2001, In Guilin we are welcomed by the sun every morning at the window of the hotelroom. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We also get into the sunset mood from the hotelroom. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Directly in front of our hotel is Li-river. Guarded by "Qi Lin", a holy animal from China. Here on the photo you can see one of it. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Time for calmness. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The river Li . . . a silent soul. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Looking for a mate - another cormorant or the cormorant fisherman? - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The attractive promenade of river Li on the cityside. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Hui Jiang Ting / Meetingpoint pavillion on the river" is hundreds of years old. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A staircase leads up to the top of elephant trunk hill. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On top of this hill is a an old pagoda from Ming-dynasty (1368-1644). An attraction for chinese tourists. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, View from the hill. River Li has the colour of jade, the most popular stone with asians. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A park on the river Li in the city area. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The hillway. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In asia, the umbrella is not only for rainy days, but also for hot and sunny days. Six years before we already bought umbrellas with UV-protection in China. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The Li-people with their colorful traditional costumes are an attraction for tourists. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We are having a break in the shadow on the riverbank. Another view where only chinese tourists can be seen. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Behind us the famous elephant trunk hill, which I already saw during my youth on some works of chinese masters. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The elephant trunk hill with dawn breaking and the clear water of Li river. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The shopping boulevard is new, six years ago on my last visit it wasn't there. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The centre of the shopping boulevard. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Children are playing with a dancing water fountain. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The Jingjiang-king-citywall, here the entrancegate, is a class listed monument of the Guangxi autonomous region. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Behind the gate we see the main building with a large park, which belonged to the city area in earlier times. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, One can climb the small hill to adore the historic architecture. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The entrancegate on the hillway. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, When I see this the filmsets of the 60s and 70s Hongkong movies return to my mind. Todays reality is very close to it. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Entrance to a temple in a cave. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A natural caveway with stone plates. Calligraphies and texts of famous people of different eras are eternalized here. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, I study the stone plates on the walls with calligraphies and texts of famous people of different eras. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Giant calligraphy eternalized on the wall "Nan Tian Yi Zhu / The pillar in the south of the sky" points at the importance of this mountain. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Zi Pao Ji Dai / Purple robe, golden belt", the garment of the highest imperial functionary. Means, that this mountain was honoured a lot, not only by the emperor, but also by many literary figures. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Pavillion between the giant calligraphies. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Lake at the foot of the mountain. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, From the pavillion with the zigzag-bridge on the sea one can excellently see the giant calligraphies on the rock walls of the mountain. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Some districts are old but well maintained and have greeneries. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The morningsun shines onto the fields of the farmers. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In the early morning the farmers child and his "YeYe / grandfather" are heading to the market. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The "Qi Xing Gong Yuan / Seven star park", a natural landscape including river, hills, seas and islands. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The lions at the bridge are south-chinese style. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A wonderful traditional chinese bridge with stone balustrade and roofing made of wooden pillars and ceramic tiles. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A landscape, the bridge from another perspective in harmony with nature. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On this side of the hill it is still foggy, but you can see that the water is very clear. A small hillway, a pavillon and the spring atmosphere. A man cares for the landscape very calmly. A place cut off from the outside world. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A landscape far away from reality. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The "Mei Hua / chinese plum blossom" is a symbol for the country and spring in China. In traditional china every kind of flower was a symbol for women of different character. Mei Hua is the symbol for a woman which is pertinacious in her life despite many difficulties. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Yue Ya Shan / crescent mountain". - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Artfully created hillway with pavillions for resting. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The hillway is rather steep. The visitor needs to have a decent level of fitness . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . but it is worth it. A cave with numerous calligraphies engraved in the walls with poetic literary texts from different epochs of China. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Visiting this place is worthwhile when you are interested in the 6000-year-old culture of China. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The cave from the inside. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, For the chinese people camel-mountain in Guilin is as well-known as elephant trunk hill. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The mountain is very large, as you can recognize when you compare it with the man to the left. Western tourists are seldom here, mainly it is visited by political guests of the government. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, So many blooming flowers like on this camellia-tree are very rare. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Everybody is attracted by this camellia-tree. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This lady of the camellias is a natural beauty. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A country with a 6000-year-old culture leaves numerous marks. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The seats of the landscape workers next to the lotuspond in spring. In summer it must certainly be very beautiful. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The lotuspond in spring. Lotus is one of the beauties of summer. From the middle of autumn until end of spring she is having her beauty sleep. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A some hundred year old tree in a park, protected in a very special way. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A beautiful tree. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This bamboo gentleman is taking care of cleanness. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, View from a cave to the outside. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A wonderful opportunity for a break with some fresh air. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The traditional chinese building philosophy: Architecture and nature should complement one another. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Architecture and nature complement one another. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A river in "Qi Xing Gong Yuan / Seven star park" with bambooforest on the banks. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Landscape with river Li directly in front of our hotel. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This "Qi Lin" on the riverbank carries an old tree. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On a walk in the surrounding of the hotel we discover a "She Dian / Snakeshop". Snakes are raised and sold here. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Six years ago we took a boattrip on river Li too. This time I would like to show my mother the unique landscape around river Li in Guilin. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Blue mountains, low clouds, fog. This mystic atmosphere has captivated me ever since. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This is a river cruise ship for chinese tourists. Thomas is the only "Lao Wai / foreigner". - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This bamboo float is an important means of transport here in Guilin. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Because of such blue foggy mountains, I deliberately travelled from Saigon to Vung Tau in my Vietnam time to admire them. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The fisherman in his breezy bed is maybe dreaming of brimming fishnets. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Li river, the mountains, the bamboo forest. The ducks are enjoying the springwarm water. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, At this spot of river Li we even saw shoals in the water. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In front of the entrance to the grotto boat trip. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Seen from the grotto boat trip. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Here the dreams of fairytale king Ludwig II. from Bavaria could become true. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Shi Wai Tao Yuan / Remote world of peachblossom fountain" An area in China named after the telling of the famous chinese poet Tao Yuanming (365-427). This story was told to me as a child in primary school by my teachers. Later we read it in literature class. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, You can reach the remote peaceful world by boat. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We decided to travel to this phantasyworld of Tao Yuanming. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The architecture of the local tribes . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . the friendly population spreads happy atmosphere with music. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . we travel into a picture. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . the folklore of the local people . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . a band welcomes us . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . the beautiful melodies sound over the water for a long time. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We are crossing this wonderful unique landscape . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . then we navigate through a grotto tunnel . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, At the end of the grotto tunnel a world appears . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . a world so remote and peaceful like in the telling of Tao Yuanming . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . the peachblossoms . . . . . . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . a cormorantfisher talks to a farmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . There is neither hustle nor stress . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A farmercouple working on the field in the spring landscape . . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We too can touch the spring. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We visit the village of the Dong-people. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, One of the traditional Dong-crafts. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This traditional handmill from the time of my childhood was used to make flour out of wheat. My mother now tries what she very often saw in her childhood. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A folkloregroup dances and plays music. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The architecture of the Dong. This house is a meeting place of the village. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Every morning we enjoy chinese breakfast in the non-smoking hotel-restaurant. In China smoking is banned in nearly every restaurant. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This restaurant has a beautiful view onto the Li-landscape with Fobo-mountain. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Nearly every morning the chinese restaurant seems to be reserved for us alone, the other tourists crowd for the international breakfast in the foyer. Especially the chinese tourists like to try the trendy international breakfast. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The elephant trunk mountain with a drizzle at night. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The pavillon at the elephant trunk mountain by night. It is possible to climb the mountain at night. The stairway is well illuminated. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The pagoda on the hill and the lookout point in front of the cave can be seen from a distance even during night. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The neat water front of river Li on the city side. Our hotel can be seen on the other side. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A unique landscape. A bridge leads to an island, where one can see an old pagoda from Ming-dynasty and some caves. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We leave the island and discover a beautiful mountain way that leads us upwards. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A unique rock with carved buddha figurines appears in front of us. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The mountain way becomes more and more steeper. Here is another rock with carved buddha figurines. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The buddha figurines of the rock. Some of them were damaged during the cultural revolution of the 60s. Today the cultural heritage is inventoried and strictly protected by the government. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Another rock with carved buddha figurines. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This trail is not hazard-free. The stairway is hanging in the air. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Landscape seen from above. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A part of Guilin from a birds-eye view. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The stairway to the summit is much steeper than it appears here. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Landscape seen from the summit of the mountain. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Landscape seen from the summit of the mountain. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Up here it is very chilly and a strong wind blows. Luckily the wind blows against the rock. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Again buddha figurines in the rocky walls, that we see during our descent. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The mountain stairways and mountain ways are built very solid and safe all over China. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Xi Shan / West-mountain" - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Next to the mountain way there are always possibilities for a break in nature. We admire that nature is looked after so well here in China, different to Europe. Here you can see no garbage. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On our descent via the mountain staircase we discover this cave. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In this cave the Guanyin-goddess is honored. (The goddess helps believers who are in distress). - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A walk in this area is a wonderful experience of nature with mountains, caves and grottos. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Entrance to the "Gao Yin Dong/Grotto of utmost remoteness" - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Everywhere are rest areas, adapted to nature. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, At the end of the staircase another cave. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In this cave Laotse is honored. Living in the 6th century b.c., Laotse was the founder of the Yin/Yang-philosophy. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Is this the light, that lights mankind the right way?! - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The smoke of the incense sticks is supposed to carry the prayers/moans of man to the upper level?! - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A walk nearby our hotel on our day of departure to Hongkong. What a scenery! - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, One of the "Qi Lin", standing along the riverbank. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, It is like a stage setting. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Paired swallows circle above our heads. I remember two old chinese, poetic texts: "Si Ceng Xiang Shi Yan Gui Lai / Like already acquainted, the swallows return.", "Fei Yan Ying Chun / Flying swallows welcome spring" - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A bridge leads us to a village on the riverbank. We are so amazed, that everything is very natural, but neat. In terms of the Tao-philosophy (Laotse/Yin-Yang). - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A ride with a bamboo-raft into the painting . . . . . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)