Cruising Down The Lazy Li River
Cruising Down The Lazy Li River
Ahh…at last. This is the life. I didn’t even feel like taking any pictures, much less videos. But the picturesque scenes begged to be displayed for posterity.
This is one of the most storied and legendary of all China’s legends. This is the river where many love stories were told. This is the river of legendary wars were fought over. Emperors, poets, story tellers, playwrights claimed great magical powers arose from this river. Life was born unto earth here too.
Cruising this river with hardly anyone else around (must be because of that special time of day…) and simply because everyone else has gone home. I took a very special trip upriver very slowly at dawn hence some foggy pictures as I wandered the scenic hills and then had a last trip of the day back.
Now, bear in mind, this is an 84 kilometer water way of extremely beautiful scenery. Notice the Guilin peaks framing the river. My guide chattered away about each special spot we came to. I’m sorry to say, I didn’t even listen very well as I lazily watched this ancient world go by. I did remember Xinling, a fishing village, but all the more interesting because of the way they fished – they use Cormorants. A kind of large diving bird tamed and trained to catch fish for their sponsors. This way of life though over a thousand years old (some say as old as time itself) is really only meant for tourists like myself these days to watch.
Perhaps I’m again quite tired of the maddening crowds as I stayed away from the large scenic tours which are always chock full of tourists but prefered to hire a small boat operator that catered to my every whim. It cost more but I really enjoyed the experience far better.
Oh, yes, see those peaks here there and everywhere? They all have very fanciful names and there are hundreds of them; e.g. White Rabbit, Elephant Mount, Peacock Peak, Horse Ridge, the names of celestial Dragons, Tigers and there’s even a Turtle. All very aptly and meaningfully named since ancient times. Surprisingly, there is not much pollution here. Even the large ferry boats didn’t make much of an impact. It’s obvious the Chinese government is certainly taking steps to preserve this area.
Now I know many people would be so excited to write about this as an adventure. But to me, it’s like being home…I wonder why I felt like that while there? Was it some long ago soul adventures I have had here? Well let’s just chalk it up to another sovereign journey.
Tags: China's Legends, Cruising, Li River, mountains, scenery, Sovereign Journey
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