Last Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in our travel agency’s annual outing to Silver Cave/ Yinzi Cave at Lipu County, Guilin. It is a great place with extraordinary sightseeings and I had a happy and special weekend. The theme of the trip was reaping sweet potatoes on the local farmland after which we had nice lunch, baked sweet potatoes, and took photos around the Silver Cave.
Except the annual party in the end of the year, this outing was the biggest gathering of the company. With more than 50 persons from different departments participating, we started off from the office building and arrived after two hours’ driving.
It was a beautiful sunny day, which was exactly what I was expecting. Sunshine, happiness of harvesting sweet potatoes in groups, excitement and laughter of group competition, and fresh air and farmland scenes - a perfect Saturday morning ended in fruits sharing of labour.
The Silver Cave is inside the mountain.
I was in Group Green and our group leader was a six-year-old boy who greatly impressed us. He’s the son of a tour guide in the company. I can still remember that day he was in charge of the potatoes carriage. Different from other kids, he did not play games but focused on team work. He did not stop delivering until we finished all the laboring. He’s really responsive and hardworking. We won the competition of reaping sweet potatoes under the guidance of the little leader.
Reap the sweet potatoes
Our gourp leader
After the sweet potatoes harvest, we went to the local restaurant to have farm-flavored lunch. It was not a big restaurant but with nice environment and solid service. The stewed chicken with local taros is a famous dish in Lipu County, and this restaurant cooked in a very traditional way, delicious and very impressive. All the food ingredients were planted or raised by the local people, which made all the vegetables crisp and fresh.
Stewed chicken with taros
Baking sweet potatoes required both skill and labor because we needed to bake in an extremely primitive way - make a kiln and bake them with firewood. The location was in the chestnut woods, so it was like hiking and adventure when we were collecting firewoods and digging kilns. With about 30 minutes’ work, we made a great success and had a grand feast of baked sweet potatoes and chestnuts.
Kiln and Baking
It’s already 15:00 when we finished the backing. The the last activity was sightseeing around the Silver Cave and the ancient town. We did not go into the cave this time and just took a visit to the ancient town. The Silver Cave is a fantastic place. It is the biggest cave in Guilin as well as a 4-star national scenic spot.
We drove back to Guilin at 16:20 and arrived at about 18:00. It was a short journey, but I had a lot of fun. Happy time always passes quickly but leaves us unforgettable memories. All in all, I appreciate this outing opportunity for the wonderful weekend it brought to me.
Ancient Architecture
Group Green
Old House
