This past
weekend InternChina, the organization with who I came to China with, organized a
trip to beautiful Yang Shuo (Guilin). I’ve heard a lot of great things about
this place and I was really excited to there.
Unfortunately,
the travel agency canceled the trip due to heavy rain in the area. Instead,
InternChina planned a trip to one of Zhuhai’s many islands – Wai Ling Ding
Island. As the water of the sea in Zhuhai is brown and probably poisoned due to
the chemicals from the factories around, the islands are a good alternative
with nice and clean water.
Wai Ling
Ding is an island south of Hong Kong and a popular vacation spot. The boat ride
took about 1.5 hours, the sea was a little rough, and a lot of passengers had
to throw up. Luckily, I was sitting all the way in the back at the window, and
I just slept the entire time. We were all happy to finally arrive.
Upon
arrival, we went to the beach to find the camping area. Most of the people from
the group decided to camp at the beach, only me and 3 other people preferred
the hotel. I was already covered by mosquito bites and not eager to get more,
and the provided camping equipment was limited to a tent and a very light
mattress (can’t even be called a mattress). The hotel was located close to the
beach and was an average one or two-star hotel. We didn’t spend much time in
the room, so it served its purpose.
Wai Ling
Ding looks like one of those small fisher villages with many fishing boats and
a small center. Unlike in other Chinese cities, on this island everything was
in walking distance. The beaches seemed to be man-made, because the coast line
is covered by those beautiful orange/yellow stones. All in all, the scenery is
beautiful.
After
setting up the tents and doing the check-in at the hotel, we all had lunch
together at one of the typical Chinese restaurants in the center. The weather
changed completely in the afternoon. All the clouds were gone, and it was sunny
and hot. We went to the beach where the tents were set up, and played
volleyball, went swimming and relaxed in the sun or in the shade. When I was
about to leave the water, I saw two big jellyfish. They were about 10-15
centimeters long, so I didn’t go back into the water again.
Instead, I
bought a fruit juice and a delicious Hong Kong waffle for a snack. I wanted
pineapple with mango but the guy at the stand told me that this isn’t a good
mix, because both fruits have a strong taste. I ended up getting a mango and
lemon juice. It was really refreshing.
In the
evening, we walked around the island to find a nice spot to watch the sunset.
We found the perfect spot but the sunset wasn’t as incredible as we hoped for,
because there were some clouds. Then, we headed back to the beach and had
dinner at one of the barbecue street food places, directly at the beach.
After a
nice shower, at least for the ones that had a hotel room, we stayed at the
beach around a bonfire and had some beers.
The plan
for the next morning was to get up, have breakfast, walk around the village,
and then get on the boat back to Zhuhai. It started out how we planned it, I
enjoyed one of those amazing Hong Kong waffles with a mango/papaya juice. But
when we were heading to the port, we got told that there were no tickets
available anymore for that ferry, although we booked them through an agency. We
still had 2 hours until our ferry took off.
Most people
weren’t happy about the delay, because everyone was tired and not prepared for
another beach day. Some of us walked around the island, others grabbed lunch or
went to the beach. Eventually, our boat arrived, and the sea wasn’t as rough as
when we came to the island, so people felt much better. I basically slept during
the entire journey again. J
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