Guilin Mountains And TV Transmitter, With Views From Highest Peak. Dragon Flies With Sparkling Wings. Mountain Peaks Rising From Mist Flooded Valleys. Nature Beginning To Reclaim Lost Territory.
10th February, 2001.
The Guilin Mountains, many years ago, were all tree covered but now there are few of the old trees left. The Guilin mountains have a special place in my memories from my first visit in 1987, when I saw them through the aeroplane windows as we circled to land at the airport. My friends told me that one of the best places to see the Guilin mountains was from the top of the highest peak, so during my 1990 visit they
 hired a mini bus to take me to see the new TV Transmitter on the high peak, the first Westerner to do so. A new road had been built snaking its way from the bottom to the top exposing yellow earth in which seedlings of pine trees had begun to establish themselves; nature was beginning to reclaim its lost territory.
When we arrived at the top, the concrete paths and railings although functional, seemed out of place in such natural settings; the concrete glaring in the bright sunlight.
The panoramic views from the paths were quite spectacular with the mountains almost disappearing in the hazy distance. I had seen the mountains from the sky; the mountains from ground level at the airport, but perhaps the view from the peak was the best of
 all. On a wall in front of the transmitter station was a large glazed tile painting of the Guilin Mountains in all their splendour, with some of the peaks rising from mist flooded valleys; a subject popular with Chinese artists and poets who are better able to interpret the magic spell the mountains cast on anyone who sees them. I wonder whether the local people, as they go about their daily business realise how much beauty surrounds them, or like everyone else, just take the local scenery for granted. We have mountains in Wales which attract visitors from other countries, but which I do not often visit myself.
Looking towards Guilin the mountains were not so closely packed but looked rather as if someone had indiscriminately dumped loads of earth on level ground at random locations. A ribbon of water meandered through the flat land probably on its way to join the Li River, from where a different view of the mountains would be seen.
 Just before we started back down the track we were entertained by dozens of dragon flies darting to and fro, their colorful wings sparkling in the sunlight. Rabbits watched our mini bus with interest as we drove down, each twist and turn presenting a glimpse of Guilin dwarfed by the surrounding mountains. When we finally reached the town, it sounded extremely noisy after the quite location of the transmitter station, and certainly more hot and humid than the fresh breezy air of the peak. We then went to a restaurant for our lunch being joined by other friends, making us 13 at a table in China. One knocked over a cup of tea and another spilled sauce from a vegetable dish, but we still enjoyed our lunch !
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