13th Feb 2010

It was a cold and wet morning in Guilin on the 13th of February, Chinese New
Year’s Eve. I could vaguely see the Sun and Moon Pagodas from the window of my
hotel. The distant peaks were hardly visible at all. After a breakfast at KFC,
it started to rain. All hope of taking good pictures got washed away. I decided
to give the Li Jiang cruise a miss.

Instead, I went to Duxiu Feng, a 20-storey high outcrop that is said to offer good views
of the surrounding peaks and rivers. Interestingly, this feature has been
thoroughly exploited for profit. First of all, the peak is enclosed within the grounds of an
ancient palace (called Jing Jiang Palace) where descendents of the first Ming
emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang once stayed. Part of the palace is now the Guangxi Normal
University. Another part is a tourist trap. Y70 entrance fee gets you a guide
who will take you “into history”. It’s all pretty academic but interesting at
first. One of the buildings has been carefully constructed, displaying static
and dynamic exhibits with drama and special effects. There was plenty of
explanation on Fengshui or Geomancy and the meticulous attention to Fengshui
principles in the construction of the palace.

Finally, we came to Duxiu Peak. My whole aim of going there was really just to
climb this peak, but there was actually an entrance into the peak. Inside, the
guide showed us how to identify our “tai sui” or guardian angels according to
our year of birth. There are some 60 of these angels carved on the walls of the
cave. Once you’ve identified your “tai sui”, there is an elaborate way of paying
respect to it. The only straighforward gesture would be dropping money into the
box beneath each “tai sui”. Judging from the sheer number of people kneeling
down and bowing to their “tai sui”s, I couldn’t help wondering why decades of
Communism hadn’t placed even a dent on traditional Chinese beliefs.

After coming out of the cave, we were herded into a room selling paintings of
“tai sui”s. Some were worth thousands. There were also all sorts of lucky
charms. The guide kept shouting “don’t be in such a hurry to get out”. He must
be kidding. I found the stairs leading up to the top of Duxiu Peak and proceeded
to climb. It was a very easy climb, especially soothing was the background
music. Yes, they’ve actually embedded speakers in the rock to keep us
entertained while we climbed. Such is the “thoughtfulness” that goes into so many
tourist spots in China. Well, the view up there was bad due to the rainy weather.

Just before nightfall, I went to Elephant Hill Park. It’s a small park just a
short walk from my hotel and there is a very interesting rock formation that
requires little imagination for the beholder to see an elephant. It was still
drizzling at nightfall. It was Chinese New Year’s Eve. Except for a few
provision stalls, all shops were closed. The only eateries still open were KFC,
McDonalds and Pizza Hut. This must be the first time I had a burger for dinner
on Chinese New Year’s Eve. But all was not quiet. The cold and wet streets were
bombarded with firecrackers and fireworks, all privately sponsored and
unregulated. Deafening, smoky, random and uncoordinated. That’s what Chinese New
Year is all about.

Temperatures dropped further as we went deeper into the night. It must have been
subzero. Yet, no snow but a very light, persistent drizzle fell. Seeing the
beautiful lights, I took some night scenes. The lightings over Rong Lake were
simple yet elegant. The Sun and Moon Pagodas shone like a couple of swords
emerging from the lake. All through the night, a continuous burst of fireworks
from private individuals showered the pagodas with colourful shooting stars.

I realised I had no time to wait for the sky to clear. I decided to head to
Yangshuo and Li Jiang the next day.