What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

During our time in Guang Xi (廣西), we experienced a few pretty hot days towards the end of Autumn and visiting the seaside city of Bei Hai (北海) felt like we had been transported to a tropical island with its silver beaches and blue sea. It was incredible to think that at this time of the year, swimmers still came out in droves and headed right for the sea for a cooling off dip ! Yeh - it was 31C and walking along the steamy beautiful Silver Beach (銀灘) made us wish for a cool beer and a good lazy lie-down on a hammock and enjoy the sea breeze. Luckily it became cooler as we visited the inland Bei Hai Old Town (北海老街) with its very nostalgic and characteristic buildings that resembled those we had seen in the China towns all over South East Asia.
It was quite a different story a few days later when the first Winter systems engulfed Guang Xi and fortunately we brought along on this trip our wind breakers and long sleeves which did the job of keeping us wrapped up warm in the chilly days we spent in the mountains of 南寧青秀山 and 桂平西山. These two mountain ranges although not extremely huge in terms of acres of land but they still offered a good work out of our already tired limbs ! As in most cases we found in China, compared to the cities, the mountains and park lands offered a completely different standard of quality of air and it was no different here; so with our lungs pumped up with fresh oxygen, we tackled these mountains energetically and we were rewarded with stupendous views of the villages and scenery all round when we reached the zeniths. Of course, we ate our hearts out afterwards or otherwise we might have lost a lot of weight after this enjoyable trip to the southwest corner of China - Guang Xi.

Being the closest Chinese provincial capital to the ASEAN countries, Nanning offered visitors a comfortable and colorful stay with its mild climate and an endless list of sub-tropical gardens and parks as well as museums showcasing the heritage and legends of the many ethnic minorities who called Guangxi (廣西) home for more than 10,000 years. Reaching here from Hong Kong was a breeze, as the bullet train only took 4 hours and we were whisked away to this lovely corner of China. The many ethnic minorities of Guangxi included 壯,瑤,苗,侗,仫佬,毛南,回,布依,京,水,彝族 and altogether these peoples woven an unbelievably (together with Yunnan) rich and colorful tapestry of history and culture and their ancestors had left us with a heritage of tried-and-tested practices including how to manage paddy fields and bronze and copper alchemy. We visited the Guangxi Ethnic Minority Museum (廣西民族博物館) and were hugely rewarded by the many exhibits and artefacts illustrating the diversity and wisdom of these ancient peoples. Apparently, these clever dudes were the first to perfect the art and irrigation methodology of growing rice in paddy fields on all types of terrains before their wide-spread adaptation in other parts of China - henceforth rice became the staple diet of Chinese; also they were BIG on making drums, in particular out of bronze and copper and research done by historians could point out the different patterns, sizes and materials of these drums which represented their different ethnic origins.

The sub-tropical climate had been ideal for nurturing a wide variety of flora and fauna in Guangxi; we were in particular impressed with the Guangxi Medicinal Botanical Garden (廣西藥用植物園) where we found all types of plants and herbs which had useful and beneficial qualities to cure all types of ailments; you name it - aches of all kinds, all manners of internal organ diseases from lungs troubles, kidney failure to hepatitis as well as sorting out your usual sport injuries and your annoying blocked nose. Nanning (南寧) also boasted a host of beautiful (and huge) parks including 金茶花公園, 南湖公園, 五象公園, where we spent most of a day each and not even managing to completely visit all the areas of these lovely parks. All in all, fun days-out in this friendly and interesting city.

One of the un-expected rewards of this journey across the Baltics had been the abundance of green parks, nature reserves, peaceful forests, endless miles of golden sands, crystal clear rivers and lakes as well as a plethora of wild flora ad fauna. Of particular note to us was the numerous colorful fungi we discovered along our many daily walks in the Baltic woods, parks and reserves. These fungi sure gave the outward appearance of drama and invitation in their shapes, colors, textures and structures; but without exceptions, they screamed out with the warning of Do-Not-Eat-Me and of course we heeded their advice and only took close-up photos of these gorgeous-looking local residents !

Perhaps it was the glorious weather we were experiencing or it was the general cleanliness of these countries, we were greatly impressed by the beautiful and inspiring buildings and architectures all around us, framed against the back drop of the bright blue sky and open space pedestrian walkways. The majestic cathedrals, the famous art-nouveau facades of the buildings, the stylistic motif of the commercial blocks and the avant-garde sculptures were a real plus for this journey. All in all, it was a pleasure to stroll around (slowly) the winding streets, narrow alleys and quiet lanes to experience the artistic wonderment and what better past-time could we have asked for - enjoying a café noir in a side-street coffee shop overlooking these visual delights !

Compared to the gulf-facing charming seaport city of Riga, the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius exuded a metropolitan air of commerce and industry with the many high-rises which greeted our arrival with the many billboards covering the familiar brands of Microsoft, Huawei, Barclays and whats-not. But on closer encounter over the next few days, Vilnius turned out to be an extremely friendly, tranquil city with just the right amount and combination of hustle and bustle to keep us entertained without overwhelming us. We followed the gentle slope down from the train station (quaint) towards the River Neris where we rent an apartment facing the river. The owner Paul, turned up outside the Soviet era looking building (not so quaint) and we walked the four flights of stairs to reach an outstandingly furbished and homely apartment with everything that we could have asked for, including a much-missed filter coffee machine ! Not long after we unpacked our bags, we were treated with a spectacle right in front of our windows - over a dozen colorful hot air balloons taking off in turns in the glorious sunset - see for yourself in the photos below. The magical scene was complimented by the wonderfully warm weather where local residents were out and about playing beach volleyball, lazing around on the grass and having an enjoyable chit-chat over a beer or coffee.

The blue sky seemed to have accompanied us along this journey and invited us to explore the many landmarks including the Old Town with the many shops selling the famous amber stones and decorations, the Gate of Dawn, the Gediminas Tower, the Cathedral Square, the Kalnu Park lookout with the picturesque Three Crosses and we spent oodles of time exploring the nooks and crannies of the River Neris. We took an enjoyable bus ride out to the lake side town of Trakai with its famous castle and we ventured to the many hamlets of villages around the lakes; afterwards, we had a tasty salmon lunch that was joined midway by a friendly praying ginger cat (see photo) - the mascot of the restaurant ! After these weeks spent in the Baltics, we gained a good idea about the countries' psyche, beauty and landmarks and we felt rewarded and enriched by the experience of meeting the friendly peoples and having seen these lovely places.