in Guilin (our stop after Kunming, which was after Xi'an), we took a ferry along a river that went through the mountains of guilin. they call it Guiling Shanswei, or Guilin Mountains and Water. It's supposed to be the most beautiful sight in all of China, but i was still recovering from the Stone Forest so i didn't think it was THAT great.

The mountains were all along the edge of the river. They just sprung out, out of nowhere. They were enormous, kind of round, like not the jagged type of mountain you might be thinking of. There was life, we saw mountain goats, and natives lived at the foot of these mountains. Sometimes they'd paddle by on their long bamboo rafts. You could also make out things on the mountains, as if God had come down with a giant brush and painted pictures right on the rock faces. Well, traditionally the chinese felt it was Buddha who had done this. There were paintings of lions, tigers, and horses. You need a good imagination to spot them though, otherwise you'd just see discoloured rocks will trees and grass on them.