Blogs from Yangshuo, Guangxi, China, Asia - page 54

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Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo March 25th 2006

Arriving by boat into Yangshuo, we were met by a local travel agent - Kevin - who led Richard, Jill and I to a brand new beautiful hotel located on the river. We were able to negotiate a good price as it was still low season. Don't have a name as it was a true Chinese hotel catering to Chinese tourists. It was still raining so we explored the old town of the city, got some dumplings and noodle soup and then crashed in the evening for the night. The beds were very comfortable - it might have well been a Westin Heavenly Bed (in reality, far from it, but everything is relative at this point). For the next few days, we were the most active we have been throughout the whole trip. The scenery around ... read more
On the bridge
Bicycle Ride
During the Downpour

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo March 13th 2006

Ni hao! After thoroughly enjoying ourselves in Hong Kong, we were perhaps a little apprehensive about moving on into China. It is, after all, a totally different country (NOT), and rumoured to be one of the most challenging places to backpack around due the fact that no one speaks any English. What is said about the border crossing is 100% accurate. Getting through customs from HK is easy-peasy (Chinesey?) but once on the other side the English signs stop and the pointing, grunting and smiling politely begins. Weird huh? Almost as weird as the fact that you have to go through a border crossing...surely its like going to Scotland? Thankfully the bloke who sold us our tickets to Yangshou wrote information on them in Manderin. All we had to do was show our tickets to someone ... read more
A little bridge in town
Near the docks
Yangshou peaks

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo February 26th 2006

Woke up, did some refurbishing of our room. Walked to our new hotel and on the way we bumped into this cute girl we saw the day before at Moon hill. She showed us to a nice and cheap place to stay on West st (and what a street it is). Lan Chee? then took us to this noodle place which free of charge had pigs intestines in it. She was so sweet and even paid for us. Ryan and I decided that she has to be the coolest girl in the whole of China. We then met up with Yu Ling who took us on an amazing bike tour of the back counrty. She taught us some Chinese and I can now say, You are very beautiful, Thank you, hello, no thanks, byebye, its a ... read more
Chinese Chicken
LANCHEEEEEEE
The Last Supper

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo February 23rd 2006

Took the bus through the Northern Vietnamese mountains into China. Sitting next to this Norwegian chap by the name of Christian, he informs me that if I go into Hong Kong(which I was doing 2 days later I would need a whole new Chinese visa to get back in) I say "oh that's rather annoying" I did manage to stick about 5 swear words in between those 4 words. The reason being that China charges US citizens double that of any other country. So it ended up costing me over $200 for my two visa's. oh well, next time I shall know. Spent the first night in Nanning, I was really blown away by the 1sr worldness of the freeways(which are wider than they are in the states) and how much building was taking place everywhere. ... read more
Our BS scooters
Nice Crash Helmet
I am still such an idiot

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo January 30th 2006

Despite scare stories on the blogs and chat boards we investigated, our journey into mainland China from Hong Kong was quick and efficient. Other travellers had mentioned spending 3 hours in a queue at Shenzhen, especially at Chinese New Year when almost everyone is travelling to visit family for the holiday period. However we sailed through, and despite expecting a gargantuan queue round every next corner or a brutal cavity search just before the exit, we made it from start to finish in a trim 40 minutes. The next part of our journey entailed an overnight bus ride from Shenzhen to Yangshou. A rural idyll which we had heard was the perfect contrast to Hong Kong with all its order and slinky malls. Our guidebook had already told us to book bus tickets early to avoid ... read more
Martine fireside, Yangshou
View from our hotel, Yangshuo
Calligraphy class, Yangshuo

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo January 29th 2006

Hi, Yesterday,the Dog year has started and the Chicken year ended. Happy new year! The Chinese new year is a holiday that lasts 1 week. Its other name is the 'Spring Festival' and indeed the last 3 days have beed shining and it does get warmer. It is an early spring. The street of the western tourists has the obvious name of 'West street'. But nowadays, during the holiday, its name does not hint its habitants, as it is filled with many more Chinese tourists then western ones. The main events in this holiday is fireworks, lots of firecrackers, all day long and dragons procession. The dragons enter to the shops and bless them with 'Happy New Year'. One fact the I have known about Chinese people is that they all the time and every where. ... read more
Moon Hill
The way to Moon Hill
The way to Moon Hill

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo January 28th 2006

Well since leaving Xian I've spent most of my time on trains or being sick, nice hey! Well left Xian to get the train to Shanghi, sadly it was delayed, for 10hrs, then we had a nice 16hr train journey after that, oh what fun. It was ok at 1st, but train stations are not the most comfortable places, especially at 4am and after waiting over 10hrs. I asked our group leader if the trains were normally late, she said "No," this was the 1st time she'd ever had to wait, made-up for it by being so long though. Eventually the train arrived and we slept for a good bit of the way, but by the end of it I was starting to get cabin fever from being stuck inside, I was very happy to see ... read more

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo January 21st 2006

Hi, My second day in China is very cold (as the first day). I am quite south (near Guilin) and I was thinking that south = warm / hot and north = cold. But it appears that all China is very cold except, maybe, south Yunan, near the border of Laos and Vietnam, so I might head there if it would be too cold. In order to fight back, I bought some warm cloths, very cheap ones, in Guilin. Guilin is a very modern city. I did my shopping in an underground market, similar to the one in Toronto. Today, on the afternoon, I have arrived to Yangshuo, about one hour from Guilin, which is, as decribed in the guide back: 'a traveller's Mecca'. In spite of the cold weather, there are quite a few backpackers ... read more

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo January 12th 2006

Well hello again, and again apologies for the mass email. and a second apology to the majority of people who replied to my last email saying "when the hell did you go to china??". ahem, yes well .. We spent an eye-opening 2 weeks in china. after suriving the train station at guangzhou (and subsequently discovering its notority for chaos) and a couple of days at Guilin, we took a boat down the Li River to a lovely village called Yangshou which is nestled in among the rock formations in the region. and it is breathtakingly lovely. Being the avid photographer I am not, I have searched the internet and found some other people's photographs of this region to give you an idea of what it looks like. I would promise to show you all my ... read more

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo January 8th 2006

Yangshuo has the same spectacular scenery as Guilin with a much more welcoming community. In fact, the main street (West Street) is nicknamed "Foreigner Street". Having checked into West Street Inn (not on the West Street), we were overjoyed to discover the heater in the room along with the obligatory flask of hot water for tea. On Sunday, we hoiked up Seven Star Hill (a striking karst structure in the centre of Yangshuo) through a series of caves and pagodas to the great view at the top. We followed that with an afternoon boat trip up river from Pingyin. The bus trip was fascinating. It seems imperative to obtain as much money as possible on each trip, so each bus has a "conductor" who will shout out to all potential passengers to convince them to board ... read more




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