Forgot to mention that last night after the main dinner, and the rice wine was flowing, in fact five kinds of it, two of which tasted like nail polish remover, the duck feet and chickens feet came out. I had a few of each, they’re kind of an interesting item, and the methodp of eating is unusual but makes total sense. There will be a picture of me gnawing on one below… and regarding the rice wine, as is common for people make their own rice wine, add herbs, fruit, or flavorings or insects or snakes to it. Last night we also had a rice wine with hibiscus flowers added that was very pleasant.

Right now there is a guy out on the street below my window singing amazing Grace in Chinese, he’s been singing it for at least 20 minutes now, I wish he would stop!

Today’s ride was relatively short 50k, some bamboo forests, and karsts… Yet arriving in Guilin after being in the countryside all this time was almost depressing… however, this is a beautiful town in many ways, in a very beautiful lake side setting. There must be a low horn usage ordinance, very few car horns being used here. But also noticeable is thousands of mopeds, 90% of which are electric and silent! So even though this is a very busy crowded city, it is much quieter then many smaller ones we visited.

Guilin is large enough that you have some more western options, so we had a couple of tasty Gin and tonics, which is been a rarity here, and yes, ordered pizza. It was a reasonable facsimile of American pizza, though I would admit my desire for pizza when I arrive back in the states…

On the main townsquare here, the entire surface is made of polished marble. There is also a representation of the entire earth mass of the world,, shown in different colors with major cities engraved in the marble. What an amazing piece of artwork!

Only two more days of cycling, with 72K tomorrow. The weather seems to be holding, the rain forecast keeps being pushed out… That’s it for now, will post yesterday and today’s pictures…

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