From Guilin we travelled along the Li River to Yangshou and each turn of the river revealed another range of mountains and their reflections. Life on the river was very busy with bamboo rafts powered by primitive outboard motors ferrying locals and travellers, water buffaloes swimming, locals selling produce from their boats.

Yangshou, for some was a shopping paradise, others will recall the visit to an ethnic minority village by electric ‘minibus’. The village was alongside a fast flowing river with high mountain peaks surrounding the valley. We watched the bamboo rafts used for trips across the rapids being manoeuvred, young people diving into the water and others bathing and shampooing their hair. It was such a tranquil setting for such busy people.

That evening we saw a river and mountain spectacle designed by Zhang Yimou, the man who designed the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics. The setting is the river with many mountain peaks in the background. Several hundred locals are employed to put on this display of colour, lighting, music and movement. The story might have escaped us but the visual impact of ‘Impression: la Sanjie’ was remarkable, four acts in yellow, red, blue and silver, masses of people moving, it seemed to be across the water.

We then travelled to see the large De Tian waterfall on the China/Vietnam border. It seemed to rain all day as we were on the edge of a typhoon. The waterfall was wide rather than high and we walked through the rain to get a closer view of it.

Our final night in China was at Ping Xiang where it continued to rain. The next morning we practiced Tai Chi in the hotel lobby because overnight the flood waters had breached the bank of the nearby river and the surrounding streets were under water. Our breakfast was delayed because the hotel kitchen had been flooded. We drove through flooded streets to another hotel for breakfast and Dickson, our guide, thoughtfully provided coffee for us. The trip out of town was also delayed because of road blocks, water, land slips and delays with the Vietnamese guide (he’d been held up by land slips). We eventually set forth along the flooded main street, only to turn back when a truck coming towards us created a wave which washed over the bus. So, we returned to repack the bus with the entire luggage inside to keep it dry.