Spring Break Part 2- Yangshuo Mountain Retreat

I am a bit of a "Beijing Expat Blog Stalker". That is, if I find out that another expat here in Beijing has a blog I bookmark it and check back often. By doing this I have found out some really good information and reliable tips . . . like where to stay in Yangshuo! After you read this blog post you will want to stay at the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat too!

On a small country rode you arrive at the retreat.

Yangshuo is about an hour and fifteen minute ride from the Guilin airport. Friends had spent a day or two in Guilin and recommended we just skip it and spend all of our time in Yangshuo, a small town on the Li River. 

Upon making our reservations about six weeks in advance we found out a couple of things; first, they require paypal advance payment in full (a little nervous about being scammed) and second, the customer service was very good as we emailed back and forth several times. In one of the emails they offered to arrange airport transportation. This cost 300 yuan ( about $45 USD) and I got to live my dream of seeing my name on a sign as I leave the airport. Don't you ever wonder who those cool people are that have drivers meeting them?

The retreat is made up of three buildings.

A little farther back you can appreciate the immense mountains that the retreat is at the base of.

Sure enough! My name was on a sign, held by a man who led us to a car/taxi. In Yangshuo, the taxi's are not specific looking taxis like in Beijing. I thought a few times that when I get back to America I could help supplement our income by turning my mini-van into a taxi on certain days of the week...oh wait, I already do...I'm a mom!

And yet another picture of the amazing mountains behind the retreat!

When we arrived at the retreat we were taken back by the amazing calmness that immediately hit us. The terraced garden situated on the bank of the slow-moving YuLong river causes you to leave all your stress behind. Our room was not ready yet, but that didn't matter because they serve you ginger tea and a plate of homemade cookies to enjoy in the garden. Yum!

We were staying for three nights, four full days, a perfect amount of time in Yangshuo! Our bigger room was only available for the first two nights (this place books up quick) so our last night we were moved to two smaller rooms. The total cost for three nights, all the rooms, was a whopping $255 USD...a complete bargain!

Our large room, 103A, had a terrace entrance leading right out to the garden and river.
Ideal location!

Below is a video of our room. If this doesn't sell ya, I don't know what will!. . .

. . . yes I do! 

The amazing food! We soon realized that the retreat was where we would spend a lot of our time. Partly because it was so darn relaxing, but also because the food was so darn good (and cheap too)! Right off the lobby is a charming restaurant and bar area, with a cozy stone fireplace. You can eat breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner in the restaurant or in the garden. Some of the dishes that were "to die for" was the french toast, spare ribs in plum sauce and apple crumble. It was so great that any of us could order something scrumptious, charge it to the room and know we weren't breaking the bank. How often can you say that on vacation?

The entrance to the main building; the lobby and restaurant.

Where we ate most of our meals. Each morning we all had fresh squeezed orange juice.

The customer service didn't end on our email correspondence. The staff prides themselves on being like a family. You could feel this as you get to know the waitresses, the front desk clerks and the housekeepers. They just seem to love working here! Anytime you have a question or want tickets to "the show" (more on "the show" in our next post) they take care of it all for you. For someone like me who gets bogged down with details, this made all the difference in the world!

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For 20 yuan (3.50 USD) you can rent one of the retreat bikes for a half day, 30 yuan for a full day. We did this everyday. The countryside just calls for you to go out and explore it. More on that here. 

E getting ready for a ride.

It was so fun to find out that E's math and core teacher was staying at the retreat at the same time we were! Her and her husband are both teachers at ISB, D actually had the husband for math too. We enjoyed getting to know them on a more personal basis. You can't help but make acquaintances with the other guests at the retreat, it is all part of the family atmosphere. 

The Yangshuo Mountain Retreat also prides itself on being a sustainable hotel. They take green to the next level. You will not find anything consumable (except for my non-metal/plastic water bottle. Shame on me), except toilet paper, here. Speaking of toilet paper...be prepared, if you go, to not flush any toilet paper down the toilet. It actually is common here in China due to the poor plumbing. It is amazing how instinctive it is to flush toilet paper! 

Most of the furnishings are local bamboo and they wash the restaurant cloth napkins right there in the river. A much more simple way of life.

D really enjoyed sitting on this bamboo raft and paying with stuff he found on the river bank.

On our last day, the sun was out, and it made for a glorious day! Since it is in southern China, the temperature was tropical and moderate the whole time. A nice change from the Beijing chill.

Our flight did not leave Guilin until 9:00 pm so we played badminton, ping pong, read books and relaxed. 

Please come and visit us so we can take you here!

Next up, our excursions!

Spring Break Part 1- Yangshuo countryside

It's about time I post about our little jaunt to southern China! 

This will be a 3 part series (partly because I have so many pictures worth sharing, but mostly because my posts need to be organized or it drives me crazy!)

All of China, besides my children's school, has the first week of April off for "Spring Break/ Tomb Sweeping Day". Hubby decided to take the last few days off in March to coincide with the kids school break. There have only been a few places in China that I felt I HAD TO SEE and Yangshuo was first on that list. So off we went...

Now that our kids are older we really love bike riding on our family vacations. 

 This first post of my series will primarily focus on the scenery in Yangshuo...stay tuned for our adventures, exploitation and even another YouTube video!

We stayed out of town, among farmland.

This picture could be the subject for a charming painting.

Hubby and I on the banks of the YuLong River.

Water buffalo were abundant on the farms.

This woman carries her crops from field to wherever, all day, like this.

D got himself into a little pickle. On the narrow road the chairs were falling off the truck at the far left while the tour bus was passing. What you cannot see is that there is another tour bus behind the truck on the left...it was full of Chinese people pointing and taking pictures of D maneuvering his bike on the incline.

Of course, the Karst Mountains are what attracts so many tourists here.  Even someone like me who was not well versed in Chinese geography had seen paintings and pictures of these mountains before. 

Biking through the country was, by far, a highlight of our time here. At one point D rode up alongside of me and said, "I have been happy every single minute of this trip so far!"

One of the rural villages along the river.

I couldn't help but think of my Nana while riding through this amazing area! Whenever we would see  fields like this she would say, "Look at the galutsi!" Now, I looked up "galutsi" in all forms of spelling on the internet and could not find anything similar...so I concur that galutsi means yellow weeds.

On our last day the sun shone brightly. This is the view we saw from our fabulous retreat each day (more on that next). Hubby even swam in the river that day.

Stay tuned for more from Yangshuo!

You won't want to miss out on our 

funny and memorable excursions!

Goals- learning to crochet

There is something magical about taking a chunk of time (in our case, two years) out of your regular life and doing something completely different. I think part of the magic comes because there is a definite end, a finish line if you will. It makes it easy to begin thoughts with, "By the time we move home I would like to have..."

For the most part, mine were simple 

(and I purposely set the bar pretty low):

"By the time I move home I would like to be able to have a simple conversation in Mandarin." Working on this every single day!

"By the time I move home I would like to be able to cook a few Chinese dishes." Still looking for a weekly cooking class in English.

"By the time I move home I would like to have learned a new hobby like knitting or crocheting." Check! Now I just need to practice more!

This weekend I had the opportunity to learn some basic crochet stitches. I really loved it! I spent all weekend practicing until I ran out of yarn. This tiny hat (even too tiny for a baby) was one of my results. Do not give me credit for this...the only reason it turned into a hat was because I really struggled with a square or rectangle. So, going in circles makes a hat! Even if it is for a little leprechaun (fitting since it was St Patrick's day) it still was fun and I can't wait to get some more yarn and try some more! 

Hooray for goals!

McDondald's ice cream cones- Beijing

Love Is In The Air

I recently made a statement publicly that surprised a lot of people. That statement was, "I love living in Beijing!" I cannot say, yet, that I love Beijing, but I can definitely say that I love living here! 

What is the difference you might ask? Well, I love the experiences we are having while we are living here. On a daily basis I think, "that is so cool". Don't get me wrong, I will be coming back the US. I am an American and I love being an American! I just realized that time is short here and I better embrace every minute! I still get homesick. I still miss American luxuries and food. Life here can be complex. So below I am making my current love list that I can refer back to when I momentarily forget why I love living here.

I love being able to go to the gym for over two hours every single day! I never had time to do that back home. 

I love the fact that I don't have to clean my house! We live in a serviced apartment and ayis come everyday to clean, make beds, change towels etc. Just to keep me humble I still do the dishes and the laundry.

I love that our money goes farther here and that we are able to save money monthly.

I love being able to go out to lunch with my hubby every week since he walks to work, instead of having a horrendous California commute!

I love that our life is simplified. We only have what we use.

I love living a stone's throw from so much history and one of the wonders of the world! I will never, ever get tired of seeing The Great Wall.

I love the psychological change to "this is temporary so sieze the day" from "life is mundane, repetitive and dull".

I love that I don't have to cook four nights a week. It is much more expensive to cook (plus it is a challenge in our small kitchen) than to eat out.

I love the spiritual growth I have felt! Even though we previously thought we would be isolated from "regular operations of the church", we have had tremendous opportunities for our testimonies to grow.

I love that my children are getting a top notch education! If there were any reason to stay, this one would be it!

I love having opportunities to serve where it is truly needed. I know there are valid needs in America too, and I hope to seek those out when I get back.  I have loved giving my time to help the orphans on a weekly basis.

I love meeting the variety of people we encounter. Every expat here has a story of where they came from, how they got here, why they are here and where they are going. It is a constant changing society and it is cool.

I love knowing that I am overcoming something that was difficult for me to grasp; the move, the culture, the language.

I love the travel opportunities it allows us. We hope to visit many parts of China, Indonesia, Tibet (the boys), Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Dubai and Australia by the time we come back in the summer of 2013. For a non-traveler like myself I think that will be pretty good. 

I love living in a big city! The hustle and bustle, the public transportation, the tall buildings. Being able to walk across the street to pick up last minute dinner ingredients.  

I love that my family is here with me and that we are making memories that will last forever! Even the most mundane tasks become exciting....like this video below!

Oreo Craze!

Apparently China is the testing place for new Oreo flavors! This is what the Oreo aisle at my chinese grocery store looks like. Yesterday I saw a billboard advertising Oreo's with cake batter filling, which is what prompted this post. There is an entirely different section in the aisle, equally as big, for Oreo wafer cookie bars.

 You can see quite an assortment of different flavors, sometimes two at a time! 

 From left to right: orange & mango, blueberry & strawberry, green tea (oh no, don't even think there is any mint here anywhere!), vanilla, strawberry...

...and if you were worried about the classics...there is chocolate filling and regular. I have not seen double stuff yet, although I have seen coconut filling before.

You may see Chip's Ahoy right next door to the Oreo's. Well, they also have different flavors. We love the chocolate chip and orange chip (seen above).

Rickshaw Madness!

One of my very favorite things to do in Beijing is riding in a rickshaw! It is not like the olden days where men are running while carrying you. Nowadays the surrey-like seat is attached to a bicycle that has a motor on it. 

If you look closely in the picture below you will see three red canopies, those are our rickshaw buddies. This is right outside our apartment building and they arrive around noon and stay until the wee hours of the morning. Rickshaws can be known to be a rip-off but we have made two pengyous (friends) who give us a good rate. We only take rickshaws when we want to go to dinner out of walking distance. This is because taxis are hard to come by at the dinner hour. 

Last night was one of those nights, I wanted to introduce the fam to The Saddle. Hubby was going to meet us there by bus so we looked for one of our rickshaw friends, neither was there. Darn! Two gentlemen were there instead, one younger with a nice smile and the other who was high strung and smoking a cigarette. When we approached,  the older guy began pushing the young one out of the way to talk to us. He was very aggressive and I knew I wouldn't do business with him, so I focused on telling the younger guy where we were going and negotiating our price.  We agreed on a fair price, while the older dude (notice how I've gone from gentleman to guy to dude?) ranted and raved! We ignored him and hopped into the bench seat. The younger guy just kept smiling with his calm demeanor while the older jerk began kicking the bike we were attached to! He then tried pushing over our carriage...while we were in it! Our driver quickly rode away and we were in shock!

D remembers this wacky man from a while back. D was passing by him while walking home from the busstop and he grabbed D's water bottle out of the pocket of his backpack! When D turned around the guy tossed it back to him in a crazy kinda way. A grudge has been held since then, by D, and now it is stronger after the crazy guy's antics last night.

I was sure to give our pleasant fellow a little extra, just because we felt bad about what he might run into with the crazy guy later. Usually riding in a rickshaw is adventurous because they go anywhere they want, through HUGE intersections, in bike lanes, on sidewalks, down one way streets in reverse, etc. I always hold on tight, but enjoy the ride. Needless to say, last nights drama was above and beyond our usual experience. Just another experience that we would never have back home.