Guilin, China (1)

Travelled to Guilin in China by night train on the 2nd. Being posh, we travelled by soft sleeper which is a term which only has meaning relative to the hard sleepers (given that soft sleepers resemble very firm benches). But a lovely wee air conditioned cabin for the 4 of us (bunks) and being welcomed on by white gloved attendents was very nice. Beats trying to sleep on an aeroplane.

And Guilin itself is a lovely town built on the confluence of several rivers with walk ways along the major banks and a glitzy centre with modern consumer shopping.

With an evening trip thrown in back into old time China watching cormorant fishing on the river - Romany says the birds have sharp claws on their feet though.

But they still transport tonights live dinner around town as simply as possible. And the flash of the centre can't hide the disparities for the under classes who still beg or even eat straight out of rubbish bins. An odd mix for a communist country.