Six weeks ago we visited the China Visa Application Office in Manchester for a routine visa appointment. Multiple hours later we realised China wasn’t going to be the easiest or cheapest place to visit on Our Big Family Adventure. If you are applying for a visa there are a few things to note…

• Your given name is David Alexander. Alexander is not your middle name even if there is an input for middle name in the application. Subsequently trying to amend an online form is challenging when presented with a misaligned security puzzle captcha, indeed it took about 200 attempts for each application before I could successfully edit the documents and reprint.
• The very handy postal delivery service which requires the applicant to provide a prepaid registered envelope comes with an additional £25/application charge. For 5 visas, £125 for a trip to the postbox when I’ve already paid for the postage is on the steep side. This is on top of the almost £800 already shelled out for the visas…my mistake at only clocking the postage surcharge as the total cost for the visa.
• Despite submitting an electronic copy and the application FAQs stating no need for a passport photo, the applicant is wrong…“why haven’t you brought a photo?!” Please pay more money and print photos, which we’ll never look at again.

But here we are in China, twelve years after last visiting on our honeymoon, and we’re back this time with 3 kids. After a short 2 hour flight to Guilin from Taipei, I can almost say I had forgotten the pain of visa applications, and was now looking forward to discovering more of China.

Where Taiwan ran like clockwork and arguably had given us a false sense of travel security, China has taught us plans change. We’ve only been here a week, but the following bookings have been altered:

• Flights have changed, our direct departure flight now has a 7+ hours layover in Kunming airport. Luckily it is at the end of our trip to China, otherwise I can imagine the Chinese authorities would probably be looking for ways to deport our kids after 7 hours of maximum volume in an airport.
• Upon arrival in Longji our well-researched-and-booked-in-advance hotel with a pool and perfect views out across the rice terraces informed us they have no record of our booking. An interesting statement when they were able to confirm exactly what room we had booked, but no worries we can stay in their ugly stepsister of a hotel instead. Needless to say the Booking.com review for that experience isn’t going to be glowing!
• Our hotel in Dali emailed to advise our upcoming lake view room now has the view of a wall as their neighbour has built an extension. Doesn’t sound quite so appealing anymore.
• And finally, my fault…the (dis)advantage of mistyping my passport number on a train reservation in China is a separate booking and very likely 5 hours sat elsewhere on the train away from the family! Sorry Jennie!

In Guilin we opted for the aptly named Travel Light hotel, which is likely to rival anywhere we stay for cheapest accommodation of the year at €20/night! For this princely sum we even got our first separate rooms for the kids on this trip. While Guilin has attractions to offer (more about these later), the principle reason for the trip was to visit Longji Rice Terraces and later the avatar like landscape on the Li River.

Longji Rice Terraces

First up was Longji, a two hour drive north of Guilin. Before leaving we left all but 1 case in Guilin at the hotel, and genuinely travelled light for 36 hours. The Rice Terraces were carved into the steep hillsides centuries ago, making for an eventful drive (luckily I wasn’t driving) and memorable views. Longji consists of 2 main rice terraces in Ping’An and Dazhai. We stayed in the latter. Mid October felt like a perfect time to visit, with the rice harvest days away and the fields all golden, a few days later and we would have been looking at a miles of muddy terraces. We chose Dazhai as we had heard the Jinkeng terraces were arguably more spectacular and quieter on account of them being further from the entrance so fewer tourist coaches visit. Like most of China, where nature and history has created awe inspiring sights, the Chinese come in their droves and development quickly follows. Everywhere we looked there were tour buses of Chinese tourists, half completed construction of concrete monstrosities and people trying to sell you a bargain. 

In total we were in Longji for 24 hours, this was more than enough time to experience the area. During our time we had an eventful off-road 4×4 drive to our substitute hotel (the roads to the smaller villages are terrible once you get to Dazhai), we climbed and climbed steps to view the terraces, and the kids enjoyed running through the terraces (not on the rice crops) in particular Rory who found it hilarious to hold hands so he could throw himself off the terraces – he often forgets I dislocated his elbow just putting on an armband in an Abu Dhabi swimming pool. 

Making the most of our time in Guilin city

Although we were staying in Guilin for 2 nights, the city never really surfaced in our consciousness until we arrived, instead we aimed for the more high profile neighbours. But we enjoyed our time in the city. We spent an afternoon taking the kids around Reed Flute Cave, and an evening tiring the kids as we pounded the streets in search of local delicacies in the old town, trying to find an unobscured view of Elephant Trunk Hill (it’s not possible without paying) and avoiding the hordes of people to get a look at the Sun and Moon pagodas. 

Exploring Yangshuo, Xingping and the Yulong River

After 3 nights in China, and 3 weeks into our trip we were ready to take the plunge…we ditched the taxis, we ditched the private driver and we took the bus to get to Yangshuo. We had debated taking the Li River cruise, but opted for financial prudence after recognising we would be spending the next 3 days staying by the river and would be soaking up the limestone karst landscape.

From Travel Light and our accommodation issues in Longji, we were super happy to be staying at the fabulous Tea Cosy Hotel. The location was out of town (which is a big plus as we disliked Yangshuo – think UK seaside town and neon lights), the kids had a separate bedroom, plus access to a swimming pool and the food was delicious. We hired bikes from the hotel, and spent one day in the saddle criss-crossing and exploring the banks of the Yulong River. The Yulong River like the Li River is surrounded by hundreds of oddly shaped limestone karst mounds several hundred meters high, it made for an incredibly picturesque ride. At times we were cycling through fields and down single track roads without a person in sight…definitely a change from the hordes of people in Guilin and Yangshuo. Throughout our planning we had envisaged taking a bamboo raft down the river, however, decided to skip after seeing the convoy of rafts drifting down the river and realising we would have to split across 3 rafts as they wouldn’t allow a child to sit on our laps. Leaving Rory on a raft by himself was going to be a recipe for disaster. 

Where Yangshuo has been taken over by commercialisation and neon signs, 30km further north (and another bus ride I might add), Xingping proved to be more of the authentic Guilin experience we were expecting. The level of development in the town is similarly crazy, so give it 3-5 more years and it will have lost its charm. Our day trip was a sightseeing bonanza consisting of…

• A hike up the 1100+ steps to the top of Laozhai Mountain, a karst mountain overlooking a bend in the Li River. It is only a 30 minute walk up the mountain, but it was a challenge. The heat and distance were fine, however, with 3 kids the steep slippery steps (particularly on the descent) were tough and the minimal railings caused a few heart palpitations. As for the views, they are incredible, and I can imagine the sunset if you are prepared to clamber beyond the railings is incomparable.
• Walking around the town and grabbing food from the local street vendors. Sweet potato pancakes were a particular favourite from Xingping.
• Without Google Maps navigating is tough, particularly as Apple Maps is limited. However, using my best Chinese, I held up a 20 Yuan note at Locals and pointed in different directions. 30 minutes later we were a little out of town standing at the spot where the illustration on the back of the note was captured. 

Chased by the Chinese paparazzi! 

Finally, it would be remiss not to talk about one repeated experience in our first week in China…the Paparazzi love blonde kids! We prepared the children for having their photo taken, but in Taiwan it didn’t really materialise. The Chinese are making up for any missed shots.There are probably better Price Family photos across Chinese social networks than anything you see in these posts. Jennie and I are left wondering why do our kids never pull funny faces when complete strangers take a photo or video, but if we want a nice family shot it takes unrivalled levels of bribery? “Rory / Elsie you can watch 3 episodes of Paw Patrol if you look at the camera!” With only a hint exaggeration, at times there were probably more people taking photos than the media scrum outside the Kardashian’s house every morning.

Onwards to Kunming, the starting point for discovering Yunnan.