Post by Dr. Gonzo on Aug 16, 2005 13:49:52 GMT 7
Touted as the most beautiful place in China, and the world of course, its not. However, spectacular scenery is within an hour's bus trip down around Xingping and, more famously, Yangshou.
Guilin city has a smallish population of between 300-500 thousand, depending where the last demographer drew the city limits. Its got a lot of that messy, dirty small industry you see all over China, and some murky, run down looking suburbs.
On the upside? Well, The Li River runs through the centre of town, complete with lots of boats and cormorant fishermen.
Its near enough to the real countryside to always have lots of farmers, bikes loaded with ducks or greens, wandering around. Cost of living is "regional", ie, dirt cheap. There are lots of local food specialties, Mi Fen are great rice noodle snacks and are sold 24/7. Chilli is much favored but easily avoided.
The city centre has become a tourist Mecca, with its nightly light shows and "ethnic" performances. Actually, they could be real as the city is surrounded by minorities, particularly Miao and Zhuang.
By tourists, I mean mainly Chinese; overseas and local. So tourism is big, and you'll find yourself a target.
There were several places employing foreigners when I was there. Tourism English is in demand. Salaries aren't great, but cost of living is minimal. You could do much worse, particularly if you like to get out of The Big Smoke often and easily.
Guilin city has a smallish population of between 300-500 thousand, depending where the last demographer drew the city limits. Its got a lot of that messy, dirty small industry you see all over China, and some murky, run down looking suburbs.
On the upside? Well, The Li River runs through the centre of town, complete with lots of boats and cormorant fishermen.
Its near enough to the real countryside to always have lots of farmers, bikes loaded with ducks or greens, wandering around. Cost of living is "regional", ie, dirt cheap. There are lots of local food specialties, Mi Fen are great rice noodle snacks and are sold 24/7. Chilli is much favored but easily avoided.
The city centre has become a tourist Mecca, with its nightly light shows and "ethnic" performances. Actually, they could be real as the city is surrounded by minorities, particularly Miao and Zhuang.
By tourists, I mean mainly Chinese; overseas and local. So tourism is big, and you'll find yourself a target.
There were several places employing foreigners when I was there. Tourism English is in demand. Salaries aren't great, but cost of living is minimal. You could do much worse, particularly if you like to get out of The Big Smoke often and easily.
