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          Yangsuo, Jan. 27, 2000
Two days ago I left Hong Kong, before that I camped in Macao for a short while. Hong Kong is very different from the cities on the Chinese mainland, a lot of things are inherited from the British colonial past, like the 1904 tram cars, the double deck buses and the way governmental organisations work. Many people do not know the S.A.R. (special administrative region) is quite large and consists for the mayor part of unspoilt nature where one can make endless walks and even go camping. There is hardly any agriculture in Macao and Hong Kong, but there is some fishery. 

During the frequent sailings on ferries I enjoyed the view on the skyline of Hong Kong a lot. Macao doesn't have a skyline, the city largely consists of blackened tower blocks, all of the same height. Besides, a trip on one of the ferries is spectacular in its own right, the jetfoils and catamarans sail at enormous speeds.
 
I am now in the part Guangxi province that is famous for its alien landscape, depicted thousands of times on ancient Chinese paintings. My parents have got a reproduction on the wall of a picture by an early Chinese master. Limestone pillars rise from the earth covered by spiky bushes and strange conifers. In the eternal Chinese mist, distant mountains fade into overlapping sinuses. Close by, goats hop, skip and stumble on the vertical cliffs after I scared them away from a field of young, fresh cabbage leaves. Under dried-up caves age-old stalagmites droop from the rock face. I am caught up in a tough bush with barbed hooks. Below, a farmer's wife is ploughing her land.
 
text by Thijlbert Duvekot, 2000
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