November 16, 2023

Day 9 (Pt. 2)

I walked around the entire 大榕树景区 and got back to my scooter. My next stop was the Moon Mountain Attraction. Scooters weren’t allowed in, so I had to park behind the building called 观月楼, or Moon Viewing Building. The Moon Viewing Building is just that, it’s a traditional Chinese structure dedicated for the people who want to see the moon. The moon wasn’t out yet, so all I could see were mountains that I could see from other angles too.

There was a show that starts at 4:30 PM, and it was a little bit past 4 then, so I just waited there for the show to start.

I was the first one into the theater, and even after the show had started, there were only a dozen people watching in a very big theater. It is off peak season, after all, and I kinda felt bad for the actors who would’ve danced to a full theater during summer.

But that sympathy quickly went away, with all the bad acting and all.

It was just singing and dancing, and you could tell a few of the actors really didn’t want to be up there. Some of their actions were out of sync, and it really broke the immersion of dance numbers in general. Also, there is a wolf type actor, who kept waving her hand around which looked really stupid. But there are almost 10 actors performing for just 10 audiences, I could see why they wouldn’t act better, it just bums me out.

Also, there is a song “sang” by the MC that from the amateur angle of my musical career, I can tell immediately that she wasn’t the one singing. She’s doing all the actions all right, her mouth is definitely uttering the lyrics, but she wasn’t the one singing. It must be a recording because the singing voice was completely in tune and was too smooth for someone who is constantly moving around. But the MC is really pretty though, can’t complain about that.

By the end of the show, the MC asked if anyone wanted to take pictures with the actors. I wanted to, but I didn’t want to be seen as too eager, so I waited to see if anybody else wanted to do it first. No one did, so the actors all went back stage and there goes my opportunity to take a selfie with the actors. Some of them are really pretty though, damn shame.

There is something interesting about the Moon Mountain Attraction, and it’s about President Nixon. Based on the board at the attraction, when President Nixon visited Guangxi, he saw the moon mountain and couldn’t believe that the moon mountain was natural. After he was told that it wasn’t a missile that created a whole on the mountain that looks like the moon, he had to see it for himself; so all the secret service with him and the Chinese team had to open up trails for him to walk up to the mountain and he could confirm it himself that it did indeed occur naturally. The trail is now called “Nixon Trail”, which is rather interesting.

To see the Moon Mountain, which is a mountain with a whole in it so you can see through it, you will have to climb up another hill. I didn’t want to climb up hills because my thighs were so sore at that moment, so I just walked away.

Why are my thighs so sore you ask? Well, it’s because of the scooter riding. I am already nervous about riding at such high speeds with no protections like helmets, so once I am slowing down or I am about to brake, I have to hold my leg above ground but close enough so I can step in (literally) when needed. Holding my leg up constantly really hurts the thigh muscles if you haven’t used that muscles a lot before, so be wary of that.

Finishing with the show basically concluded my journey to 十里画廊. The raft ride entrance, 漓江, is one people should start at if they have done their research well. It was a 2 hour scooter ride from here, so I didn’t want to do that. It is the background picture of the 20 RMB bill, though, so if you’re interested about that you should definitely go.

My next stop is 西街, West Street. It is a famous shopping district with stores all over. Normally scooters are forbidden since it is a walking district designed for pedestrians, but since I didn’t know that, I drove in anyways.

There are guardrails at the entrance of the walking district that stops scooters from getting in, and I didn’t know that until I tried to exit. You might ask how did I get in with my scooter not knowing that I can’t get in with one? The funny answer to that is because I was using a Chinese navigations app that is great with small to unknown roads. It guided me into a narrow street where there are a lot of scooters at the middle point of the district, and only then did I know that I have arrived at the no-scooter walking district.

Riding a scooter in a crowded area was a pain. The best way and the commonly used way by scooter riders in a crowded area is to honk at the pedestrians. I don’t like to honk at pedestrians because I think that is a rather rude behavior. So I had to constantly use my legs to balance the scooter while I try to get in. I couldn’t park it anywhere because according to the locals, I would get a fine for parking it there.

This is where I rested for a bit after trying to get through hoards of people. It is at the middle point of the walking district. I FaceTimed my family for a bit, took some pictures, and asked my brother in law some advice on dinner. He told me to go get the 啤酒鱼, and there is a chain called 大师傅啤酒鱼 everywhere I’ve been to, so I’ve decided to go visit one outside of the walking district.

There is one inside the walking district, but I think there will be no place for me to park the scooter, so I decided to get out. En route of exiting, I saw the restaurant inside the district, and the waitress was out in the street trying to get customers. I asked her if I can park my scooter here, and she said yes. She made some space for me behind the store light and stuffed my scooter in there.

The restaurant has a huge outdoor dining area, and since the weather isn’t as cruel as it is in summer, I opted to dine out.

The first dish is called 啤酒鱼, or Beer Fish. Since I started the gag of translating Chinese food word by word, I had to clarify on Instagram that this one indeed is called Beer Fish. I believe it is fish marinated by beer, hence Beer Fish. It has a rich beer taste, but I’m not tasting anything else. I think they need to cook it a little bit more for the taste to come out; but that’s what they served that night. It wasn’t as good as I would’ve pictured it.

The second dish is called 竹筒鸡, or Bamboo Chicken. It is chicken cooked inside a chopped up bamboo, so the chicken soaks up all the sweetness from the bamboo. I was too much of a chicken to order a full chicken so I just ordered half a chicken. Chicken!

I didn’t finish everything, since I had lunch just 4 hours ago. I only ate one piece of chicken and some soup and half of the fish. I feel bad for leaving so much food behind, but I seriously can’t eat anything more.

Ohh and there is live music right next to me! She was good.

I snapped this picture before leaving. Overall its good, the service was good, definitely.

My last stop was a giant live show called 印象·刘三姐, or Sanjie Liu Impressions. Like I said, I never watched the movie growing up, so I have no idea what the show was going to be. I was also not interested in live shows in general, so I didn’t have high hopes for this one. But, since my brother in law told me to check it out, I obliged.

My brother in law also told me to return my scooter back to the rental place because it is dangerous to drive a scooter at night. He was so right.

I started to leave the restaurant at 5:40, and tried to exit the walking district through the north end. When I arrived, I can see that it indeed was completely shut off to anything but foot traffic. There was no way I can pass through the barricade with a scooter, so I had to return to where I entered and exit through there.

Once I was back on the street, it was fine. There were street lights and other people riding with me so it wasn’t too bad. It also was the first time that I had to do a left turn, and I didn’t know what to do. Since I’ve always been driving on the outer most lane, and all I had to do was turn right, I didn’t know whether I should go to the leftest lane or what. I saw a girl driving and stopped before the car on the leftist lane, so I followed her. Overall it wasn’t too bad.

The bad came when I needed to go through a street without street light. It was absolutely empty and without lights. There is a light on the scooter, but it wasn’t nearly as bright enough for me to see through the darkness, so I had to ride extremely slowly so I don’t bump into anything else.

Then there was the muddy road to the hotel again. Luckily I have already mastered the art of scootering, so I was able to ride all the way to the rental place, bumpy and all, without stepping once into the mud. I was actually very impressed with myself.

After returning the scooter and getting my deposit back, I hailed a ride on the app and got in the car. The driver didn’t like the muddy road, and he is one of those drivers who likes to speed up on mud, which was quite dangerous. Luckily we arrived at the theater all fine.

I bought a ticket online, and went to the gate. They wouldn’t let me in and I had to go across the street to go to the online ticket admission place to get a physical ticket. Once I did that, I rented a cushion because I know I would be sitting on plastic seats and went inside.

The place looks absolutely beautiful. I didn’t know what I was going to expect, but it is an amphitheater in pitch darkness. I was seated next to a French guy with his Chinese wife and their cute little daughter. They forgot to buy a ticket for her daughter, and asked if I was okay swapping seats with them so I would sit in the middle while they get my seat. I said no. I just scootched over one and let them have the middle seat. I am such a lovely person.

The show started with a few people who spoke some what good Mandarin to us, introducing who they are. They’re not the main event though, as I would soon find out.

Once the lights were on, it occurred to me what was going to happen.

Holy crap they choose a amphitheater that has real mountains and real lakes. They even illuminated the entire mountain, which is crazy. The show is not really about Sanjie Liu and her story, but rather just “dance” and singing numbers of the ethnic Bouraus and their way of living. They sing all the time, and it is one of their ways to conduct daily matters. Sanjie Liu was just the name; it is more than just Sanjie Liu, it is a microscopic look at the people who populated this land.

The show was majestic. There is no word other than majestic. It had more than 200 actors who rode boats and sang and danced on floating objects in the middle of the lake. Out of respect to their intellectual property rights, I will only post these two pictures here of the most shocking showpiece of the entire show. I was amazed by the amazing choreography and the singing with this show. You have to check it out yourself, words cannot describe what I have witnessed.

One song that caught my ear (eye) was 藤缠树. It is a love song between Sanjie Liu and her lover, and it had a line in its lyrics that caught my eye: “连就连，我俩结交定百年。哪个九十七岁死，奈何桥上等三年。” It translates to: “We are connected, and we are to be connected for a hundred years. Which one dies at 97, will be the one to wait by the Naihe Bridge”. The Naihe Bridge is the bridge in Chinese mythologies where the dead needs to pass before being able to meet with their family again. This is one of the most romantic and spooky things I’ve ever heard, and with the beautiful melody it has, it was quickly burnt into my brain.

Overall, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed the entire show. I am so glad that I didn’t listen to myself and stayed at the hotel. This show is what everyone must see at least once in their lifetime. It is directed by Zhang Yimou, one of the most prestigious directors known throughout the world (although not so much recently), in the year of 2004. This means that this show has been around all the way since 2004, for almost 20 years now, which should prove how good the show is. It is simply the most majestic thing I have ever seen, and I will be sure to be back next time with more clothes on.

Why did I say that? Well, I am from the North, and we get snow. Our bodies are trained to heat up immediately when we are moving around so we don’t die in the snow. While I was waiting for the show to start, I was moving around, so I was fine. The problem started when the show started, and I had to sit there and stop moving. By then it was about 5 degrees celsius, which is extremely cold. I had to sit there in the cold while wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a  denim jacket. It was so freaking cold. I thought about leaving, but then I saw on my watch that it has just 50 minutes left, so I stuck it out. I definitely caught the cold, though.

So remember, rent a cushion for your butt like I did, and do rent the coat that they have. It is necessary for people who want to survive.

After the show, I called a cab back to the hotel. I knew that this hotel offers a lot of amenities like Afternoon Tea, Fresh Fruits, and 30 minute Professional Photography. I asked the front desk about the photography, and they told me that it is completely complementary with every room, and a professional photographer will take pictures of you with the beautiful mountains. They will give you all of the photos and will photoshop/lightroom 10 of the pictures for free. Since I’ve never taken pictures of myself when I’m traveling, I didn’t ask to sign up at first.

I knew I caught the cold, so I, for the first time in my life, drew a bath in a hotel bathtub. It is a circular tub and the hotel provided plastic wraps for the tub so you don’t have to feel like you are stewing in someone else’s filth. After the bath, I thought that I should really experience the whole package, since my brother in law already paid for it, why not enjoy the services that is not complementary at all? (You’ve already paid for it, if you don’t use it, you’re wasting money)

I didn’t buy train tickets back to Foshan yet, I was basically free all day tomorrow. I called the front desk to check if they still have vacancies, and they do, at 10 AM in the morning. They asked me what my WeChat ID is, and they are going to form a group chat from there. After a while, there was nothing popping up on my phone, so I decided to get dressed and go down there to check.

It was totally unexpected. The front desk staff came to my room, rang the bell, and got my WeChat information in person. I was completely surprised and impressed by the services that this hotel had. Wow. I should never live in a cheap hotel again was the first thought that popped into my head. Wow.

Then I slept, like a freaking baby. I’ve experienced so much today, and holy cow I’ve written a lot about today.