Three Thousand Images 
Guilin is a small city by standards in China, with only a half million residents. The history here is rather limited compared to some of the other cities we visited. It is primarily known as the gateway for cruises up the Li River. This was the purpose of our visit to the city. The trip up river took much of the day on old river boats, The scenery is absolutely spectacular. It is dominated by lush greenery, but more interesting are the spike shaped mountains, the unusual shape is due to their being made of limestone and the wet climate. It is also an area of many caves, including;
This was also our chance to see how the farmers in China lived. We visited a farmhouse outside Yangshuo. Rice farming was the principal occupation of farms in the area. Methods have not changed in thousands of years, with water buffalo providing most of the power.
"The next day we took a lunch and headed out to the boat for out trip up the River Liyang. The countryside was beautiful. We passed many people carrying huge yellow squash blossoms on their bicycles early in the morning, over their bicycle rain ponchos. Water buffalo was a common site. The big shapes of the mountains loomed through the fog. We came to the main docks and were loaded on a boat, one of many. It was an older affair, but seemed one of the better ones. We had good seats at an air-conditioned table inside, set with dishes and table linens. We were near the front, so we could walk out on the deck and take pictures or go up top and get an even higher view. We spent most of our time outdoors looking at the gorgeous river, snapping pictures constantly."
" We saw boaters with trained cormorants catching fish. We were supposed to find animals in all the structures of the hills. We saw wild goats and the village people seemed to live in some of the cliffs along the way."
" The house was old. But there was still a courtyard preserved. The old lady wanted to show us how they made soybean paste. And we went to see their coffins in one of the rooms. They had a large picture of Mao and a TV."