The Li River cruise ended in the historic town of Yangshou. With a history over 1,400 years, Yangshou is a calmer, more picturesque city than Guilin with a beach town feel.
This man was standing on landing as soon as we got off the boat. He is dressed in traditional fishing clothes with a long bamboo pole, carrying his fishing birds. Apparently, when fisherman go out on their bamboo boats, the birds help them fish. I snapped his picture not realizing that he was charging 5 Yuan. It seems like nothing is free in this area, including photographs.
The heart of the city, beyond its scenic views, is shopping. There are thousands of little shops, booths, sidewalk stands in every part of Yangshou. We could not walk two steps without hearing, "Herro, I give you best price."
The vendors spoke very little English, so bartering was done on paper or on a calculator. Negotiating with them was like a sport. They would start high, and would take almost any price you would name. They would give their best price several times, and in most situations, all you had to do was start to walk away and they would take your price.
I enjoyed watching these two women making silk. The woman on the right had the silk worm cocoons and would dip them in the tub of water. Then she would turn them inside out and pick the silk worm out. She handed the wet cocoon to the woman on the left who would stretch it out on the wooden frame. After doing this dozens of times, she would remove the silk pouch and hang it from the ceiling to dry. It was a fascinating process.
This family brought fruits and vegetables from their farm a few miles outside of town to sell on the street. I bought an apple, and it was incredibly delicious, although they were not that happy that I took their picture.
Overall, I bought way too much stuff, but was spending so little money it was hard to stop. Ralph and I took a bus back to Guilin for about $2 US, while the rest of the gang went bike riding, river rafting, and spent the night in quaint and beautiful Yangshou.
The Li River cruise ended in the historic town of Yangshou. With a history over 1,400 years, Yangshou is a calmer, more picturesque city than Guilin with a beach town feel. 
This man was standing on landing as soon as we got off the boat. He is dressed in traditional fishing clothes with a long bamboo pole, carrying his fishing birds. Apparently, when fisherman go out on their bamboo boats, the birds help them fish. I snapped his picture not realizing that he was charging 5 Yuan. It seems like nothing is free in this area, including photographs. 
The heart of the city, beyond its scenic views, is shopping. There are thousands of little shops, booths, sidewalk stands in every part of Yangshou. We could not walk two steps without hearing, "Herro, I give you best price."
The vendors spoke very little English, so bartering was done on paper or on a calculator. Negotiating with them was like a sport. They would start high, and would take almost any price you would name. They would give their best price several times, and in most situations, all you had to do was start to walk away and they would take your price.
I enjoyed watching these two women making silk. The woman on the right had the silk worm cocoons and would dip them in the tub of water. Then she would turn them inside out and pick the silk worm out. She handed the wet cocoon to the woman on the left who would stretch it out on the wooden frame. After doing this dozens of times, she would remove the silk pouch and hang it from the ceiling to dry. It was a fascinating process.
This family brought fruits and vegetables from their farm a few miles outside of town to sell on the street. I bought an apple, and it was incredibly delicious, although they were not that happy that I took their picture. 
Overall, I bought way too much stuff, but was spending so little money it was hard to stop. Ralph and I took a bus back to Guilin for about $2 US, while the rest of the gang went bike riding, river rafting, and spent the night in quaint and beautiful Yangshou.
