Guangxi is the perfect province for transitioning from the western world to The Middle Kingdom. I was living in the United States when I decided to pack up and move to China to become an English teacher. I was both nervous and excited to embark on my journey to the other side of the world. I was heading to Yangshuo for a teaching orientation with other westerners. My plane landed in Guilin well after midnight. A bus picked me up to deliver me to Yangshuo. The roads were darker than I’ve ever seen as we made the hour long drive through the countryside. The thing that sticks out most in my memory is every five minutes or so, we would pass a home or shop that was dimly lit by firelight. Each of these places would have a group of people sitting around the light talking and drinking. This is the moment I realized the communal aspect of Guangxi is a very important trait of the province.

We arrived in Yangshuo and the rain was pouring down. It was around 2:00 AM at this point. The van pulled up to where I would be staying and a group of young people came out smiling to welcome me to their city, at such a late hour! After being so nervous being in a new country for the first time, I will never forget the warmth of the local people I felt late that night.

The next morning, I was up by 7:00 to go meet up with the other westerners for breakfast. I’m not sure if I slept at all that night. For as tired as I was, my body was still on American time. When I dragged myself downstairs and stepped foot out of the hostel, I didn’t think about being tired. What I experienced was nothing short of overwhelming. I wasn’t out the door five seconds when I heard the POP! POP! of fireworks going off in the alley next to me. As this was going on, I saw some children chasing a few chickens around in the street with the biggest smiles on their faces. To this day, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such pure and unfiltered joy through an expression. All of this coming from such a simple activity tugged at my heart strings.

I had a short walk from my hostel to the school but I saw and heard so much along the way. Elderly ladies were selling vegetables on the street smiling and speaking Chinese presumably trying to persuade me to buy their peppers and tomatoes. Cars were passing by honking their horns. More children were playing at what seemed like every corner. On the final stretch to the school, the view I had was something out of a dream. This was my first clear view of the famous karst landscapes I had read so much about before coming to Yangshuo. The sun was rising and it turned the mountains a gorgeous pinkish orange color. The light glistened off of the streets and buildings providing for a pristine sight. I had to stop and stare in the middle of the road to take it all in. The air was fresh and the landscape was incredible. This experience was one of the many reasons I wanted to come to China.

Although my week in Yangshuo mainly consisted of training at the school, the beauty and community of Guangxi still shone through in the background. Local people extended many invitations to activities throughout the week. Some included going kayaking along the beautiful Li River, celebrating a teacher’s 80th birthday, and climbing the Moon Hill. However, the event that resonated with me the most was going to the secret beach.

One morning, at the end of our orientation, a Chinese boy working at the school invited a handful of us to go to a place only the locals knew about. He said to wear clothes we could get dirty and we would leave within the hour. I threw on some shorts and a tee-shirt and proceeded to renting a bicycle. It was only 15 RMB for the whole day. We met up outside the school and he told us to follow him. We weaved in and out of the streets through town before going down West Street where all the restaurants and shops are. At the end of the street, there is a market area along the river that seems to stretch on forever. We rode to the end of this until it turned into a paved walking street surrounded by Guangxi’s natural beauty. Many trees and plants blanketed my peripheral vision creating a lush green color. Before I knew it, our leader was leaving the paved path to a small dirt trail that looked like it was used for farming. We followed this more slowly. We passed by many farmers doing work and eventually reaching a lovely little village. I figured the village would be the end of the line but our leader kept riding. I was a little out of shape at the time and felt my riding was becoming more and more horse horse tiger tiger, so I hoped we would arrive soon enough. The next thing I knew, we went through a patch of green trees and on the other side was a miraculous looking beach. I couldn’t believe the view. There were already around twenty Chinese people out there eating, drinking, and swimming. Sure enough, before we were even settled, we had offers of drinks and photo taking opportunities with some of the locals. This once again reaffirmed the fantastic communal aspect of Guangxi. We stayed all afternoon. We swam with children in the river, racing across and back. The water was fresh, clean, and comfortable. We climbed the rocks on the other side and jumped off into the water. It was a beautiful, lazy day in this scenic spot that my words cannot do justice.

All in all, my first week in Guangxi was unique and memorable. It was a place and time I will never forget. It’s incredibly difficult to put it all in to words. It is truly a place that needs to be seen and experienced firsthand to really comprehend. The community, scenery, and people in Guangxi are unparalleled to any other place I’ve been in this world. In fact, it felt almost otherworldly to me. The unexpected twists and turns of my adventures in Guangxi were nothing short of phenomenal. Every person who appreciates the wonders of nature and people reaching out to share their town with you should visit this province, especially the city of Yangshuo.■

广西省是联系中国与西方国家的中间王国，当我还住在美国的时就决定要打包行李来中国教英语，我怀着既紧张又兴奋的心情开始了世界另一边的旅行；我和其他西方国家的人一起前往阳朔进行教学培训。我们的飞机在后半夜到达桂林，然后我们坐汽车去阳朔，穿过这个村子大概要一个小时的车程，这里的路比我见过的要深些暗一些，让我记忆最深的是我发现大概每隔五分钟左右,我们都会经过一些灯光昏暗居民房或者商店,并且每一处都会有一群人坐在那里讲话和喝酒，就此刻我意识到这是广西居民们的一种重要的生活状态。

大约凌晨2点我们到达阳朔，此时天空大雨倾盆，车开到了我住的地方，没有想到这么晚了，还有一群面带微笑的年轻人欢迎我的到来，我有点紧张，这是我第一次来到一个陌生的国家，同时我也会记住那晚他们热情的欢迎 。

第二天早上7：00我起床和其他西方人吃早餐,也许是我太累了并且还没有适应时差,我觉得很累，当我拖着身子踏出房间不到五秒就听到我旁边胡同劈里啪啦得放着烟花,我就不觉的很累了,这是怎么回事呢！我看见一些孩子追着几只鸡在大街上哈哈大笑,这天我感受到了一种很单纯很淳朴的快乐,但却是这样简单的笑声打动了我的心弦。

从我的宿舍到学校要走一段路，一路上很热闹，汽车的喇叭声、孩子们在角落嬉戏声，还有卖菜老太太们面带微笑用中文和我讲话，我想大概是想说服我买她们的辣椒和西红柿，直到快要走到学校了我还觉得像做梦一般。在来阳朔之前我了解了一些关于阳朔的山，这是我第一次看到著名的喀斯特地貌风景，当太阳升起来时，山脉变成了橙红色和粉红颜色的山脉，光闪闪的街道和建筑物相互交错，像跳动的音符，我不由自主的停下来望着眼前的这一切，美丽的风景、新鲜的空气，多么的让人难以相信，这种经历也是我想来到中国的原因。

我在阳朔的培训主要是教学方面的，除了美丽的风景和人物景观以外，当地人也开展了许多的活动，比如沿美丽的漓江划独木舟，庆祝教师的80岁生日，爬月亮山等等，在这其中让我最心动的是“神秘海滩”……

一天早上，在我们培训的学校，一个在学校工作的中国男孩邀请我们去一个只有当地人知道的地方，然后叫我们换了些轻便的衣服，一个小时后离开。

我换了短裤和短衣,租了一辆自行车，只要15块可以骑一天！我们在学校门口集合，他告诉我们跟着他走，在离开西餐厅和商店之前我们进进出口的穿过很多街道，在街道的尽头有一个沿河的交易场所，很长很长仿佛走不到尽头，很多的树木和植物围绕着我们给我们带来了很好的绿色视觉，铺平的道路上有些小土丘，看起来好像是用于农业耕作的，许多农民在田野耕作。

最后我们到达一个小村庄，我以为这是我们的目的地，但我们的向导叫我们继续，我当时很累，我发现自己车技越来越马马虎虎，我们穿过一片树林，我不敢相信另一边竟然会是一片海滩，而且已经有20几个中国人在海滩上聊天、吃东西、和饮料、游泳，我们到达海滩后，当地人为我们提供了一些饮料，我们拍了一些照片，我们在那里呆了一个下午，我们在水中游泳，在沙滩上跑来跑去，我们爬到另一个岩石顶上往水中跳，水是新鲜干净舒服的，这是非常放松愉快的一天，我无法用语言来描述这个美丽的风景名胜。

总之，我在阳朔的这一周是独特而我令人难忘的，我将永远不会忘记这时刻和这个地方，要我用所有的语音来表达美丽的阳朔是很困难的，它需要你亲眼看到、亲身经历才会真正的理解,这里的房子、优美的风景是世界上许多的地方都没有办法相媲美的，我在阳朔遇到的一些小插曲和小冒险都很有意义，如果你喜欢自然 ,喜欢小镇你应该来广西，那里人很好客,很热情，很淳朴，尤其是美丽的阳朔。□