Chris ushered us to a coach at 7.30 am and we set off on a circular tour of Guilin to collect other passengers. The guide who only spoke in Mandarin was clearly used to dealing with the hard of hearing and shouted her information for the entire journey. I did pick up that the local speciality meats were duck and, unfortunately, dog. We eventually arrived at the river dock and boarded a flat bottomed boat and were shown to some very comfortable seats around a table. This is were we sat for the journey and tea was served as we set off down the river.
The trip was a geographical feast, with karst rocks appearing out of the mist, with some circling birds of prey. We saw plenty of ducks and corvid type birds and at one point some goats displaying their adeptness at mountain climbing. But it was mainly the scenery and the clean fresh air and water that filled us with a renewed energy. I only saw one horse on the 'painted hill of nine horses' but did see the spectacular hills printed on the 20￥note, Guan Yin hill and, whilst standing on the upper deck, just took in this beautiful and unique landscape.
After four hours we arrived at YangShou and transferred via an electric car to the coach for the journey back to Guilin. The low point of the day is we were hearded into a jade factory for a 'lecture' that turned out to be a sales pitch. As it was in Mandarin we slipped out the door back to the coach, but found a small lake to enjoy whilst our fellow tourers enjoyed some retail therapy.
We continued on our journey and were treated to some quick stop tours on the way, including a Buddhist temple, the Grand Banyan tree scenic area at ChuanYan, Moon Hill rock and another cave system.
At the Grand Banyan tree our daughter was photographed sitting on a buffalo, a picture that will grace the family album forever, and at Moon Hill we parked next to a market where they were selling 'magic beans' that Chris told me could improve my love life 'x10'!!! The caves were again gaudily lit but equally spectacular once you got over the lighting. We had our ears touched for luck and again found a retail opportunity within the caves should we need to buy more souvenirs.
As we left the sun went down and the rest of our journey was in darkness. The journey was long, everyone was tired and we got stuck in a long traffic jam. I did however enjoy it immensely as we went off road, in a coach, drove on the wrong side of the road and into oncoming traffic. The roads were dire and we bounced all the way back to Guilin, reaching the hotel at 9 pm.
It had been a long day and we again slept like logs!
Footnote:
It was when we arrived back at Guilin and proceeded to drive around dropping our fellow travelers back at their hotels that we began to see the tanks and cages stacked up outside of the restaurants. We had been exposed to animal welfare issues on our first visit to China, so it was not a shock, but still saddening having to explain the why's and wherefore's to our daughter. Of our time in China this was the most difficult sight to deal with, because of our line of work, but it was also a reality check to remind us we were not in England and in China this was normality.
第9天是2016年12月24日，我们很早就在丽江享受江上游览。早餐我们享用一些桂林当地的面条, 这些是米做的面条，我很放心地吃了。那是我曾经吃过的最好的面条！
克里斯在上午7时30分带我们到一辆游览车，我们出发去桂林，游览车环城招揽其他乘客，这位只说普通话的导游显然习惯很大声说话，在整个路程中她都用喊的来传达她的信息。我确实明白了当地的特色肉是-鸭肉，和不幸的是狗肉。我们最终到达了河码头，登上一艘平底船，并在一个桌子周围看到一些非常舒适的座位。 我们整个旅程都是坐在座位上，饮茶是在我们下河的时候端上的。
这次旅行是一趟地理盛宴，岩溶岩出现在雾中，有一些盘旋准备捕食的鸟。我们看到了很多鸭子和鸭科类的鸟，在某一点上可以看到一些山羊正展示他们老练的爬山技巧。但主要是风景和清新的空气和水，使我们充满新的活力。在这像画着九匹马的山我只看到一匹马，但的确看到印在20元人民币纸钞上的观音山壮观的山丘，虽然站在上甲板，但刚好拍到这个美丽而独特的风景。
四个小时后，我们到达阳朔，并经由电动车转搭游览车(大巴)回到桂林。这一天的低点是，我们被赶进一家个玉器工厂，在那里被强迫推销。因为那里只说普通话，所以我们溜出门回到游览车，当我们的同行者正享受一些购物疗法时，但我们发现一个小湖可欣赏。
我们继续我们的旅程，并在途中快速地游览一些景点，包括佛教寺庙，春艳大榕树风景区，月亮山岩石和另一个洞穴系统。
在大悦榕庄拍摄我们的女儿坐在水牛，一张照片将永远典藏在家庭相册里，在月亮山，我们停在一个市场旁边，他们卖的魔术豆，克里斯告诉我可以提高我的性爱生活十倍！洞穴又一次点亮，如果一旦照亮同样壮观。他们轻碰我们的耳朵带给我好运，在洞穴又发现有一个贩卖摊，我们是否应该需要买更多的纪念品。
当我们离开时，太阳已下山，我们剩下来的行程是在黑暗中度过。旅途漫长，当我们出发上路时每个人都累了，而且有一段漫长的塞车。但我确实玩得很痛快，在大巴里，彷佛看到车子开错车道和迎面而来的车流。看起来很可怕，我们一路颠簸回到桂林，到达酒店已经晚上9点了。
这是一个漫长的一天，我们再次睡de很好！
脚注：
当我们回到桂林，车子把我们的同行一一带回他们的酒店，我们开始看到水槽和笼子堆在餐厅外面。在我们第一次来中国时，我们已经知道了许多的动物福利问题，所以这不惊讶，但仍然很难对我们的女儿解释。我们在中国的这段时间里，这是最难处理的景象，因为我们的工作，但它也是一个事实查核，提醒我们，我们不是在英国，但在中国这是常态。
四个小时后，我们到达阳朔，并经由电动车转搭游览车(大巴)回到桂林。这一天的低点是，我们被赶进一家个玉器工厂，在那里被强迫推销。因为那里只说普通话，所以我们溜出门回到游览车，当我们的同行者正享受一些购物疗法时，但我们发现一个小湖可欣赏。
我们继续我们的旅程，并在途中快速地游览一些景点，包括佛教寺庙，春艳大榕树风景区，月亮山岩石和另一个洞穴系统。
在大悦榕庄拍摄我们的女儿坐在水牛，一张照片将永远典藏在家庭相册里，在月亮山，我们停在一个市场旁边，他们卖的魔术豆，克里斯告诉我可以提高我的性爱生活十倍！洞穴又一次点亮，如果一旦照亮同样壮观。他们轻碰我们的耳朵带给我好运，在洞穴又发现有一个贩卖摊，我们是否应该需要买更多的纪念品。
当我们离开时，太阳已下山，我们剩下来的行程是在黑暗中度过。旅途漫长，当我们出发上路时每个人都累了，而且有一段漫长的塞车。但我确实玩得很痛快，在大巴里，彷佛看到车子开错车道和迎面而来的车流。看起来很可怕，我们一路颠簸回到桂林，到达酒店已经晚上9点了。
这是一个漫长的一天，我们再次睡de很好！
脚注：
当我们回到桂林，车子把我们的同行一一带回他们的酒店，我们开始看到水槽和笼子堆在餐厅外面。在我们第一次来中国时，我们已经知道了许多的动物福利问题，所以这不惊讶，但仍然很难对我们的女儿解释。我们在中国的这段时间里，这是最难处理的景象，因为我们的工作，但它也是一个事实查核，提醒我们，我们不是在英国，但在中国这是常态。
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