Day 4 - Rivers, Rafts and Needles

When I found out which Intrepid trip I was taking, I immediately Googled all the places we’d be visiting on the tour, Yangshuo was probably the one I was most excited about. Even amateur photos I came across online looked like they could’ve been out of a postcard. I was scared of doing too much research though cause I was afraid of raising my expectations too high. Now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I can say that it certainly does not disappoint!...even with all the rain we’ve had.
We arrived in the morning and went to the inn we are staying at, changed from our overnight train clothes and then went for breakfast. As we were walking to the restaurant, it started to pour out of nowhere but thankfully it died down a bit while we ate. So, after we finished were able to go the the river (Li River) for a ride on a motorized bamboo raft to enjoy the picturesque limestone karsts. The scenery here really is stunning! The weather was certainly not co-operating, but the rain did hold out...and I have to admit that the clouds and fog were not all that bad, they just helped add to the interesting air of mystery that the landscape has about it.






When we got back to town I tried acupuncture for the first time! I was so curious, and I figured if I was going to try it, China would definitely be the place to do it! It’s a lot less painful than it looks, it really only hurts when the needle is initially inserted because as it’s inserted, the doctor gives the needle a little twist and flick. Once the needles are all in, you can’t really feel them unless you move (which you’re not supposed to do anyway) so basically you just look like a voodoo doll and keep still for about a half an hour. I didn’t have any particular ailments to begin with, so I can’t say I really noticed a difference after the acupuncture, but I’m sure that my body is much healthier now! It’s gotta be... I was poked with tons of needles (one even in the head!) that’s gotta help somehow! Right?
I decided if I’m getting acupuncture, I might as well go all out and get a massage too. I had the acupuncture bit on camera (given it was so dark in the room so you could barely see anything) so I thought I should definitely get some massage material as well. Ummm, that was a lot harder to film than I though it’d be. I had my face in the massage chair hole and every time I saw my face in the camera screen I started laughing. I don’t know if I’m the only one who finds this funny, but here’s a little video clip. This is a condensed version, the full version went on for several minutes.

The terribly unattractive and quite terrifying but hilarious faces really start at about 18 seconds in (and of course don't mute the video cause you need sound to get the full effect).



After the massage and acupuncture, we had dinner and then went to see a fantastic light show on the river. The show is directed by Zhang Yimou a famous film maker and director of the Beijing 2008 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. It has over 600 performers and the fact that we didn’t understand the storyline really didn’t matter at all, just staring in amazement was good enough for me! The performances were all done on the water and used various lighting techniques to articulate, and emphasize movement. I had never seen a show on water... or a light show ... so I found this really impressive!