East is West and West is East

Today, in my mad dash to see the region, I took a bus tour to Yangshuo and the Li River to see the famed karst and pastoral landscapes. It is land of a thousand limestone karsts and fuel for the imagination. The truly picturesque scenery demands a much longer stay and a professional camera. Alas, my stay is brief and camera only sufficient... add to that that winter is not the best time to visit this region. But despite the chilly weather, it was very enjoyable; though, numerous times I desperately wanted the bus to stop during the road as we passed countless pastoral scenes worthy of a thousand pictures.

Beautiful river landscape ... to bad the weather was not all that permitting.

How many poets and painters has this scene inspired?

Upon returning to Guilin city (they call it a town in China, with 600,000 people it's considered small by Chinese standards) at night and walked the street near my hostel. It's thoroughly almost a clone of Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA. It's all about the brand names now in China; the younger generation is more afluent, chic, and want to show it accordingly. However, in a scene of utter contradiction... I found my self standing next to a buddhist monk in the middle of this street; only thing is, this monk was Belgian-American and lily white. I took the opportunity to chat with him, and after a while he invited me to dinner as well, joined by some of this Chinese friends. As we sat, he drew the curious eye of many passers-by who just stopped to gaze at this strange scene.

So there you have the modern world, the Chinese are busy trying to be more Western, but many in the west come to China and Asia seeking something that the West can't offer. A South-African man in Hoi An said that it was the "soul" that he came to find and love in Asia most. There is only so much that the capitalist-materialistic world can offer. It's evident that we only seek to find what we don't have.

Better have the cash.