July 26, 2010 - Longji Old Village, Guangxi, China

Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces

Pinyin: Qi hu nan xia

Idiom: When one rides a tiger it is hard to dismount

Meaning: When one is in a difficult situation and cannon help but continue to pursue one's course 

As China's middle class increases, the service industry increases.  When individuals receive a position dealing with tourist/guests, they are given a job description and will rarely take on responsibility beyond the positions fine-points.  For example, if the air conditioning is not working in a guest room and the front desk receives a complaint, the receptionist will look at the guest blankly because this is not of their concern... their job description does not mention communication with hotel maintenance. 

In addition, as a westerner, I was taught at a young age to patiently wait-in-line.  This practice then transferred into sharing the road - when driving, biking, as a pedestrian.  This is not the case in China.  For hundreds of years horse drawn carriages littered the streets, then bicycles for the last hundred years, mopeds came along about thirty years ago, and then cars for the last ten years.  Now all these modes of transportation are on the same roads, going in every direction, with very few traffic rules/expectations to follow.  Driving on the pedestrian sidewalk is acceptable.

Deciding to spend a couple days hiking the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces, taking a local bus is the only option for a multi-day traveler.  I'm still not exactly sure the purpose of this bus.  After leaving the city station with only three passengers aboard, we drove around Guilin picking up and dropping off random people who didn't seem to pay or have anything to do with the rice terraces villages.  There were people everywhere including sitting on my lap and leaning against my shoulder, all while talking loudly on their cellphones.  At the final stop on the outskirts of Guilin, a man randomly threw two boxes on the bus, but no one accompanied the packages.  In the flat bottom box were dozens of baby chicks and in the top box, two large ducks. It was officially a modern day 'chicken bus.'

After a couple hours, the bus dropped my new Chinese friend, an English speaking college student from the north, and I off at the "turning point" before Longsheng.  At this point we began to hike towards the village, waiting for another 'chicken bus' to come along.  Within minutes an unmarked mini-van with blacked out windows approached.  Going against my standard mode-of-operation, we accepted the ride up the last mountainous eight miles.  

Feeling the temperature and humidity rising, it was only a matter of time before the afternoon thunderstorm made its way through.  Last night Zhou had suggested the Pin An Hotel, located among the rice fields, because it has a 5 Star rating (about a 3 Star by U.S. standards) for 100 RMB per night (about $15 U.S.).  After spending the last three nights in a youth hostel dorm room with seven foreigners, a room to myself was a welcomed change.  

I've taken quickly to the Chinese daily routine, the mornings are spent traveling and running errands.  Sleep for a couple hours during the mid-afternoon storm and then continue to explore in the evening until dinner.  The Nine Dragons and Five Tigers hike through the Longji Terraces served as a perfect pre-dinner excursion.