Green Mountain, Nanning

Today we took a nice drive up to Green Mountain, where we saw lush
forests, dinosaurs, and panoramic views of the city and river.

The first part of the park was a tribute to the 12 animals of the
Chinese zodiac. Jacob is a goat. Susan and I are snakes. Couldn't
someone be a lamb? Our guide Cindy says people like to come here for
exercise because all the trees make the mountain like a natural oxygen
bar for city dwellers.

The next part of the park housed the oldest tree in Guangxi, at least
1350 years old. The Cycas trees here are prehistoric in origin so they
have dinosaur statues around as a reminder. Oh, and dinosaurs are
cool. Really cool.

Next we went up to the top of a large tower and took pictures of the
city. There were 8 levels and 1350 stairs, one for each year old that
tree is. Okay, so maybe there were more stairs than that but, suffice
it to say, it was better than a treadmill test. At the top there was
an elderly man playing music, who explained that he planted the 1350
year old tree when he was in his mid 40's (that's really how they know
how old it is).

Afterward, we headed down the mountain to a lake where we had some
water, cooled off, and again rented a boat and fed some fish. Then we
headed off to lunch with Cindy. We had some shredded sour potatoes,
spicy pickled carrots/peppers/apples, a pot of boiling meat, bok choy
soup, chicken, dates, beef with green beans (delicious), and a special
tea made from the powder of a local dried fruit (also amazing).

Now we are back for a rest. Tomorrow around 5:30 pm, Jacob's passport
should be ready and we will leave around 8 pm for Guangzhou (only a 50
minute flight so hopefully Jacob will be fine). We will try to update
the blog between now and our arrival in Guangzhou.