Being short-sighted and having constantly worn glasses since primary school, with a brief interlude wearing contact lenses for vanity – then returning to glasses for laziness, I am fairly careful about their care.

I was rather chuffed with this particular pair of glasses, as they had neat fitting polarised sunglasses which “clipped” on with small magnetic spots on the sides. Very handy, and not too bulky for the travel handbag.

In 2009 we were enjoying some of my long service leave travelling to a few countries, including China, with ample evidence of these convenient, and somewhat expensive, clip-on sunnies (Australian slang for sunglasses) as we travelled.

Highlights of the southern area of China, enjoyed and perhaps enhanced with the sunnies, included the Longsheng Backbone Rice Terraces Tour. An early start preceded a two-hour drive to the Huangluo Yao village – home to the long-haired women with very nasal singing voices who put on a folk show for the tourists, complete with singing, dancing, and accompanying bumping, pushing, stepping on feet and butt-pinching!

We walked over swing bridges before a further drive up the mountains near Ping’An Village. Walking, a lunch break, then more walking up lots of steps, thankfully not too steep nor slippery, to the No 2. Platform “Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon”. After thinking that surely we would pass out from walking up the narrow pathways into the mist, the weather cleared to reveal an amazing vista of the Ping’An rice terrace fields.

Another highly recommended activity in the area was the Yangshuo Cooking School. We started with a short visit to a local market to get fresh produce and to be shown around the meat area (dog section optional). Then, out into the countryside to a well-equipped classroom where we had individual cooking areas to try to replicate the demonstrated dishes, including the local speciality, beer fish Pijiu Yu. We sat as a group to enjoy the feast we had prepared, in an open-sided building to best appreciate the beautiful surroundings, with a backdrop of the dramatic karst mountains.

The sunnies were last photographed being worn while travelling from Guilin to Yangshuo on the Li River, 1/5/2009. Lovely scenery, only slightly tarnished by the fact that you were part of a convoy of a surprisingly large number of tourist boats. How many folk are travelling to this area every day??

It seems like the number of folk travelling here is indeed quite large; there were definitely more than a few folk around enjoying the activities, as we booked to see the famous evening show Impression Sanjie Liu, directed by Zhang Yimou who created the opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Even with seats a fair way back, the show was absolutely spectacular. But crowded – not a spare seat to be had in a holiday long-weekend audience.

Being based in Yangshuo for a few days, we decided to hire some bikes to see some of the local areas, following some suggestions from guide books. We headed off to find Yulong Bridge. Not really confident with our Chinese language ability, we eventually found Baisha Town and the Yulong Bridge. Knowledge of Japanese helped from time to time, in recognising Chinese characters (without knowing the pronunciation). Several locals offered help occasionally, but it was unclear if (a) they wanted to practice their limited English – which in some cases was more confusing, or (b) they wanted money for unwanted services!

I am sure that I had the sunnies at this point. Having not seen too many tourists around on the local roads, we were surprised to see so many at and around the Yulong Bridge area. It seems the raft ride down the Yulong River to Jiuxian Village is surprisingly popular. We probably should have realised, based on the previous flotilla of tourist boats on the Li River.

Having a choice of a number of raft-drivers (raft-lier? Like gondolier?) we settled on a likely lad with a good price. He was probably a bit miffed, however, that we insisted the bikes come with us on the raft. It turns out that usually they take them on a small truck to the end-point. But, not being with an organised group, those hired bikes weren’t going out of our sight for a minute!

The ride down the Yulong River was a lot of fun, with magnificent scenery. There were a few small places a bit tricky for our raft to navigate (our not-so-slight frames plus the bikes making our rafter earn his money). Although there were a few bumps and turns, I’m pretty sure that my sunnies were safely tucked in my backpack.

After the raft ride, we headed back to Yangshuo via a different road, while admiring the magnificent karst mountains, lush greenery, and many small villages where everyday life was going on. At one point I commented on the lovely pet dogs every household seemed to have, only to realise later that they were possibly to be on the family menu at some time.

I’m 99% certain that the sunnies were left in a public toilet block at this park as we cycled back to Yangshuo. A relatively clean and convenient toilet for country-side China. I left my bag with Tom as he waited with the bikes. No lighting inside the toilet block, so had to un-clip the sunnies. However, then there was nowhere to place any item. I seem to recall reaching up to a small window-ledge to perch the sunnies there. I expect that is where they were left. If anyone is passing through, can you please check?