Blogs from Yangshuo, Guangxi, China, Asia

Our $20 dollar rooms with balconies overlooked the river and rice paddies that fed on the river, and it was a perfect summer morning in the deep South of China. There is nothing quite so refreshing as waking up to the sound of running water. With a simple bowl of noodles for breakfast, we walked across the Dong bridges to the village. I was almost contemplating staying at the guesthouse for a year to simply clear my head of decades of city life. After a light lunch we drove to the Longji Rice Terraces, said to be amongst the most beautiful in the world. The lighting and timing prevented us from being able to capture it's beauty as well as in the numerous photobooks that you can purchase on the way up. It is hard for ... read more

My flight to Guangzhou went fine and I arrived about 8pm. After asking a few people I hopped on the right bus to take me into the city, and from the bus station I caught a taxi the last couple of kilometres to my hostel. The hostel was very modern with drinks and food available, and my 6 bed dorm room was fine. I also liked the location, just a short 8 cent ferry ride across the river to Shamien Island and a 15 cent ferry ride to the main part of town. On my first full day I just walked around the city area and Shamien Island. It was a pleasure watching the older people enjoying themselves in the park, dancing, singing, and exercising. The following day I caught the impressive underground to a large ... read more

My last stop before Hong Kong on my all too short tour of China was Yangshuo. I really did love the town and surrounding countryside, but there were a few things I could have done without and one awful situation that occurred while I was leaving the city (the ugly). The Good I think Yangshuo has to be my favourite stop in China. There really is nowhere in the world like Guilin provence (unless you believe Avatar is not just a movie). When you first see the triangle-shaped mountains, you can't help but blink your eyes to ensure they are really there. They look that surreal. I never got sick of looking at them, and would have happily spent much more time exploring the region and going to lesser visited spots had time permitted. The best ... read more

We made it again to Guilin and we already knew where to go to look for further transport. We went to the same sales women as before (who was acting like a ticket office for local buses) and we got tickets for the next bus (18Y/1,8£). Buses are leaving every 10 min so there is no rush at all. In the end Yangshuo is one of the most popular destinations served by Guilin bus companies. Unfortunately weather did not improve and it was still pouring down with rain ;-( We were really tired after our 'Dazai adventure'and we just wanted to get to Yangshuo and rest. We agreed that is we found a guesthouse with nice warm rooms and 24h hot water we would stay for longer just to simply rest. The scenery around Guilin is ... read more

Last night we made our way towards some 'touristy' bars in the hopes of socializing with some Westerners. We met a fellow from the suburbs of Chicago who has been working in Shanghai for about a year and a half. He started out teaching English and is now working for a software development company. He was surprised we were able to find Yangshuo as he had never heard of it before being brought there 'by a Chinese'. We told him about some of our adventures and he said "thats why I don't go anywhere without a Chinese". After he left we spoke with the bartender/owner of the bar for quite awhile. He spoke good English and we talked politics. He was interested in American history and asked questions about how the Mayflower influenced the Consitution. He ... read more