Near the mountain and by the river, the first hotel we visit is Guilin Inn, a newly-built hotel in 117, Ring West Road, Xiangshan District (inside Guilin Botanical Garden), where the ancient trees tower to the sky, the grasses look like pieces of green carpet and the winding paths lead to quiet seclusion with bridges, ponds, bonsais, a swimming pool, rockeries and green banana plants well-arranged, and it seems as if you were wandering along a picturesque fairyland, recreating the charm of ancient Guilin inns during the Tang dynasty. There are 5 independent buildings well-equipped with modern advanced facilitates such as Wi-Fi, bars, tea houses in the hotel, and the king size bed rooms, standard twin rooms, deluxe sightseeing big bed rooms, luxury suites are available for guests of various levels. The guest rooms in the hotel are built in accordance with standards of the Chinese starred hotels, most of which are affiliated by a waterside garden and an independent sightseeing balcony. Not only is the hotel well-equipped with modern facilities, but also it neighbores the biggest recreational and commercial center in Guilin- Lianda Commercial Area and 101 Paradise, making it the first choice for visitors who are planning a Guilin travel. The highlight of the hotel lies in its amazing environment, and you can enjoy fresh air and appreciate the traditional Chinese architectural style here.

As far as the architectural style is concerned, Orange Osmanthus Hotel is relatively backward compared with Guilin Inn and it’s located in 77, Zhongshan South Road, Xiangshan District of Guilin, well-equipped with modern facilities. The manager of the hotel tells us that their washrooms are the cleanest in Guilin to meet the demand of the foreign visitors. In addition, we’re informed by our trip adviser that the hotel has been involved in hotel business for over ten years, whose software facilities are better than Gulin Inn, though its old fashioned architectural style.

The third hotel we visit is Guilin Hotel, located in 14, Ronghu South Road, Guilin, which is much larger in scale and more magnificent in style than the previous two ones, and it’s well-equipped with advanced facilities imported from the U.S. to meet the demands of foreign visitors. The hotel is composed of two building, with the first one mainly for the common guests and the second one for VIPs, both of which are well-connected by a long corridor, and they are very different is decorative style. The rooms for VIPs are decorated in a more delicate and luxury style, perfectly combining the traditional Chinese architectural style with that of western as one.

As far as the fourth hotel we visit is concerned, Shangri-La Hotel, in 111, Ring North Road, Qixing District of Guilin, is the most splendid one of the six hotels, which is decorated in an impressive imperial style. Shangri-La Hotel is well-equipped with modern catering & entertaining facilities such as a lobby, cafés, specialty restaurants, bars and multi-functional halls as well as luxury banquet halls, a swimming pool, table- tennis court and a fitness center. The hotel boasts the biggest dancing hall in Guilin, and the 6 multi-functional restaurants range from 800 square feet to 2,150 square feet in size, which is an ideal choice for the top foreign visitors.

We take a bus to carry on the journey and arrive at Gulin Lijiang Waterfall Hotel, the fifth destination of our itinerary, which is situated at the end of Zhengyang Walking Street and neighbors the “Two Rivers and Four Lakes”, and it boasts the biggest man-made waterfall in Guilin. The hotel is decorated in a magnificent style with 646 luxury rooms of various levels, including a presidential suite, 22 luxurious distinguished guest suites and 20 VIP rooms, 62 superior business rooms and 541 standard rooms, and the supporting facilities and service are perfect, including a Chinese-style restaurant, a western-style restaurant, conference rooms, a swimming pool, the fitness center and sauna & massage rooms. The man-made waterfall has a drop of 45 meters with 72 meters wide on the top and 75 meters wide at the bottom, which has been listed on the World Guiness Records.

The last hotel we visit is Sheraton Hotel in 15, Binjiang Road, Xiangshan District of Guilin, a world-famous chain hotel, which is decorated in a luxury style for top visitors and well-equipped with modern facilities, ranging from a swimming pool, a gymnasium, a recreation center to luxurious rooms of different sizes, and it fully meets the demands of visitors of various levels.

What touches me most during Guilin hotel travel is the advice given by Dai Yiwen, a senior tour guide from CITS, who says that: “Generally speaking, the foreign visitors can be classified into two categories: visitors for sightseeing and visitors for business, and we, travel advisers  should take the former to the hotels neighboring downtown area, so they can easily get access to the nearby scenic spots and the shopping stores. For those who travel for business, you are advised to choose a hotel with Wi-Fi service in the suburb area for them, creating a comfortable atmosphere for their work, what’s more, they can take a taxi to the nearby attractions as well. Of course, it’s very flexible for us to choose hotels for our guests, and our service will be appreciated eventually if we put our whole hearts into it.” I really agree with what she says.

I really benefit a lot from this experience, of which the most impressive one is that “there are three hundred and sixty trades, and every trade has its master”, so I make up my mind to work hard in the future to become an elite in the filed of network marketing, making my life more meaningful.

The weather in Guilin is sunny today, and I leave for Longji Terraced Filed by bus with my trip advisor and colleagues at 8:30 in the morning to appreciate its fine views. Our travel advisor gives us an overall introduction to the scenic spots and folk custom of Longsheng, and then we play games in the forms of guessing riddles and singing songs along the journey. I am chosen to sing a song Edelweiss for my colleagues, followed by some colleagues singing songs or tell stories to entertain ourselves. It takes us about 2 hours and a half to get to the ticket office of Longsheng Terraced Filed Scenic Area, and then we transfer another sightseeing bus to visit the first attraction: Heping Village (Peace Village). The bus climbs the twisting mountain road, which offers us an astonishing sight along the way, and I am rather scared when I realize that the bus is running upward along the narrow mountain road. It takes us about half an hour to reach the Peace Village, where the architecture is very different from those I’ve seen in big cities, highlighted by stilted houses or Diaojiaolou. The wood-structured stilted house is actually composed of three floors. The first floor functions as a shed shack for animals, where the firewood is also preserved as well. The second floor serves as the living room for the family, and the picture of their ancestors are enshrined in the middle of the main room, with two wing-rooms by each side. The third floor is used as a warehouse with rice, corns and preserved hams stored. The stilted house is very impressive for visitors, and it seems as if you were back to the ancient times when strolling in it. Walking along the rugged road for about one hour and a half, we’re out of breath, so we decide to have lunch in Shuiyunjian Hotel, which provides us with local dishes such as bamboo rice and preserved hams, and it turns out that they are really tasteful though it’s my first try. Around the tables, my colleagues and I talk a lot about the scenery we’ve seen and the local tales we’ve heard and we have a great time. We visit a local museum as scheduled after lunch, which is composed of three units with pictures and objective materials exhibited in each unit. Longji Villages are introduced in the First Unit in the forms of pictures, photos, silver wares, stone carvings and clothing, giving visitors an overall idea of the Zhuang ethnic minority people, their way of living and their folk customs. The history of Longji Terraced Field is vividly introduced in the Second Unit, and I’ve learnt that Longji Terraced Filed has a history of over 700 years, whose altitude ranges from 1,100 meters to 300 meters. Just as the local saying goes: “where there is a land, there is terrace in Longji area”, and the terraces range from valley to the peak of the hill and stretch from forest to cliff. The mountain ridge neighboring the village is just like a gigantic dragon flying down to the river, hence the name Longji (spine of a dragon), and the terraces scatter from the foot of the mountains to the top of the peaks, and the smaller ones look like snails and the bigger ones the tower if you see from distance. The local guide tells us that the scenery in Longji area changes with the season, and the terraces look like numerous silver ribbons in spring, green waves in summer, golden steps in summer and old dragons in winter. In addition, most objects materials used by the ancient Zhuang ethnic people are preserved in the Second Unit, including the farming tools, silver wares, jade wares, stone carvings, stone tablets and calligraphic works. The Zhuang ethnic festival customs are mainly introduced in the Third Unit, which are generated from the rice farming culture in terraces. The periodical feature of the rice farming in terraces shapes the chain that starts with festival and ends with the festival as well in this area, so every period of rice farming in terraces gives birth to a related sacrifice and praying ritual, ranging from selecting seeds, raising seedlings, planting seeds, praying for rain, hoeing weeds, killing insects to harvesting crops, storing crops, trying fresh rice and celebrating the New Year, which forms a chain of Zhuang ethnic festival. Besides, the embroidered works and the totemic belief are also introduced in the Third Unit, which really intrigues my interest and makes me greatly astonished.

We continue our way after visiting the local museum, and I see the General’s Monument, the stone sculpture of “Three Fishes with One Head” and the ancient Water Mill along the rugged mountain path, reaching the most magnificent attraction of the scenic area after 2 hours’ walking, Seven Stars Twinkling around A Bright Moon. I get very excited when climbing to the top of the mountain to appreciate the magnificent views, dwarfing all peaks under my feet, and a number of photos are taken in memory of this journey.

Though very tired after returning to the bus station, I feel very satisfied with this journey, appreciating the photos taken in Longji Terraced Field on my way back, and we arrive in Guilin at about 7:00 pm. I believe that this experience will never be forgotten in my memory.