Guilin Saturday April 7

Guilin is surrounded by the most astonishing countryside. Towering limestone mountains with vertical faces, vegetation clinging to the rock where it can. The humidity is very high most of the time, and the air very misty making photos appear as if taken through a filter. A winding bus trip to a very high elevation took us to a village with houses on wooden stilts where local tribes (Yao and Zhuang) lived. Along the route we passed many duck farms and buffalo-drawn ploughs. Climbed on foot to the very high rice terraces, the area known as "Dragon's Backbone". Lazy, fat, disabled, or unfit visitors can pay to be taken to the top in a "chair" being carried by two men holding the bamboo poles.
The Zhuang men prefer women with large mouths, large feet, and small hands. Each is important for a different reason.
The flight to Guilin was by China Eastern Airlines, with a slightly unnerving departure wish of "Have a good fright!!". The back of the seat covers had the word "Pompei" embroidered into the white cotton!
For lunch we enjoyed a new gastronomic experience - "bamboo rice" which was cooked over an open fire inside a bamboo stip about 6cm in diameter. Also discovered a new dried fruit - "No flower fruit" which tastes and looks very much like a tiny fig with a harder casing. Delicious.
Primary school is compulsory as is Middle School ie 9 years altogether. This education is free. Senior School and University involves cost and is not compulsory. The school day runs from 8.00 am to 12.00 noon, then 2.00 pm to 5.30 pm. The break is for lunch and a nap.
The streets everywhere are unbelievably spotless. It is not unusual to see a man or woman in the middle of a four-lane expressway, sweeping the road by hand with a broom and spade on a long handle. They all seem to take pride in cleanliness of the footpaths, streets, and roads.