! It was a bit hard going as the wind was blowing a fair gale but coming back I had more of a chance to appreciate the ride and bask in being on the opposite side of the world from the stresses of my usual routine.
One of the buildings you can’t help but notice is the striking 63 City skyscraper (photo top, interior above), once the tallest building in Asia for a short time, it stands out because of its gold reflective glass windows. I’ll leave you to guess how many floors it has! Whilst the building is primarily office space there are a number of attractions for visitors including an aquarium, observation deck and IMAX cinema. The lobby has a stylish interior with cool lighting that gradually changes color and huge plasma screens embedded in the walls.
On the ground floor of 63 City there is a particularly good up-market food court (more expensive restaurants are higher up) where I enjoyed some tasty Bibimbap, a popular Korean meal which consists of a bowl of warm white rice topped with sautéed and seasoned vegetables, beef, a fried egg, and chili pepper. You stir the the ingredients together thoroughly just before eating. A delicious and nutritious meal which I will definitely try to learn to cook when I have time.
Also on the ground floor is the extensive Sea World aquarium with all sorts of exotic aquatic life, including these rather sad looking penguins. I always have mixed feelings about keeping animals in cages, especially when all they can do is wander round in circles, it’s a bit of a pitiful experience. At least the occupants here seemed to be well looked after and in good condition; the sea lions even appeared to enjoy putting on their little display.
After this I took a bus back to central Seoul and had korean pizza for dinner, which for those who are wondering is remarkably similar to “western” pizza but in this case had the addition of prawns!
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