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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Sinorama China Tour Day 7 Longji

Sinorama China Tour--Scenic Landscapes, Rural Villages 10 Days+5-night Yangtze River Cruise, November 10 to November 24, 2015

Day 7 -- Longji, Guangxi

Our itinerary for today was to the see the Longji Terraced Rice Field which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will go deep into the countryside and high up on the mountains. We were told that we will have a 45-minute walk into the typical old village of the minority group called "Zhuang". This is going to be interesting!

Started our day with a hearty breakfast. By now, it seemed that the only groups left at this hotel were bus 1 and bus 2, plus a French speaking group that we saw at breakfast.

View from our hotel window.

The apartment buildings across the street seemed to be all vacated.

It had been raining on the last several days and the guide was worried about road conditions. Here we passed by a land slide as we drove up to the village.

Our bus dropped us off at this terminal where we had to switch to a designated shuttle to go up the mountain.

There are restaurants, stores, and hostels at this terminal.

We also used the restrooms here before getting on the shuttle.

Inside the shuttle terminal.

Waiting for our guides to get tickets.

The shuttle made a right turn on this narrow road to go up the mountain.

Here we go, crossing the river underneath.

A shot of the shuttle terminal from the bus.



Arrived at the gate of Longji.

Longji means the Dragon's Backbone with the summit of the mountain range that resembled the backbone of the dragon.

Building right near the gate with restrooms downstairs.

Starting our 45-minute walk uphill.

Don't these stones look like pork meat? MOR wanted to buy one but I rejected the idea. 

Bacon! 

The famous terraced rice fields on a misty day. On a clear day, the rice fields should look like the scales on the back of the dragon.

This was the clearest pictures I had.

"Longji Terraced Rice Fields, most beautiful scene under heaven."
Notice I wore leggings everyday, making it easier to deal with the public restrooms.




Kept going--this was the only day that both bus 1 and 2 were together, I think.


A couple of Zhuang women on the way.

A walkway to a small house up the hill.

Some passion fruit plants along the path.

It was an uphill but easy walk.



Finally came to a village.



We first stopped at the restaurant where we had lunch.

Nice and cozy inside.



It was pouring rain as we were having lunch so we waited a little bit before heading outside for our visits to the village.

Hundred-year old Taiping Water vat.


carving outside the vat

the oldest house in the village, over 100 years old

getting ready to go inside the house



up on the ladder

through the main door

the main room

old fashion grinder

A very pretty picture of batik was hanging on the wall.

"The Oldest House in Longji"

in Chinese





We paid 10 yuan per family to visit this house. Well worth it!


Continued with our walk in the rain.

For some reason, we did not see anyone else in the village other than the couple in the old house.

It was eerily quiet...

but beautiful!

We did not even see other tour groups, just us on the two buses.


A shop with a flat of tofu outside for sale but no one was attending the shop.



water wheel




Last picture from the top of the mountain.
Then we walked back down to the gate and took the shuttle back to our bus. It was certainly a very different experience and well worth the long trip here. Just wish that the weather was better for the view.

After the long walk in the rain we were ready for a hot shower in the comfort of the hotel room. 
We would spend the night at a town called Longsheng.

The drum-tower in the center of town. I was planning to come back out for a closer look but it didn't materialize.


Lobby of Longsheng Huamei International Hotel.

The room was a little bit old but still comfortable. Our guide warned us that everything else in the room would be extra charge besides the free bottles of water and the tea bags. They had many different items in the room for sale including instant ramen, wine, tea, beer, etc. etc.



We happened to get the spacious corner room with a great view of the town.


This hotel is up on a hill and we could see the river right outside our window.







We ended up not going out that evening. We were tired and just staying dry inside the cozy room sounded much better. Those who went out later said there was really nothing much in town anyway.

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