China
October 1992

On 31st Oct, I boarded Air Lanka plane from Don Muang and arrived at Kai Tak airport about 4 hours later at 6.30pm. Stayed a night at Nathan Rd guesthouse. Next night boarded a boat at 9pm and arrived at Zhoutoushi wharf in Guangzhou at 8am the next morning. Exchanged Rm100 for 217FEC and S$100 for 335FEC. Back then China was still issuing FEC's (Foreign Exchange Currency) Wandering around I bumped into Houde hotel. Initially keeper refused to let me stay as it was off limits to foreigners but after some persuasion she relented. Had a whole room with 3 beds for 23Rmb. On the 3rd Nov. I boarded another boat at Dashatou wharf at 5pm and arrived at  Wuzhou at about 12.30pm.the next day. Spent a night there and the next morning took a bus to Yangshuo, arriving late in the evening. Checked in at Zhuyang hotel at 20Rmb/day. 100FEC could be exchanged for 120Rmb in the black market.  Dongfu Rd in Shamien Island in Guangzhou.Houde hotel is just nearby after the turn on the left.  Arriving at Wuzhou from Guangzhou. It was interesting to note that most passengers carry various kinds of glass bottles like large Nescafe bottles in which they filled with tea leaves and get free readily available boiling water on board the boat. You could get your meals in the restaurant in the boat.Stayed at the SinSee hotel for 15Rmb/night. Had claypot fishhead and rice for dinner. Guess how much it cost? A mere 3Rmb.  The Li river in Yangshuo. From here you can take a boat cruise all the way to Guilin but tourists usually go the opposite direction.  A common sight along the Li river. Using cormorants to catch fish.  Scaled the TV station hill and took this aerial view of Yangshuo town. Took me more than an hour to reach the peak but it was worth the effort.