From Hong Kong I spent a few days in Guilin. Why one might ask? Good question. Well, mainly because north of the city is Longsheng where the Longji terraces are (see future post) and south of the city is Yangshuo which you travel to by boat on the beautiful Li jiang river (see future post as well). There is not to much to do in Guilin but they do have some interesting and tasty goods. Known for it's snakes, turtles, dogs, rats, and also the local delicacies of Lipu taro pork and Guilin Rice Noodles (Gui Lin Mi Fen). The town's most celebrated scenic spot is Elephant Trunk Hill (Xiangbishan). The shape of the hill is just like a huge elephant drinking water from the river with its trunk, so it is called Elephant Trunk Hill. I've seen a lot of elephant shaped hills and mountains before but most were just trunks and such, none had the body as well so this one was a little more impressive.
Xiaolongbao and Gui Lin Mi Fen, breakfast of champions. So far Gui Lin Mi Fen have been my favorite noodle. Not sure what the deal with them is but they are very delicious.
Elephant Trunk Hill (Xiangbishan), you can see besides the trunk it looks like legs on the side and also the pagoda on top reminded me of someone sitting on the elephant.
On the top of the hill is a two-storey pagoda built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) surrounded by green trees. The north seat of the second floor is inlaid with an image of Bodhisattva Puxian. The pagoda looks like a precious vase on the back of an elephant seen from distance and many beautiful legends about the pagoda with good wishes are said among people.
A view from the top of the hill.
Another view showing the city with the beautiful gum drop mountains surrounding the city.
A clearer view of the other side of the hilltop. These mountains will look prettier in a future blog, I promise.
A cave in the hill often regarded as the eyes of the elephant, which lies in the hillside.
No idea what this thing was but I found it at the bottom of the hill. Reminded me of some 1970's cartoon show, "The Snorks." Very odd.
Little Buddha area with fish bond and a very colorful wall behind the Buddha.
The park around Elephant Trunk Hill had these elephant benches and this one with the guy sitting on it and that face he made, well something just seemed a little wrong to me.
Various pickled things for sale. SCORE!! I got some pickled mango and pickled garlic heads. So tasty.
Lipu taro pork is made from pork, taro, Guilin preserved bean curd, and various other ingredients. Pork and taro cubes are fried separately and then steamed together, so that each piece is golden on the outside and soft, juicy and flavorful on the inside.
It was a different tasting food than most things I've had. Taro is similar to the potato in texture and sort of in taste. I liked this dish but mainly because the pork was delicate and the sauce tasty.
The Sun and Moon pagodas. The taller of the two, at nine storeys high, the Sun pagoda is the tallest copper pagoda in the world. The moon pagoda stands seven storeys high.
Glass Bridge on Guilin Lake. The picture doesn't do the justice to the light show that they put on there.
Apparently this was supposed to be a fake Golden Gate Bridge. Didn't really convince me.
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