Hi Everyone,
Right now I am on a train coming back to Beijing. This week has been a blast! I spent a week in an amazing hostel in Guilin with a ้ๅธธๅฅฝ (very good) friend and I also met many amazing people! I’m happy I decided to explore Guilin instead of stay in Beijing during my week vacation.
We stayed at a hostel called This Old Place; this was the perfect location for us because it was right in the center of the city. On top of that it’s located next to a beautiful lake/park. During nighttime me and my friend would take a stroll along the lake. :) Everyone at the hostel was very kind and helpful, so we felt like we were right at home!
My friend Nora and I went to tourist attractions everyday. It was definitely tiring, but it was well worth it. My favorite tourist attraction was a cruise along the river. The scenery was absolutely stunning and on top of that we made a new friend! It was really fun conversing with her in Mandarin. We were not able to understand every single word she said, but we were able understand the main points!
During our last night of Guilin, we decided to go to a local bar/club. This was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had in Guilin. First of all, when we saw people in giant animal costumes dancing with people. At first we thought this was something normal for clubs in Guilin, but we realized it was one of the employee’s birthday. Still, the only time I could imagine this scene is at a child’s birthday party! Secondly, Nora and I were being treated very well just because we are from America. This type of special service was very new to us! The employees kept on giving us free snacks/drinks. And lastly, we had quite an experience at the dance floor. There were very few people there, and they were all linked together in a circle (with their arms around each other). When me and my friend tried dancing by ourselves, they kept on pushing us into the center. This was a little uncomfortable for us, so we left!
The only unfortunate event that occurred during my trip was I was pick pocketed! Someone stole my phone! :'( Despite this, I still had a lot of fun and created many awesome memories!
-Jen