Yangtze & Yangshuo - my favourites in China!

We are really getting used to these overnight trains in China.....

So from Xi'an we spent the night enjoying (or not so much enjoying!) the delicacies of chinese rice wine to pass the time of the almost 14 hour train ride to Wuchang.

After what felt like the longest night ever, we arrived at Wuchang and swiftly made our way towards the Yangtze River. On our way to Yichang, we passed through some of the most stunning mountain ranges I've seen and I can tell you it was a fabulous change to the city landscape that'd been all I'd experienced in China so far.

Cutting it a tad fine (with only 2 anxious minutes to spare), we just made it to our 'Victoria Cruise' boat that was going to be our home for the next 3 nights. It was such a relief to board the boat into our lovely (and much more posh than I was expecting!) suite.

The 3 nights/4 days cruising down the Yangtze River were some of the most relaxing times we had in China (and ever actually!). It made a nice change to rushing around like we had been doing. The boat entertained us (well, sort of!) with dancing, music, chinese rapping and other interesting 'talents'.

They also took us on some excursions.

The first excursion was to 'Shennong Stream' where we hopped onto a smaller wooden boat being rowed and then pulled by some very fit young men wearing very skimpy attire! I can say that all the scenery (especially right in front of us!!) was just superb!!!

Another excursion was to 'Fengdu Ghost City', also known as the abode of devils. It was nice to venture off the boat and up into the hills and have a bit of a walk around. However the torture room was a tad too gory for my liking!

Definately cruising down China's largest river was fabulous in every way. The Three Gorges took my breath away - I was mesmerised by the sheer beauty of all three - Xingling Gorge (66km), Wu Gorge (44 km) and Qutang Gorge (8km). I just lay watching the dramatic scenery that lay infront of me with peaks up to 1,240 meters high looming over the rolling river. Definately a great few relaxing days down the Yangtze!

Keeping to the spectacular mountainous scenery, we then headed to Yangshuo. Yangshuo was without doubt my favourite place to spend a few days in China. This little town in the middle of the hills, between rivers and mountains, was the perfect place to relax and unwind. In order to properly explore the beautiful surroundings, we hired bikes early in the morning. We rode past the lovely Li River that flows along the thousands of hills that stand in different poses with different expressions, and inhaled as much of that fresh air as possible!

Yangshuo was a great place to learn Tai Chi (which was much more physically demanding than I expected), calligraphy and chinese characters (the freestylin' with the paintbrush was very fun!) and cooking. The three meals I created were: eggplant with garlic, sweet and sour vegies and vegetable dumplings....and they tasted just like in the chinese restaurants! It was great to learn how to slice properly (with the sharpest and biggest knife I've ever used before!) and what flavours to add and when (timing is everything!).

Something I would definately recommend if you ever visit Yangshuo is to go and see the spectacular show 'Impression Liu Sanjie'. The show is fantastic, and is performed by local villagers and fishermen, with the natural mountains and water as the setting. It is directed by Zhang Yimou (famous movie director and the guy who is directing the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing). I thoroughly enjoyed this!

It was a bit sad to be leaving Yangshuo (and the best oranges I've ever tasted in my life!)....but have to keep moving......

I'm glad this was the last place we stayed in China - it left a much nicer taste in my mouth!

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