Guiyang – Shuitouzhai – Kaili – Xijiang – Rongjiang – Zhaoxing – Danian – Chengyang – Ping’an – Xingping – Yangshuo – Guilin
Hello Serge LERET,
As I’ve been doing for over thirty years, following the various trips I’ve made with my friends from Charlieu’s ‘Découverte des Civilisations’, I’d like to share my thoughts with you.
The technical set-up carried out with you over the internet was very rewarding and judicious. Our contacts were particularly direct and cordial. You were always able to respond quickly and accurately to my many questions. I’m very grateful to you for this, because thanks to you we were able to put together an attractive and original programme that enabled us to discover the main scenic beauties of the Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, as well as getting to know the local customs and daily lives of the people who live there.
Once the programme had been drawn up, it still had to be carried out! To do this, I told you about my requirements for the quality of our guides: their ability to speak French without too much of an accent, their availability and their knowledge of the visits mentioned in our programme. You seemed to have understood this.
Guides
As far as Guizhou is concerned, you chose Mr Zhou for us. His French and his knowledge of Guizhou province and south-west China fully satisfied us. Particularly attentive to our needs, he gave us the perfect opportunity to enjoy the local festivals. Zhou found out that a new rice festival was taking place in Gaotong, and managed to intercept two local minibuses so that we could visit the village, watch the buffalo fights and admire the various local costumes.
– Magnificent… The next day, after the local market in a Shui village, we were able to attend the new rice festival in Wangjiang and its horse races…
– Interesting… In Tang’an, when we heard that a house was holding a newborn baby festival, Zhou took us to the house to explain the ceremonial aspects of this custom.
– Exceptional… We were also delighted by the many walks he took us through the rice paddies and the villages he visited. Well done to him and thank you for hiring him… The skill and kindness of his bus driver was also much appreciated…
For the ‘Miao Country’ section in Danian. Julie’s personality and kindness were perfect. Her little French mixed with her English and her dynamism helped to make this short stay in the ‘Couleurs de Chine’ sector very rewarding. Nora’s brief intervention was also very much appreciated, as were all the staff at ‘Pays Miao’…
For Guangxi province, you assigned us Miss TANG Xiaoting. She was kind and attentive to the group. Her French was very pleasant.
For Hong Kong: Zello’s welcome on arrival at HK airport on the first day was very pleasant. Zello’s excellent French without an accent was particularly appreciated. His assurance was extremely reassuring and effective for the group. His accompaniment to the train station gave us an extremely pleasant feeling of relaxation… On the return journey, his welcome at the Shenzhen terminal was solid and maternal, because the two successive passages through customs, given the impressive number of travellers, were enough to impress us. His presence after the two hour-long queues was much appreciated. Then, after the guided tour of HK led by Cris, his reassuring and extremely efficient presence during the check-in formalities at HK airport allowed us to leave China in a climate of great serenity. Well done to Zello and thank you for your choice.
– It was Cris who led the guided tour of Hong Kong. His excellent French, slightly peppered with a slight accent, gave us no trouble understanding him. His explanations and reflections on Chinese daily life and politics were very interesting. His offer to change our remaining yans was much appreciated. As for his suggestion that we abandon the idea of taking the funicular up to Victoria Peak and go there by bus instead, it seemed perfectly appropriate. In short, although the visit to HK seemed short and quick to us, due to the morning being taken up with customs formalities, it proved to be both fascinating and sufficient for the whole group…
– The welcome in Canton on 11 and 12 October was provided by Maris. An efficient welcome, expertly handled by a young guide whose French is particularly rich in vocabulary – her excessively rapid rate of speech seemed to us to reflect a certain frustration at wanting to give us as much information as possible about the city of Guangzhou when she had so little time! Our thanks to her…
Hotels
All the accommodations, however diverse, were very much appreciated…
A special mention goes to “Indigo Lodge” in Shuitouzhai, simple but with exceptionally kind managers. In Zhaoxing, “Indigo Lodge,” also for its comfort and traditional style. In Ping’an, “Starwish Inn,” for the same reason. And finally, in Yangshuo, “Riverside Retreat,” for its panoramic location and comfort.
Meals
The choice of meal points suggested by our guides was always judicious. We always ate very well and were able to appreciate the diversity and quality of Chinese cuisine. The use of chopsticks was accepted without problem. The presence of fresh, packaged water available at will was appreciated… The beer offered as an extra was also appreciated. In addition, you had advised us to budget €15 per day for our meals, I must tell you that we ate very well for an average budget of €7 per day. It was an excellent surprise… However, despite this, we really enjoyed the meal we had booked at the “Jumbo Kingdom” in Hong Kong!
Program
If the whole program that we had developed together was quite interesting, especially thanks to the freedom of choice that you had granted Zhou in Guizhou. It would be good to modify for a future trip the fact of possibly proposing earlier rises – the farmers are very early in the morning in their fields and the light is beautiful early. In particular the departure from Danian on Tuesday October 21st too late (9:30 a.m.) which indirectly caused a night arrival in Ping’an. As well as Wednesday October 22nd, where given that the morning walk in the rice fields is long but beautiful and essential, the descent then into the village to return to the bus is necessarily interspersed with stops for tourist purchases! Thus the arrival in Xingping takes place at nightfall, which is a shame…
Otherwise, I wouldn’t change a thing. And I would definitely recommend taking the bus to Victoria Peak and skipping the cable car in Hong Kong…
Finally, I wonder if a return to Canton with a brief visit to Canton would not allow the train to be used again to reach Hong Kong, thus avoiding those long, tedious, even distressing stops in Shenzhen – which would perhaps require an additional night. What do you think?
Thanking you again, Serge, for the patience you showed me during the development of our program, I dare to hope that we will have the opportunity to work together again to develop a second trip with a second group of “Discoveries of Civilizations”
Best regards,
Pierre CHATELET for D.C. on November 3, 2014