Yes, let's all do our part to increase global warming!
April 14, 2009 - Day 2 - Nanning via Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a city in China right across the water from Hong Kong. Interestingly, Hong Kong's rather unique relationship with China (a sovereign yet highly independent territory) means it's much cheaper to take an extra two hours to cross into Shenzhen and fly from there, as opposed to flying from Hong Kong. Of course, this same unique relationship means crossing between Hong Kong and China is like entering a separate country, despite the fact that you aren't...
As the plane flew over Nanning, I took note of massive multi-lane highways carving up the vast plains of farmland, the former having risen from the past 50 years of Nanning's industrial growth and China's growth overall.
What does any city known for its lush vegetation and surrounding agricultural area need?? A giant light board, of course...
Wheeee!! No seriously, laws or common sense don't seem to exist here. Four people on one scooter? Three wide on a two lane road? Passing on the hard shoulder? Passing cops at 50kmh over the limit? Daily occurrences...
You might notice the slight haze in the "Welcome to Nanning" picture. China is indeed enveloped in a fog of pollution, even in the country side. But it does make the sunset awfully red... pros and cons I guess...
Many of the Chinese are newly wealthy. New-money people like to make it known they have new money, thus flashy and ostentatious things are quite popular. A fully light highway cloverleaf is the municipal equivalent of a diamond encrusted Rolex... But it does make the night view very interesting.
Interestingly, seeing all these people was at first pleasingly peaceful, functional, and simple. But in the midst of the cell phones, radar speed cameras (seriously), and tourists (me included), it ends up looking backward, rundown, and poor. Unfortunate what the technological perspective can do to what is otherwise a perfectly pleasant, quiet way of life...
The Detian Waterfalls. It's much more impressive during the rainy summer season with lots more water, but as you saw in the preview, it's an attractive place nonetheless. This area of China is interesting in that it's mostly flat but mountains shoot up nearly vertically, resulting not in rolling hills, but massive spikes all across the land.
Just behind the waterfall and a small hike up is the border to Vietnam, which anyone can cross freely. We wandered 10ft into Vietnam and found a gigantic plateau market hocking various (typical) tourist wares. Y'know, just in case you ran out of CK One, combs or cigarettes on your way up...
Unfortunately, the name of this rock garden place escapes me. It basically had lots of various natural rock formations that they gave creative names to. The centre of the park had a more "produced" garden that includes this path.
Why thank you, I will.
Continued in Part 2.
Looks old, but seems to serve no purpose but house the stairs leading to the next floor. All 9 floors contain nothing. It's hard to imagine this being an honest historic building... Note the lights placed on every level.
At first glance, however, things sure are pretty...
See??
The pond in front of the building above is packed with koi. A few RMB buys you a bag of "feed for the ornamental fishes" that lets you send them into a feeding frenzy. It's quite a scene to watch, especially with the sound of splashing water that goes with it.
The Yiling Cave is actually an entire spectacle in itself. A free hourly tour has natives of the area take you around their park, showing you various things of their culture. Things like traditional dance, crafts, and food, including a very delicious rice wine made from sticky rice. Food that rather hostile monkeys like to sneak up and steal. Our guide was careful to warn us that they are not trained nor are they docile, though not violent. They can (and did) take things from people.
Of course, you can't name a place Yiling Cave without having a cave. Like the mountain market on the Vietnamese border and the Qing Xiu park, they've done their best to make it as much of an attraction as possible to make as money as possible. Here, the 1km walk through the cave shows off various exhibits. While they're basically someone's wild imagination accentuated and justified by strategic lighting, it does add a bit of spice to what would otherwise be just a long walk through a dark cave. This one is two lions sitting down. Their eyes glow red...
After hiking to the highest lookout point, you're greeted by an amazing view of the terraces cradling the village the farmers live in. As you can see, they've only just started to fill the fields with water and over the next few months, the entire mountain side will start to look like a giant stepped mirror with all the strips of water reflecting the sky. 
While many in the village still farm, others are very happy to sell you lots of things to supplement their income. Things like handmade scarves... 
Much like the rest of China, the villagers have embraced tourism as a means of earning extra income. But the village is still a functional farming village first, evidenced by people going about their daily lives. 
As mentioned before, embracing tourism means almost every building in the village has been converted into a restaurant or a hotel. We stayed at the Longji One Hotel, which is a relatively new 4 storey building. Aside from the amazing view, the photojournalist owner and his wife have given the hotel fantastic charm. The hotel is entirely wood and all the furnishings are wood, wicker, or rope. Note the slices of tree trunk that act as stools and table legs.
Or these coat hangers. The hotel is actually extremely comfortable with all the modern amenities. And with the brown tones complementing the greenery outside, the quiet mountain range punctuated by roosters crowing and pigs oinking in the distance, the fresh air carrying the faint smell of... well... manure mostly... it's one of the most calming experiences imaginable.
It's a rock. That looks like an elephant...
The terraced rice fields of 
