Living in China and witnessing the break-neck speed in which it is changing into a better newer modern different place, it is good to see nearly forgotten things pop-up to remind us how it has been not too long ago:

When coming home from shopping today, an old man put up is little knife-sharpening business in front of our compound. There were many people around, including many families but only a very few brought knifes to sharpen. The rest just pointed and explained their young ones: “Look, this is how it has been in the past”.

While sharpening our knifes we talked to him and while he didn’t tell us his age he said he is doing this business for over 50 years. Originally coming from Anhui Province he told us with pride that  he sharpened “many 10.000″ knifes in his life.  But nowadays business is not good for him anymore. People have their own electric sharpeners or buy cheap new knifes instead of giving him the business.

So, when you see him in front of your house, or you hear him calling out for business, don’t be cheap and let this old guy sharpen your kitchen knifes (for RMB 2 a piece). Maybe it makes an old profession survive a few years longer.

Originally we wanted to go to Gurong Watertown last Sunday (see newsletter), but the evening before our tour-organizer informed us (surprise, surprise) that the town has closed its doors.

As it was too late to inform everyone we decided to start the tour as planned but make a little hike a little further down the original destination and visit the house of the family of a sunny hiking club member:

The first rays of sunshine are peaking through the clouds and temperatures are finally back in the double digits. What better way to celebrate than go pick some of the first strawberries of the season?

Those of you that subscribed to our newsletter (hint, hint) had the chance of joining us and the Sunny Hiker Group last Saturday to the strawberry fields in Daxu. If you missed the tour or had to work, here are some photos:

Last monday we took a car to Huangyao, which is about 200km away from Guilin. We started early in the morning so we were lucky enough to arrive before the hordes of tourists.

Huangyao is a well preserved, around 1000 years old settlement. As many others it has already been blessed with being discovered by mass tourism which lead to a rather hefty entrance fee of RMB70 per person. Still, I would say it was worth the money.

Inside the compound, Huangyao is way better than other places like Yangshuo or Daxu. Of course there are little stalls selling fake antiques and Mao-Bibles, but it is much more laid back. Nobody tries to pull you into their shops. I bought a traditional dress for my little daugther and paid only RMB 20 without much bargaining.

Should you go there, remember to bring some snacks. While you can get pickled veggies and cooked eggs easily, there are not many restaurants. (Actually, we saw only one).  To finish this rather short report, here are some photos: (For more photos please visit our Huangyao Photo Gallery)

Another section of our homepage has been completed: The Guilin Photo Gallery is now up and running.

Before you can actually go and upload your own photos you have to register in the bottom of the left side navigation.

To directly go to the Gallery, please click on the nice old lady on the right.