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We slept well in Yangshuo and woke up to the sound of rain outside. Sigh. That seems to be the theme of the trip. We were a little bummed, but fueled up for a fun day regardless. More watermelon. Yes!

We loved that even in this small Chinese town (basically a village) they had a HUGE jumbotron in the center. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but it almost took up a whole block!

Rain.. we won’t let you get us down! We’re forging on! Broken umbrella and all! (Fun side story… we had to put a deposit down to borrow an umbrella from the hotel.. and once we got outside, we realized it was actually broken. The whole day we were paranoid they would think we broke it and we came up with all kinds of scheming ways to return it quickly, get our deposit back, and basically run away before they noticed. Whew, it worked!) haha

We walked to the edge of the town, to the Li River to see how pretty it was in person. Even in the fog and drizzle, it was really special.

Around 10am, we paid a visit to Dr. Lilyli. She’s famous in the town for having the best massages and acupuncture around. I think everyone on the tour got a massage or some kind of treatment while we were there. Irving and I both got 60 minute foot massages for a mere $17 US Dollars. 

Our view during the massage! (haha) But all laughs aside, after traveling for more than a week, our legs were tired and the massage felt real good! And the $17 price tag felt even better!

Feeling refreshed after our hour of relaxation, we explored the town a little bit more. I found this store called “Retro Mail” and they had a concept I’ve never seen before… you can mail a postcard to the future!

You all know how much I LOVE the post office, I couldn’t resist. After visiting the store twice, and asking a few different people how it worked, we finally figured out how it worked… you buy a postcard and a stamp, and write a letter to yourself — or in our case, to Adele.

Then you look at the giant wall behind you. It’s actually a calendar… twelve rows, one for each month, and 31 slots across, one for each day. You put the letter in any box you want, and on that day next year, they will mail it for you.It’s kind of a social experiment because you’re banking on no one moving your envelope around. I placed mine in a box a couple of days earlier so it will be mailed almost exactly a year from now. I’ll let you know if it ever arrives!

Ponds of glass. So picturesque! I actually think the weather made it feel more dramatic. The colors popped more against the grey sky.

For lunch, we decided to check out another Western restaurant. We almost got some German food, but in the end, settled on Italian. 

We split three plates: Pasta, Garlic Bread and a Pizza. 

Then we walked off all those carbs and went back to the river. Irving climbed down to the shoreline to snap a few pictures from down below. 

Then we joined back up with our group for an amazing afternoon… a class a Chinese Cooking School! (That will get it’s own post, next!)

After a few hours of cooking (and eating) we jumped on the bus to catch the Impression show in a nearby town. This was one of the optional excursions on the trip and it was– interesting. They handed out ponchos since it was still raining a bit and the show was outside. 

The performance was choreographed by the same guy who designed the Beijing Olympic Opening ceremonies. The entire show takes place in a bay surrounded by the towering mountains around it.(Here’s an idea of what it looked like, even though my camera didn’t pick it up):

There were hundreds of performers who used light, fire, rafts, boats and silk to tell folk stories. Apparently it’s in a dialect that even the locals don’t understand, so really, it’s about the imagery.

I was skeptical going in, especially because Trip Advisor had hilarious reviews such as this:

It felt like a 5th grade concert you promised your friend you would attend.

This was my favorite part, when all of the performers, lit up with LED lights on their clothes, walked out on platforms across the water. There were so many of them, it was neat to watch live. 

I wasn’t sure I’d really recommend this show, however looking back, I’m really glad we decided to go.