September 12, 2026

We did all our travel for this trip in China via high speed railway. We started in Hong Kong and traveled to Guilin in just over 3 hours. Then our longest leg, of 7 hours for Guilin to Zhangjiajie. Next was Zhangjiajie to Chongqing at 3.5 hours and finally Chongqing to Xi'An was around 5.5 hours. Some of the train stations were massive like Chongqing below and Xi'An. Signage was pretty good, with some English, so we could navigate well.

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We all did our reservations separately through Trip.com and therefore our seats were scattered through the many car trains - which could numbered between 1 to 15 depending on the popularity of that line. We would text each other our seat assignment once we were settled. Felt kinda like the Brady Bunch opening squares sequel.

Sometimes shenanigans was captured or a good dining car find came from Bob.

I decided to splurge for first class seating on the 2 longest legs, with the hopes of a good workspace to blog. The last leg to Xi'An was way nicer and fancier with snacks, then the longest leg to Zhangjiejie. Unfortunately, the Chinese men still make all kinds of rude and distusting noises in first class! So Gross! It's hard not to glare at them - they don't even notice you. And no one uses headphones; they put their calls on speaker and play their endless videos at whatever volume they can to drown out the one next to them!

Noise pollution is a real thing !! I craved quiet each and every day there.

LONGJI RICE TERRACES - 65 km from GUILIN, CHINA

By Pat Patrick • September 12, 2026
LONGJI RICE TERRACES were just a short drive from the Red Yao Village . We had originally planned to view the terraces from a cable car ride, but it was raining and too windy for that operation. The alternative was to take a shuttle bus about 1/2 way up the mountain and walk pathways along the terraces. I think we actually lucked out with this change, because the views were spectacular! The mist and rain added another element and since we were inside the terraces, we could really appreciate how they were painstakingly engineered!

New Baby Congratulations!

By Pat Patrick • September 12, 2026
The gang with our guide Jack , who we had for the 2 days of excursions from Guilin . Jack was very informative and a super nice guy. He was an expectant father while with us and told us how his family was preparing for the arrival of their new child. They have a 6 year old boy now who Jack says can destroy a room in the house in minutes. He was hoping for a daughter! His wife delivered their 2nd son, the week after we toured with Jack. Best of Luck and Congratulations!

GUILIN, CHINA - RED YAO LONG HAIRED WOMAN

By Pat Patrick • September 10, 2026
The women in the Huangluo Village of Guangxi, China are famed and record holders in the Guiness World Records as the Long Hair Village. They grow their hair up to 2.1 meters or 6.8 feet and cut it only once in their lives, at age 17 or 18 when they have a "coming of age" ceramony. We visited the village and went to a performance where they showed us their history and customs.