Our Biking Expedition...

This was by far the best biking trip I have ever taken.  We first went along the main roads of Yangshao, but then trekked along a rocky path that went through villages and beautiful mountains.  

We stopped at one village where we were shown how string is made from cotton balls.  Also at the village, there were a couple of girls who saw Nech and wouldn't stop giggling.  Nech tried to ask them in Chinese what they wanted and they finally pointed at their camera.  They were very excited to have their picture taken with a foreigner. As for the last picture of the shoes: I wore those for the 2 hour long cave walk we took to get to the mud baths. Boy were my feet hurting by the end. The mud bath was really neat.  When you lie down in the mud, you don't sink!

When we finally emerged from the cave with the mud baths, it was completely dark outside.  Mind you we still had to return to our hostel (which was a good few miles away).  So we biked back with the only light coming from the oncoming traffic. Considering that Chinese driving is bad enough when there is light outside during the day, biking back at night was by far one of the scariest experiences of my life!  But we all made it back safe and sound... don't worry. 

More of Yangshao

Is it just me or does she look really scary with that butcher's knife?  And yes, that is a dog that she is chopping up.  It was disturbing.

For the first time ever I saw a dentist. I saw another dentist office that was completely outdoors but I was able to get a picture of it.  

Tonight we were able to go to a minority performance.  These performers are farmers by day and singers and dancers by night.  This show was really neat because it was held outside on this lake.  And, the show was choreographed by the same guy who choreographed the opening ceremonies for the Olympics.  It was a spectacular event for sure!

The Big Bad Banyan Tree...

In Yangshao we got to see this huge Banyan tree that instead of growing taller, it grew wider.  Cool, huh?

Oh, and we also saw these really cute monkeys that would pose when their owner made a signal with her baton.  Aww.

Our Boat Ride in Yangshao

Yangshao is a little town outside Guilin.  I think, if it is possible, Yangshao is even more beautiful than Guilin.  In fact, there is a scenic picture of Yangshao on the back of the 20 Yuan.  I think we found it but we couldn't get the right angle for the picture... oh well.