Seductive Landscapes
Shangri-La Hotel, Guilin
As our boat sashayed down the winding Li River, I gazed across the mirrored surface of the water as it reflected the incredibly beautiful mountains like elaborate jadestone jewellery made for a goddess. Like the poets and painters before us, who had flocked to this dreamy seductive landscape, the river captivated us with its enchanting, almost haunting beauty. In between the mountains, water buffalos patrolled the vast expanse of land and fishermen floated nostalgically past rice paddy fields on charming bamboo rafts.
The river sparkled fervently in dusk’s magical light, bidding us farewell for the day as we stepped into the hotel lobby. A woman dressed in boldly coloured traditional Miao costume greeted us at the door with a smile that lit up the entire room; and whilst it had taken us days to travel here from the other side of the world, in the instance of her smile, the days suddenly felt like minutes.
The treatment room was called “Mountain” and it must have been given its name from the remarkably peaceful aura that could be felt the moment one had stepped inside. Even the air in the room smelled different; irrefutably sweeter, like fresh mountain air that had never, not even remotely, been subjected to civilisation.
With this elixir-like air filling my lungs, I began to feel a calmness take over my mind and my thoughts drifted to the soothing warmth of the hot basalt stones that had been placed along my spine. The stones were immensely pacifying with their satin smooth surface, and radiated a rather intense heat of which I did not mind at all — for this healing heat had found its way deep inside my body, relaxing me to my core, and allowing my energy to flow as freely as the wind that circled the ethereal mountains outside.
Inside our room, the air was rife with familial warmth enveloping us like a mother’s embrace and making us feel incredibly warm and safe. On the wall behind the bed, a mesmerising mural of jagged mountain ranges and rippling rivers echoed the view outside perfectly. For outside, in the distance, dramatic karst mountains stood majestically on the Earth's surface, exuding an immense pride, and rightfully so — taking no less than several million years to perfect, each mountain was a different shape and size, and together, they filled the land like teeth in the jaws of a giant. Indeed, they were Mother Nature’s masterpieces.
Deeply relaxed, we lay back on the plush lounges by our room window and drifted in and out of sleep, all the while listening to the gentle rumbling of the mountains murmuring tales of emperors and empresses, and dragons and dynasties, and filling our heads with mystery and our hearts with happiness.
The lively Li Café shimmied with the mouthwatering aromas of tandoori and teppanyaki favourites, made especially flavourful by delightfully fresh herbs and vegetables plucked straight from the chefs’ garden outside. Almost edible wafts of fragrant mint, pungent basil and plump ripe tomatoes swirled through the air, whetting our appetites and preparing us for the first course of the night: Guilin rice noodles, the city’s signature dish made of a deliciously hearty soup drizzled with pork, peanuts and pickled vegetables.
The next night, we looked out at the limpid waters of the river again glistening majestically under a canopy of glittering stars and a perfectly crescent shaped moon. Whilst outside, the mood was cool and mysterious, inside, the air was warm with a welcome that was palpable. Even the waiter, who had brought us our all time Cantonese favourite, crispy pork belly, possessed a most gracious disposition, making us feel like we were very important guests at this most sensuous Shang Palace.
