Guilin 4 Elephant Trunk Hill (7/29/2012)

Sunday, July 29, 2012
Another misty morning. We are here at the tail end of the rainy season, which is good in that there is enough water in the Li River to have the Li River Cruise!
Today we checked out, and we and our luggage were picked up at 9:30 am by the guide and the driver. We drove a couple blocks to the Elephant Trunk Hill Scenic Area. Xiangshan/Elephant Hill is an iconic landmark right in the city of Guilin, but they have it hidden so that you must pay an admission fee! Having paid an admission fee, they give you a lot of other stuff to see and do...
You can see the pagoda on the hill from the street:

Elephant Trunk Hill is supposed to look like an elephant drinking with its trunk in the river:

Hmmm...

KSS

Lele showed us the Excoecaria cochinchinensis/Chinese Croton:

KSS

The leaves are red on the underside:

KSS

A river lock:

Looking back where we crossed the Peach Blossom River across a dam:

KSS

The lock is on the far side.
Elephants are everywhere!

KSS

Topiary of an elephant couple holding a Xiuqiu ball:

The local custom is for a girl to throw this ball to a boy to let him know she is interested in him.
Even Kent is overwhelmed by the smell from the wine cave:

The temperatures in the cave are perfect for storing wine. You can pay to have your own wine stored here, and the longer it stays, the more you pay, thus the more valuable the wine is...
The Guanyin Temple:

KSS

This temple seems to be to pray for a son.
Security cameras are everywhere:

KSS

Turtle Hill (with a cave/tunnel for an eye) on the left and Pagoda Hill on the right:

Apparently there are 12 pagodas in Guilin, most on the top of hills.
A fisherman on his bamboo raft:

Very long and very narrow!
We walked around to the back of the cave/tunnel between the trunk and legs of the elephant:

What's this? Fake vines?

They are to hide the twinkle light strands.
These people hired a boat to get in the cave/tunnel:

The dirty Peach Blossom River meets the clearer Li River:

Tourists rent costumes:

Elephant Trunk Hill:

More elephants:

We were worried about this little one in the swift current:

And then he gets taken farther out!

KSS

As you can see, he has no pants.
The current took this chair and the woman had to rush out to retrieve it:

KSS

Dining in the Li River:

Dining on fried things from the Li River:

KSS

The newer bamboo rafts are made with PVC piping:

KSS

Ethnic show:

KSS

Lovers' Tree:

KSS

The phoenix represents females and the dragon males:

Lele

When a couple gets married, they throw their Xiuqiu ball into the tree branches:

Xiuqiu balls:

Lele, our guide, kept pointing out bamboo shoots:

KSS

Back to the van for the drive to Jiangtou Village. See the Guilin 5 posting.