Reed Flute Cave and Guilin Pearl Market

Our first stop after lunch was Reed Flute Cave, so named because of limestone formations that resemble the reeds used to make wooden flutes. This cavern exhibit is much like any of the ones we’ve visited in the U.S., including Luray Caverns in Virginia and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, with the exception that it’s impossible to enter the caverns without running the gauntlet they call a souvenir shop. The women in this shop are particularly stubborn and the normal wave off and pretend-they-don’t-exist tactics failed to keep them at bay. Jerri had left her fan at the hotel, so she stopped to look at some of the ones on display in the shop. Big mistake. They were on her like vultures, hounding her constantly, trying to put a fan in her hand. Our guide reminded me that if we just walk away we’ll get a better price, so I called Jerri over towards the exit. They’d started at 80 yuan (about $13…way too much) and had dropped to 60 by the time she got to me. Soon she was down to 50 and I held out 40 so she could clearly see it. She said, “10 more” and I told her no, holding up four fingers to indicate I was only offering the 40. She took it. I win again. I’m definitely going car shopping when I get home. :-)

Wendy led us through the caverns, explaining the characters and stories as we went, including the lions with their cubs at the entrance/exit, the story of the Monkey King and the Fish General, and the beautiful Crystal Palace with its reflecting pool.

Wendy, Amanda, Jerri, and Ally at Reed Flute Cave.

As I was looking through the pictures from Reed Flute Cave, one thing struck me about the picture of Wendy and the girls. Take a look and tell me Amanda’s facial features aren’t extremely similar to Wendy’s. Wendy is Han Chinese, who are the overwhelming majority ethnic group in China, accounting for over 85% of all Chinese people. Although we dont' really know that much about  Amanda's birth parents, it seems a safe bet, particularly in light of this picture, that they are Han Chinese.

Note that Ally is smiling in these pictures. Not bad
for a kid who hates to have her picture taken.

When we finished at Reed Flute Cave Wendy asked if we wanted to visit the pearl market on the way to the airport since we had a little extra time. As much as the girls have enjoyed shopping, I agreed to go. After about five minutes of “pearl education” we were ushered into the large showroom. There are three sections to the showroom, “good, better, and best.” Read that as reasonable, pricey, and oh-my-goodness-that’s-more-than-I-paid-for-my-car (literally).

Jerri located a pearl and silver necklace she liked and wasn’t sure if she wanted to spend the asking price. I had already asked Wendy if haggling was expected at a place as nice as this and she said yes, so I was ready to go. I offered the sales clerk half of the asking price and she flatly said, “No discount.” She was very polite about it, but slammed the door on me just the same. Ouch. It turns out that they are willing to bargain on the oh-my-goodness items, but not the normal-people items like the one we were interested in. She explained that they used to mark up everything and expected to haggle, but in the past few years had changed their policy to fixed pricing at a lower price. I could tell Jerri really liked the necklace, so I agreed to the full price, which was really not bad to begin with. Maybe the new car can wait until my haggling confidence is up again.

More Reed Flute Cave pictures...



Crystal Palace with reflecting pool. Look ma, no tripod. I love my camera.




Colored lights add to the effect.