Yangshuo

Introduction

Hills in Yangshuo

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Yangshuo (阳朔) is a small town in Guangxi, China, sandwiched in between hundreds of stunning karst peaks making this town truly beautiful. The rock formation starts further south in Laos and Vietnam, going through the stunning Halong Bay, then continues further north into Guizhou.

Until about 10 years ago, Yangshuo was a sleepy little village next to the Li River. Yangshuo’s big brother Guilin gained most of the fame during history and Chinese tourist flocked to Guilin over looking the neighboring, prettier town of Yangshuo for centuries. Foreign tourists started to go to Yangshuo in order to avoid the crowds in Guilin and to be closer to nature. This is because Guilin had exploded in size after becoming an industrial town for the northern area of the province.

More recently, Yangshuo has become a major backpacker hangout to rival any backpacker town in Southeast Asia. This is one of the few places in China where almost everyone speaks great English and reasonably priced foreign food is easy to find. This is slowly starting to change as more and more Chinese tourists have started to go to Yangshuo. Hopefully the backpacker vibe will remain strong in Yangshuo but with the fast pace in which everything moves in China nobody really knows.

Sights and Activities

Staring Through Moon Hill

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Most of the activities in Yangshuo revolve around the outdoors. There is great biking, hiking and climbing in the area. There are also several excellent caves for any amateur to advance cave diver to enjoy.

Major Sights

• Moon Hill is a great hike and is a short bike ride away from Yangshuo
• Li River has some amazing river rides that give great views of the karst peaks.

Bamboo Raft Rides

One of the more popular activities for Chinese tourists is to ride bamboo rafts down dammed sections of creeks running among the karst peaks. The rafts occasionally hit concrete dams that are about a meter high and people help push the raft over them. Just make sure to lift your feet up if you don't want them to get wet as the raft slides to the next level on the creek.

Although this might seem a bit tacky, it can be fun. Enjoying the sun, looking at the karst peaks and enjoying a beer or two can be a lots of fun during a boat ride. It is also a good way to meet Chinese tourists and enjoy some towns that don't even have roads to them. Another good thing about the rafts is that most of the people guiding them and operating them are local farmers trying to make a little extra money.

Most local bike tours offer some sort of raft ride as part of the package. If you decide to raft the entire creek this can take several hours. Most people only do a 20 to 45-minute section with their bikes strapped to the back to the raft. Prices can vary wildly depending on the time of the year and section of the creek.

Rock Climbing

In Yangshuo rock climbing has become extremely popular in the last few years. The peaks in the country side offer great chances to climb and experience great beauty. Several companies,own and operated by westerners, have opened in the last few years to provide climbing gear and guides. There are over 200 routes that have been documented and number is growing daily. Most of the routes are single-pitched bolted climbing routes, while more and more multi-pitch sport routes are beginning to be created. There is also plenty of traditional climbing. It is best to go with a guide that knows the local area because it is very easy to get lost or to go onto someone's private land.

• Black Rock Climbing organizes half/full day trips, as well as courses.
• Karstclimber is a cafe, hotel and climb guiding centre.
• Xclimber has many beginner and half day trips.
• Spiderman Climbing provides good climbing trips and is located off of New West Street.

Bike Routes

• Historic Bridges and Towns that can only be accessed by foot or bike.

Weather

Yangshuo can be hot and muggy in the summer (temperatures over 30 °C) and chilly in the winter (though rarely really cold). In general the best time to visit is in March, April, May or September, October, November, when weather is generally warm but showers are always possible.

Getting There

By Plane

Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) is the nearest airport to Yangshuo and is about 28 kilometres (17 miles) from Guilin. This medium size airport serves almost every major city in China, including Beijing, Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Guangzhou. It also has limited international service to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Seoul, Taipei Hong Kong and Macau. The budget airline Air Asia has service to this airport (to/from Kuala Lumpur). The only way way to reach the airport at this time is by taxi.

By Train

Nearest train station is in downtown Guilin, with direct services to cities like Kunming and Shanghai. Either book wel in front, or be happy with a standard seat, as berths fill up pretty quickly on the route.

By Car

Many hotels and guesthouses in Guilin will provide drivers with cars to Yangshuo.

By Bus

The main bus station in Yangshuo is located just south of West Street and has a steady stream of buses going to the Guilin train station every day. If trying to get to Yangshuo the best way is to go to the parking lot in front of the Guilin train station, which has buses leaving every half hour starting at 6:00am and ending at 9:00pm. These buses are brand new and the ride is 14 RMB, although a little haggling could get you a slightly cheaper seat. Be prepared for some Hong Kong pop movies to kill the 1.5 bus ride. Stay on the bus untill arriving in the busstation unless you know where you are going and don't believe anybody who tells you otherwise (= hawks).

Express buses leave from the Guilin busstation, a 2-minute walk up the main road. They are usually less crowded and never stop on the way. Price is 15 RMB, although for some holidays they up the price a little. Go here if you want to feel safer with a lot of luggage or you want to be sure to be there in 1 to 1.5 hours, as local buses from the trainstation can be unpredictable if their business is slow.

There are also direct over night sleeper buses to and from Hong Kong, Nanning and Guangzhou. For some cities it is just easier to connect in Guilin.

By Boat

Sadly the public boats don't run on the Li River any more between Guilin and Yangshuo. There are several private tourist boats that still do this multi hour trip. Although most of the trip is not super pretty and from Yangshuo there are half day trips to take a shorter boat rides just a long the prettiest section of the river. You might recognize some of the scenery from the back of the 20 RMB note.

Remember during the fall and winter the Li River can get very shallow. Even though the boats between Guilin and Yangshuo claim to run year round, during late autumn they scrape the bottom of the river during most of the ride. Usually during the winter the tour operators just stop running the boats entirely until the start of spring.

Getting Around

Downtown Yangshuo on a lazy day

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Everything a tourist needs is located on West Street, including a brand new Bank of China with an international ATM. There are several restaurants, bars, clubs and shops located on and around West Street. Although there are several budget guesthouses on West Street it might be better to stay in one of the guesthouses located in the myriad of allies.

By Car/Motorbike

Motorbike rides are easy and cheap to hire anywhere in town.

By Public Transport

There is very little official public transport in Yangshuo itself.

By Foot

Walking is the best option for getting around. If your staying on New West Street everything you need is within walking distance. To get to some some of the further out tourist sights bikes are the best way.

By Bike

This tourist area was made for bike riders. Other then for river tours, which require a bus or car to get to, bikes are your best option. Renting a bike is very easy and many hotels include them for free. Most places will give you a basic map that will tell you were most of the sights are and how to get there. Although it can be easy to get lost biking around fields there are always farmers around to guide you back in the right direction. Hiring a guide for a day is not expensive and can be a good idea for the first day.

Eat

There is plenty of great night markets around. Try the local specialty of rice noodles in a steaming pot. Just watch out for the rat on a stick at the local night markets. Wood fired pizzas are the big rave around town. Just look for a popular restaurant and try one out. A couple of restaurants have truly amazing blue cheese pizza!

Drink

Bars and discos have popped up all over West Street. Just choose a crowded one. Remember during slow times you can always ask for a discount on the drinks. Qian Xian street is a side road of West Street, more foreigners, especially climbers hang out there.

Another good option for drinking is Guihua Lu, paralel to West street. Bars here are cheaper, and filled with the local foreigners, students and longstay travellers, which makes it more laidback than touristy west street.

Many of the guesthouses, hostels and hotels have bars in them. Some are better then others, such as the roof top bar on Monkey Janes might have the best view in the city. Just remember it is worth branching out.

• Festina Lente - Breakfast cafe and cocktail bar, with their own special cocktails. No loud music inside, nice place to hang out, relax and enjoy great (and pretty cheap) quality drinks. Happy hour all day long and a great burger menu. Located on Xianqian Jie next to the lizzard lounge.
• Kaya is mainly reggae oriented, but a wider variety of music is played. Very laidback atmosphere, regular live music (permanent open mic) and parties. Located in Guihua Lu 47, next to dr. Lily Li. They recently opened a second branch in nearby Guilin.
• Bar 98 is an ozzie bar
• Lizard Lounge, is a rock climber hangout, with free bouldering and regular parties. On Qian Xian street.

Sleep

There are hundreds of cheap guesthouses in Yangshuo now. Although be careful because many of the cheaper Chinese hotels, especially those far from West Street, offer you great rooms for next to nothing and everything else for a high price. There are also several bargains during the slow times of the year. During certain times of the year you might be able to get a very nice room in a very nice hotel for a very low price.

Budget

Monkey Jane’s Guesthouse is located at the far end of West Street and down an alley at 28 Lianfeng Zhongxiang. Although the rooms are can be a little basic for the price and the hotel is very vertical there is one very nice factor about this place. The rooftop bar is amazing! This bar possibly has the best view of Yangshuo and is worth climbing the 8 flights of stairs to get there.

More budget options in Yangshuo include:

Work

Many people work in Yangshuo as English teachers, tutors and in strange import/export ventures. Another option is to just open up a bar, restaurant or hostel to make money from the foreign tourists.

Learn

Village near Yangshuo

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There are several places offering climbing, Tai Chi, Kung-fu and cooking lessons. Just walk along West Street to find out more information.

Many Chinese people come to Yangshuo to improve their language skills, and so do foreign tourists. Several language schools and private teachers offer English and Chinese lessons. The big schools often offer accommodation and Visa support, whereas private teachers have more intensive custom made courses and have more reasonable prices.

• Learn Chinese in Yangshuo
• Yangshuo Tai Chi school

Keep Connected

Internet

There are several gaming centers located just off of West Street near the bus station. Internet here is generally cheap and fast.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

China Post (中国邮政) is the official postal service of the People's Republic of China, operated by the State Postal Bureau of the People's Republic of China (website in Chinese only), and has more details about price to send letters, postcards and parcels, both domestically as well as internationally. The Chinese postal service is very good. Remember that in more remote places usually only one post office in a city can handle sending international boxes or letters. Also many times it might be worth having the name of the country you are trying to send to in Chinese characters. Post offices have a striking green logo and can easily be found everywhere in the cities. They are mostly open every day (including weekends!) from 8:00am to 6:00pm, though small offices might have shorter opening times, while the bigger ones in central and touristic areas are sometimes open during evenings as well. There is a post office on West Street.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website