• Toto Zapata
  • Junita Fernandez
  • Toto Zapata
  • Junita Fernandez

Wonders of Guangxi

Nanning - Mingshi - Detian Waterfalls - Beihai - Weizhou Island Read more
  • Trip start
    December 25, 2022

    Nanning

    December 25, 2022 in China ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Finally we did overcome our Covid Infection in Shanghai including turning our health code from red to green - we tested sometimes twice a day at the official test booths in Shanghai as we were really worried not to be “green” again in time for our holiday. After a nice Steak Christmas dinner at the restaurant RAW , we left Shanghai for a short end of the year trip to the province Guangxi. Our first stop was the capital of Guangxi, Nanning.
    After arrival our guide took us quickly for check in to our hotel in the outskirts of Nanning. As it was a dead area we decided to spend the rest of the day in the center.
    Nanning is around 160km from the border of Vietnam, has around 9 Mio. habitants and is the home for around 30 Chinese nationalities.
    First stop was at the Minorities Cultural Relics Center where a nice small park with a lake was behind. It is the home for the famous Dong Wind and Rain Bridge, built in 1912. We wandered around and had the chance to have a great local lunch in a nice environment, a wooden building in the small lake. In general everything was very quiet due to the COVID situation. After a short visit of The Museum of GuangxiZhuang Autonomous Region we were heading to the center to explore some more areas of the city.
    The evening we did spend around the Nongyuan Road Area to enjoy the street market and the street food. We were as I remember the only western foreigners.
    In desperate need to find a nice bar to discuss the day we ended up in a bar nearby. Of course drink menu fully in Chinese. Beer was easy to order but we ended up as well with 10 shots of unknown Schnaps and a cheesy pizza. Good music in an empty place and a funny ending of the day.
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  • Village of Yangmei and Mingshi Village

    December 26, 2022 in China ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    After leaving Nanning our first stop was the village of Yangmei, a village dating from the 17th century. It had a a few historic buildings, many shops were closed (understandably as we were the only tourists and in general it was very quiet) but we used the time to walk around to explore the village.
    Finally we arrived at our hotel “Lost in Nature” in Mingshi Village, 210km away from Nanning. Renowned as the small Guilin, Mingshi is a very beautiful village surrounded by karst hills, clear rivers and rice fields. It’s located close to the Vietnamese border.
    After arrival we took our first bike ride to explore the beautiful landscape including stopping at a Vietnamese coffee shop nearby.
    The hotel had a natural fresh design (white, wood, rattan) and offered good food. Very friendly staff. Location extremely charming and scenic. We liked this hotel very much.
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  • Equan Scenic Area and Quyang Lake

    December 27, 2022 in China ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    First stop today was at a wonderful picturesque village on our way via Baise to the Equan Scenic Area.
    The village was again very empty. A few shops were open. We walked around the cobble streets and went outside the village so see more of the combination of rice fields in front of the karst mountains. The weather was very dull but luckily no rain.
    2nd and last stop today was the Equan Scenic Area or also called Goose Spring at Jingxi City. It is of the eight scenic spots in Jingxi since ancient times. A beautiful scenery and made to make good photos.
    We came back to our hotel “Lost in Nature” before darkness and used the time for a glass of Old Monk Rum from India. I had a good cigar, La Gloria Cubana Exclusivo Israel. Junita enjoyed Vietnamese Banana Chips Natural Flavor.
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  • Detian Waterfall & Tongling Grand Canyon

    December 28, 2022 in China ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Today we visited one of the highlights of our holiday, the Detian Waterfall’s at the border to Vietnam. The Vietnamese Ban Gioc Waterfall is 20 meters away next to the Detian waterfall. It’s in total 3h away from Nanning but we came from Mingshi Village.
    The tour included a boat trip in front of the waterfall and long walks in the hills. Finally we slided down back to the starting point.

    35 km away from the Detain Waterfalls was the Grand Canyon of Tongling. It has a length of 3.8km and is also located in Jingxi County. It covers river waterfalls, tropical rainforests and caves. The waterfall has a length of 188 meters. We were the only guests in the Canyon and the weather was very rainy. Nevertheless especially the cave was a highlight.
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  • En route to wonderful Beihai

    December 29, 2022 in China ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    So far I didn’t mention our “great” female driver. She had an old car (brand unknown), heard quite loud Chinese music and drove very slowly.
    So today we left Mingshi Village and did head to Beihai, a city and port, located in southern Zhuang Autonomous Region of Guangxi. Beihai was opened to foreign trade in 1876. Beihai became a moderately important port and the principal outlet for the trade of southern and western Guangxi. Later, after Wuzhou on the Xi River and Mengzi on the Red River in Yunnan province had been opened to trade, Beihai lost much of its importance. It became no more than a minor port, with much of its foreign trade being in the hands of French trading companies. Beihai enjoyed a revival after 1937, when the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) began, but in 1940 it itself was occupied by the Japanese.

    Since 1949 Beihai has flourished as one of the most important fishing ports of southern China. Although much of the fishing fleet was destroyed during World War II, after 1945 the fishing industry was rapidly rehabilitated. After 1949 Beihai developed a shipbuilding industry for small craft and also began to manufacture cables, sails, and nets; a canning industry was established, as were plants making such various fish products as fish-liver oil, dried fish, and glue. As the nearest Chinese port to Vietnam, Beihai traditionally had strong trading links with the Vietnamese port of Haiphong.

    After arrival our driver took us to a noodle restaurant. That soup was ok. After that we were dropped at Guantouling Hill and visit Pudu Temple.

    In the evening we had the pleasure that our guide took us to a seafood restaurant of her choice. Guess that was the mistake as the fish was very expensive for a place like that. She must have got a commision. We did choose the fish from the water basin, it got thrown to the ground and one of the guys did kill the fish with a stick.
    Later on we tried desperately to find a bar for a drink after a crazy day but we were unlucky. Even our walk to a 20 floor hotel was not successful as the bar in the 20th floor was closed. Another proof that Beihai was still heavily affected by Covid.
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    Trip end
    January 1, 2023