We left Beijing today for Guilin, China, which is located in the northeast of Guangxi, one of the most beautiful and picturesque provinces in China. Guilin is a scenic city with green hills, clear water, and well-preserved caves, along with lots of people, bikes, scooters, and traffic. Guilin has a cultural history of over 2,000 years. Poets and scholars have left behind poems and stone inscriptions that detail the beauty of the area. As Guilin is located in a subtropical zone, it is often warm, humid, and full of rain.
Guilin is named for the Osmanthus trees that dominate the city. In the fall, the Osmanthus trees blossom with tiny red, yellow, or orange flowers and supposedly make the town smell sweet. All I can say, is that when we landed at the Guilin airport, all I could smell was mold and mildew from all the humidity and the "pickles and feet" smell of the locals' breath. The Chinese people really need to do something about their stinky breath.
