Eric's Beijing Diary

Yangshuo. Left Beihai on the night bus Friday evening and got to Guilin early Saturday morning. It's about a seven hour run. The book says there are lots of busses running to Yangshuo from the train station, so I walked over there when I got to Guilin, but I was mobbed by hustlers, of every variety, so I walked back to the bus station and bought a ticket for the express bus at the window.

Guilin is the city everyone associates with China's extraordinary karst formations. But some of the best scenery is down the road at Yangshuo. Yanshuo used to be a small town off the beaten track--sort of a hide out for backpackers. For some time, it was the world's best kept secret. But the secret is out now. Guilin is definitely a bigger city, but for tourism, Yangshuo is the place everybody wants to see. It really is pretty, too. The problem is that the place is so thoroughly touristed, that it just isn't very peaceful. It isn't really the tourists themselves that create the problem in this case. It more the way tourism is managed (or mismanaged) by the community.

Yesterday I rented a bike and rode out to Moon hill. As I started climbing the hill, a lady with a basket of refreshments attached herself to me and started following me. I told her that I was not interested in buying anything, and showed her the stuff I had brought with me. She ignored me and kept following me. She followed me all the way to the top of the hill, fanning me as I was walking. When I got to the top, the view was quite impressive. I was hoping for a little solitude, which is not easy to find in China. No such luck. There was no one up there, but the lady just would not leave me alone. I finally gave up and headed down the hill. When I got on my bicycle to leave, she started yelling at me. If she had had a gun, I think she would have shot me. Boy she was angry!

This morning, I decided to go to the tourism bureau and file a complaint, because they have signs up around town warning tourists about just this sort of thing. But when I called the place, nobody spoke English. I decided to go there myself. It was tough to find, and there were no English signs. The whole system seems to be pretty disorganized. I finally found the office and tried to explain the problem as best I could. They gave me a piece of paper, and told me to write down my complaint. It's hard for me to believe that they don't know this stuff is going on. Somebody is obviously running a racket, because there are several women with baskets who are waiting at the bottom of Moon Hill to pounce on foreign tourists. If you look Chinese, they will leave you alone. Unfortunately, I don't.

China is still learning the ropes when it comes to private business. Inexperienced as businessmen, the Chinese sometimes appear to think that the way to do business is to offer something for sale, and then badger you into buying it, without regard for whether you have any interest at all in what they are trying to sell. The Taiwanese businessmen are distinctly different in this respect. They do their homework and find out what you want, and then offer to provide it for you. That is probably why there are over a million Taiwanese businessmen in China.

But I don't want to leave the subject without saying that there are some very nice places in China, where you can get out in nature and see very beautiful scenery without being pestered by con artists. Unfortunately, Yangshuo is not one of them. But I will say the Aussie Burger at Seventh Heaven is a pretty good sandwich.