One of our pre-existing idyllic scenes of rural China is glistening golden rice paddies. We spent a day outside of Guilin strolling through a rural farm town. We arrived at the very end of the season, so most of the crops were dead, but it was still beautiful. We took a rickety old gondola from the base of the hill to the top of the mountain, which might rank among the top 10 most dangerous activities during our travels.