Guilin and Huangshan Tours

Once again, we are grateful to our high school chums for their royal treatment to Fred and me while we were in Hong Kong. We were spoiled with all kinds of good food and other stuff. We are also indebted to the group who accompanied us to Guilin and Huangshan.
Once we landed in Guilin, we were instantly fascinated by the unique mountainous view surrounding the city. We felt we were one of the characters in those scenic Chinese paintings or Kungfu movies. Personally I felt a sense of closeness in Guilin as it was one of the areas to where my late mom and my elder sister fled during the war.

Despite the miserably wet and chilly weather, we were able to enjoy sightseeing, eating and chatting in one another’s good company. The day trip to cruise on the famous Li River was our highlight. In a more serene environment, we were able to admire Guilin’s best sceneries and spectacular features in a relaxing way.

Huangshan offers another marvelous view different from Guilin’s. The mountains are awe-inspiring and breathtaking beyond description. Apart from the missing mist to compose the perfect picture of Huangshan, we were blessed with the one-in-four chances to have a sunny and reasonably warm day. The favorable weather condition permitted Ha Kit and Fred to produce their masterpieces of sunrise

at Huangshan. The four to five hours’ walk in one day could be exhausting, but we were able to subside that negative feeling while were surrounded by the magnificent nature and in each other’s company. Going through all those tough regimes, we are able to brag that we are still reasonably young and physically fit.

We concluded our Huangshan tour by walking through the Old Street. We decided to re-civilize ourselves by each purchasing a set of writing brushes from a recommended store. I have to say that visiting China this second time has definitely changed my impression of our mother country and gave me desire to go back for more visits in future.

We are now looking forward to another reunion along the West Coast of US in the coming June. We are hoping to reunite with a bunch of BHJS alumni at LA. If any of you are interested, you are more than welcome to join us for the trip.

Pauline Cheng from Calgary
Photo courtesy Ha Man Kit