Li River Cruise

	Ships cruise down the Li River in excreable weather

Tourists go to Guilin for one reason only - the incredible hills which fill the area. Looking like weathered volcanic plugs, they are in fact made of limestone and there are thousands of them in every direction. Have a look at the area on Google Earth!

Unfortunately the day we had for our river cruise started out pouring with rain, the tail-end of a typhoon in the China Sea. Most people stayed in the shelter of the cabin, but I was out on deck doing my best to shelter under an umbrella - shoot a few seconds of video, then down to the cabin to dry the camera and lens, and back out again - the things I do for your delectation!

After three hours the rain subsided and there were even a few gleams of watery sun, which brought the natives out on deck, cameras at the ready - but not to photograph the amazing hills. No, they photographed each other in front of the hills!

Things to look out for on this five-hour cruise down the river are the man offering drinks with real bite in them, bamboo rafts with outboard motors, the boat skidding sideways round a corner as the current hits it, the beautiful feathery clumps of bamboo, and the 20-yuan note which has one particular clutch of hills on its reverse.

The only structure to this film is that of the journey itself, as the river winds through the hills. Where there are bursts of wind noise it is where the river has looped round to flow into the wind.