A hotel in Guilin at 2.30 AM,
South China

by Peter
(Holland/Malaysia)

I was on my way to visit friends in Yangshuo, a small but beautiful town in south China, (around 800 north west from Hong Kong). The train from Kunming had dropped me in Guilin at 3 AM. Trust me, it's not the best time to find a place to sleep. And at the time, it was still in the mid 90's, many cheaper hotels were not allowed to even have foreign guests. Only the 4 and 5 stars sometimes had a license.

Many hotels were also state owned and extremely unfriendly. I remember a hotel in Lanzhou which was obviously empty but the staff didn't want to give me a room, despite having a license - but they allowed me to stay in the meeting room! This was China before the opening.

It was cold, bitterly cold in Guilin at 2.30 AM. No wonder, it was mid March and full winter season. Sometimes this part of China has nice moderate temperatures at day time but that changes at night when it drops easily to zero C.

Guilin

Waiting outside for a bus to Yangshuo was not an option. A taxi? Where? No taxis around at the time, of course and besides, Yangshuo is still 66 km south of Guilin.

I left the railway station to look for a place. Just after 50 meters on the Guilin main street I found a place which was open. I walked in. The staff looked partly puzzled and partly scared. "No no, we don't have room, please leave NOW!". But now I was inside the lobby and tired after the 22 hours train ride. I was certainly not in the mood for leaving.

Guilin is a big city although to Chinese standards it's small with about 3 million people at the time. The staff spoke little English and my Chinese was of course (and especially for the moment) not existent.

Finally a manager showed up. "What do you want?", he asked. It was a nice guy. "We can not let you stay here, we don't have the license, you have to go.", he said. Now that was not an option. However, there was a sofa in the window.


I packed my bag and sat on the sofa. "I'll stay here, leave with the first bus", I said. Then I took my (smelly) boots off and lied down. The idea was simple: push the staff to give me a room. But they really couldn't take the risk.

So apparently the manager made a few calls and came to me. I was lying on the sofa, in full sight of everyone who would potentially look in from the outside. (I knew this would give the hotel problems if the police would show up). The manager came with a scared face to me and said, please, follow me, I found a hotel who can take you. OK, fair enough. I put my boots on and followed him to a hotel a few blocks further.

The staff was very unfriendly, probably because they woke up from their paid overnight sleep but they gave me a room. I had a shower and fell almost immediately asleep. Did I get discount because I was late in? Of course not. But I had a room. And that counted.

Nowadays I try to be a bit earlier and direct in Yangshuo, and I prefer to stay with my friends William and Linda who run 2 hotels: the 7th Heaven and the beautiful Snow Lion Resort. THAT is a real treat for me.

I have been back in Guilin many times after that night. The hotel were I spend 10 minutes on the sofa is completely rebuild and it has no more sofa in the window. I am sure the manager still remembers that crazy white man who wanted to sleep on the sofa in the hotel window.