Red ribbons tied on a Banyan Tree are a wishing tree or happiness tree. The higher you tie your ribbon on the tree the more happiness it brings you. When I took the photo I had no idea what the ribbons meant, I just thought it would make a nice picture. The more I travel, the more I appreciate the customs of the places and people I visit, even when I don't fully understand them.
Guilin is a comparatively small city in China. It is definitely a modern city, but somehow it feels untouched by the crazy urban growth prominent in most cities in China. This was one of those scenes that reminded me that this is an ancient culture with historical roots that are still respected and practiced.
I almost trashed this photo when I was reviewing images from the trip but for some reason I didn't. After a bit of playing with it, the painterly look worked well. The image is out of focus, but I felt it had something to offer and this was the only image I had of this type of scene so I wanted to make it work somehow. This is the reason that I say never to throw away a photo. As your skills grow you may find a way to make a useful image from an interesting subject even if it was not perfectly executed mechanically.
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