Vignettes of the World
My Travel Journal
Lijiang River (not to be confused with the Lijiang of Yunnan) is the subsidiary of the Pearl River system in the west. It is the upper reaches to the Guijiang River. From its origin in Xingan County’s high mountain of Mao’er Shan in the northeast, …
In Chinese, lingzhi, the Ganoderma Lucidum is a type of mushroom that is grown on rotten wood. Also known as reishi in Japan, it is a medicinal herb widely used in the traditional medicine of Asia. In China, it is much sought-after and it is …
Guilin prides in itself as “the scenery that tops the world,” as the Chinese saying goes. The city offers a few options for tourists that want to enjoy an up-close encounter with Guilin’s unique natural scenery. Situated between the Lijiang River on the east and …
The Mountains are the back of a dragon. The fields are the staircase amidst clouds. Longji, the scenic area that features enormous acreages of terraced rice fields, was the most anticipated part of the trip to Guilin for me. The best-known sceneries of Guilin are …
“Ah Jie, I tell you the saying that we have about the ethnic minorities of Guilin,” Xiaohuang was keen to introduce me to the territorial politics of the province, “ages ago, the different ethnicities fought for land. It is said that those who won the …
Guilin, in Chinese, means “a grove of osmanthus.” The osmanthus is, therefore, in every way representative of Guilin. From the way that osmanthus trees wave fragrance in their native habitat, to the way that its tiny yellow flowers perfume in coffee, the osmanthus stands tall …
My family wanted to visit Guilin for their biannual trip. Unlike my last trip to Guilin, which was a solo adventure in the same year, I had to plan for a group of five adults. There are two older members of the family. As such, …
Panyu is the haven of food in Guangzhou, which is a heaven of food itself. I took my family to Panyu because of the great food, and it certainly did not disappoint. The following is in random order and it is not a ranking. Baomaye …
In early December, the beautiful bald cypress at the Dafushan Forest Park had not yet turned red. There was a whole afternoon of free time, so I decided to take my family for a stroll at the Dafushan Forest Park anyway. In the wintertime, when …
There are endless things to do in Guangzhou, which is known to the Chinese as the City of Rams. In a recent family trip, I took my family first to Panyu, as part of Guangzhou, then we headed on to Guilin in Guangxi Province to …