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| Louise & Ian on their balcony |
I have decided that the Li River Retreat is my favourite hotel so far. Its not as chic as the Shadow Art in Beijing or the Zen Buddha in Chengdu, but it has character. Being outside of town, its a very peaceful setting and the views are awe inspiring. I feel a long way from home, and that's what I like.
This morning we are booked up to attend Yangshua cookery school, but we are first taken to the local food market, and I see a colourful array of vegetables and herbs, many of which I can't even recognise. A sweet young girl, who is our teacher/chef for the day, happily answers all our questions. Then we drive 5 minutes or so outside of the town to a ramshackle farm with outbuildings that house the authentic cooking facilities. he activity is very well organised and I learn a lot of good tips e.g. 'no smoking, no cooking', which means that the wok must be smoking hot before the oil is added and the cooking begins. We all successfully turn out 5 dishes that we eagerly tuck into at the end of our lesson and taste scrumptious: egg wrapped dumplings, stir fried pork with vegetables, steamed chicken with mushrooms and goji berries, greens with garlic and aubergines Yangshua style. I really hope that I can reproduce the dishes back home.
Sadly the evening activity of cormorant fishing is cancelled at the last minute - something to do with health & safety - but as this is the first thing in our itinerary that hasn't worked out, I think that's pretty good going. Instead we do a bit of souvenir/present shopping in West Street and I buy baby Smith a sort of mobile decoration in the Ethnic minorities shop - I hope Shelley likes it. Then we people watch from the balcony of a restaurant.
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| Sorry, I cant remember what that is! |
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| eeek, I have to demonstrate to the class |
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| Looks professional to me |
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| Downtown Yangshuo at night |
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