桂林／Guilin

一直都有听说桂林是个漂亮的地方，刚踏出火车站时，完全没有这样的感觉。或许是因为从昆明到桂林坐了18个小时的火车，而心情受到影响吧。后来到处走走，才发现桂林确实是有它的美。
It has been said that Guilin is a lovely city, yet I had no such feelings when I stepped out of the train station. I guessed 18 hours on the train has more or less affected my level of appreciation for the place. Yet, after taking a walk through the city, I can't help but notice there is something captivating about the city.先到桂林的市中心晃一晃。虽然没有昆明那么大，但桂林也算是个繁华的都市。与其他都市一样，桂林的市中心有一条人行步道，给我的第一感觉是，和台北的西门町很相似，尤其是在看到它与西门町一样，在购物区的正中央搭起了大舞台。不过西门町比桂林的步行街热闹，商店也更多样化，更新潮。

First up, is a trip to the heart of Guilin. Although Guilin is not as big as Kunming, it is nonetheless a bustling city. Similar to the other big cities, Guilin has a main shopping street which is in fact a pedestrain walkway. The moment I stepped into the shopping district, it strikes me as very similar to the Orchard Road of Taipei, aka Hsimending, especially with a stage right smack in the middle of it. However Guilin's main shopping street has less shops and surprises compared to Hsimending.

到了晚上，其中一条主要街道就变成了一个很大、很长的夜市，卖的都是一些针对游客的东西，像首饰啦、土产啦等。

At night, one of the main streets will be transformed into a huge night market. As with most night markets, you will find lots of wares targetted at tourists, eg. accessories, clothes and local products. 夜晚的桂林也有它美丽的地方。像是湖都被照亮，玻璃桥上有人在唱京剧，日月双塔也非常漂亮。

Guilin is equally beautiful at night. The lake is all lit up, you can see opera performances in glass bridge and the moon and sun towers are great for pictures.也发现了一些有趣的东西，如这家专门卖西藏产品的店，还有中国到处都可见的《卖男孩的小火柴》店，以及可爱的告示牌。

There are other interesting things to be seen, like this Tibetan shop, the shop named "The little matchsticks selling boys" and also cute signboards like the one below, which uses poetic terms to tell people not to step on the grass.

桂林有很多“园”，千挑万挑，最后决定去最方便，最出名的七星园。老天不作美，一直下着毛毛细雨，结果拍出来的照片看起来都蒙蒙的。不过，这个地方还是廷美的，看得出为什么是桂林顶尖旅游景点之一。

Guilin is famous for having many beautiful gardens and parks. After much deliberation, I decided to check out one of the more famous one, the Seven Stars Park. It was definitely not a good day for a walkabout at the drizzle that started in the morning did not seem to be abating anytime, resulting in everything seeming to be covered in mist. But I can see why this place is one of the top rated tourist destination in Guilin.

从七星园内的小山上，可以眺望整个桂林。

From the hilltop within Seven Stars Park, you can see the whole of Guilin.七星园内一个非去不可的地方就是这个号称“第一洞天”的“七星岩”岩石洞。这个洞很大，里面的岩石都很漂亮，让你忍不住惊叹大自然的奥妙。

The number one must-see place in this park is the limestone cave. This is a really big cave with many beautifully formed stalactites, which leaves one amazed at the work of nature. 在离开桂林前，有幸看到一个非常漂亮的日落，让我对这个原本第一印象不怎么好的城市留下美好的回忆。　　～伟

Just before leaving Guilin for the next destination, I managed to catch a very beautiful sunset, leaving me more impressed by the city than when I arrived on the first day.　　～wei

助人为快乐之本／Lend a helping hand

当初朋友听说我要到绿春去探望我的中学老师，很多人都好奇，怎么会有新加坡人跑到那么偏僻的地方去？其实是他们在这里开了一家公司来帮助当地的穷人。

When I first mentioned that I will be heading to Lv Chun to visit my secondary school teacher, everybody was curious as to why a Singaporean will want to be living in a place that most people have not even heard of. Actually, my teacher and her husband and friends have been doing very meaningful work here in the past few years. Most recently, they have set up a company to help the poor.

绿春人虽然以耕田为生，但因为天气的关系，他们种的稻米一年只能收割一次。收割太少，连自己吃都不够，怎么可能能够将稻米卖出去，赚取更多的钱呢？因此这里很多人都为了生活而苦恼。很多小孩更因为这样，而不得不放弃学业。

Although the people here farm, earning a honest living, but due to the climate, they are only able to harvest rice once a year. The wee bit of harvest is not even enough to feed them for the year, even more so, impossible for export. As such, most people can barely make a living and kids often have to give up schooling in order to cut down expenses for the family.

通过这家公司，老师和其他志同道合的人给当地人制造了就业机会。而所赚的钱除了用来支付员工的薪水外，还用来赞助当地的学生，让他们有机会继续升学。公司的宗旨是：持久生计；爱心扶贫，而他们就是秉着全面健康；活出丰盛，爱心建桥；再造生命的精神来经营这家公司。

By setting up this company, my teacher and friends were able to create job opportunities for the locals. The money generated by the company not only goes into the salaries of the workers, but will also be used in sponsoring local kids in their studies.

这家公司的产品全部都是亲手制作的哦！像目前他们在制作的就是2009年的年历。年历上有着各种动物的图案，而这些图案都是员工们一小张，一小张慢慢地贴上去的。工程浩大，但却让这些人有了能够靠自己双手挣钱和发挥所长的机会。

The interesting part about this company is, all the products are handmade. Right now, they are producing the 2009 calender. The main difference between this calender and those that you see outside is that, the pictures of animals in the calender are all hand pasted on, part by part. It is a very time and energy consuming work, but it does let the locals have a chance to use their own hands to eke out a living.

这些年历一个只卖5新元。如果你正打算为自己的公司采购来年的年历，何不考虑购买这些年历呢？即能够拥有设计特别的年历，与此同时又能够帮助绿春的人，何乐而不为呢？如果你定制100个或以上的年历，他们还可以免费帮你在年历上附上你公司的名字或标志，或是你个人的信息。

These calenders only cost SGD 5 a piece. If you had the intention of giving out calenders as corporate gifts, why not consider these ones? Not only can you owned a uniquely designed calender, you get to do a good deed by helping the people from Lv Chun at the same time. If you place an order for 100 pieces and above, they will help print your company's name or logo on the calender and place a personal message on the calender for you.

如果你不想购买年历，可以购买其他的产品。他们还有亲手制作的卡片，卡片上的图案都是自己缝制上去的。有致谢卡、生日卡，或是没有信息，只有图案的卡片。

If calenders are not your thing, you can consider getting other products. This company also produces handmade cards, be it thank you cards, birthday cards or blank cards. Most of the designs are handsewn.

另外，他们还设计了一系列精致的物品，如耳环和胸针等。看一看，是不是很漂亮，很特别呢？ On top of that, they have designed a series of accessories eg, earrings and brooches, made with oragami. Aren't these accessories beautiful?如果你对以上的任何产品有兴趣，就请直接联络Nan Siew（nansiew@kangqiaogroup.com）。越多的订单意味着他们可以聘请越多的当地人，也会有越多的小孩有机会上学。谢谢大家的支持了！　　～伟

If you are interested in any of the above products, please contact Nan Siew（nansiew@kangqiaogroup.com）. More orders mean they can employ more locals and also more kids can get to go to school. Thank you everybody for your support!　　～wei