At Guilin we were taken to the airport for our flight to Shanghai. The flight was delayed by 2 hours, so lots of sitting around.
We eventually arrived at Shanghai where we had a 3 hour bus ride to Suzhou where we staying the night. It was midnight before we were able to settle down.
Some of the countryside on the way to The Reed Flute Cave.
A good way to beautify a light pole is to wrap a hanging basket around the pole. This was not an isolated pole decoration, most poles had their baskets. Novel and delightful
The Reed Flute Cave is a natural cave carved out of the karst limestone mountains over millions of years, and has been one of Guilin’s most famous attractions for over 1200 years. The cave got its name from the verdant reeds growing outside, which can be made into melodious flutes. Inside this water-eroded cave is a spectacular world of various stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars and rock formations created by carbonate deposition and illuminated by multi-colored lighting to create a surreal experience.
The 240-meter-long cave is lined with interesting rock shapes and formations resembling all kinds of strange things. Many of the formations have taken on recognizable shapes of mythological creatures, or natural images. There are formations that look like vegetables and one even looks like the Statue of Liberty.
Inside, there are more than 70 inscriptions written in ink, which can be dated back as far as 792 AD in the Tang Dynasty. They are travelogues and poems writing by Tang Dynasty literati who visited the cave. These aged inscriptions tell us that it has been an attraction in Guilin since ancient times. The cave was almost forgotten for a thousand years, before it was rediscovered in the 1940s by a group of refugees fleeing the Japanese troops.
To me the lighting was over the top and I would have liked to have had less intrusive lighting instead of the vibrant lighting highlighting the particular formations. I think the colours tended to distract from the natural formations. Some lighting is necessary.
In the main cave, which was massive, they had 2 interactive displays.
The first was a holographic image of a dancer. What this had to do with the cave I do not know. As a bit of technology it was great.
The second was a movie displayed within the cave depicting the formation of cave from earliest days through dinosaurs to the present. Again it was well done with someone having fun with technology
Now to the cave.
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| Mushroom Hill |
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| The Snowman |
The Main Cave
Some reflections of the formations in the water in the Main Cave
The Holographic dancers
You can just notice the cube within which the dancers were displayed.
The Movie. This really doesn't show the impact as the dragons and other images seemed to be coming out of the walls of the cave.
Guess who.
After exiting from the cave we visited a pearl museum, with of course the compulsory retail outlet, which did a good trade.
I did find out that natural pearls are rough whereas synthetic pearls are smooth.
Pearls do not do anything for me.
Pearls on the boardwalk, attached to women of course..
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