China - cycling the karst scenery of Yangshuo

Our bus from Ping'an dropped us back near the Hong Kong Hotel in Guilin and not far from our hostel, allowing us to quickly head back and grab our bags from Wada hostel who had been kindly storing them for us for free.

We grabbed a few steamed pork buns (yummy!) and a pastry for lunch before heading back into yet another rain shower to catch a bus to the Guilin bus station, just south of the Guilin South Railway Station.

Beautiful limestone karst scenery

We arrived in time at the bus station to catch the 14:30 express bus for Yangshuo. The journey was supposed to take around 2 hours, but with major road resurfacing works taking place it took us over 2 1/2 hours to reach Yangshuo's north bus station. It is quite amazing how this bustling city sits in the landscape with the limestone karst pinnacles protruding into the sky all around us.

Having enjoyed our few days out in the villages of the rice terraces, we decided to stay out of the city and book into the new Wada Hostel down by the Yu Long River, a 15 minute taxi ride out of Yangshuo. Many taxi drivers were trying to charge us ridiculous prices of over 60 CNY for the ride, but soon after walking out to the main road Julia spotted a taxi cab and we jumped in after negotiating the price from 30 CNY down to 25 CNY - much more in line, and in fact less than what the hostel had told us it would cost!

Stunning

The hostel was located just off the main road that runs through the villages that line Yu Long River. It was in a beautiful location surrounded by the karst scenery and looking over vegetable patches, rice paddy fields and duck ponds - very idyllic indeed! 

The room was excellent. It was a good size, very modern and comfy with a big bed and desk - the shower was great as well. As it was on the top floor and had huge wraparound windows the view was spectacular - we clearly had the best room in the place and only for £10 per night - bargain!

Our hostel - our room is top right

Our room

... and the view

To top it off the rain had stopped and the sun was peaking through the clouds - we were in luck! 

With free bikes after 4pm available at the hostel we dropped our bags and went straight outdoors and into the evening light. Stretching our legs from a day of bus journeys we took a short cycle ride up and back along a section of the paved cycle route which we could easily access down a short track from our hostel.

Off for an evening cycle

We got quite snap happy as we had read it was set to rain more over the next few days, and enjoyed breathing in the fresh (if humid) river air and cycling along with the views just in case this was our only chance!

It was a super cycle, but it was soon getting dark so we headed back to the hostel and after a quick shower and clean up we headed out to a guesthouse restaurant ('the red one') just over the way.  The restaurant had been recommended by our hostel for Chinese food, and we thoroughly enjoyed a feast of tasty sizzling beef and sweet and sour chicken, washed down with a bottle of local beer!

Dinner time!

Expecting to wake the next morning to the sound of rain on the glass windows we pulled back the curtains to see the sun breaking through the humid haze. Hooray!

We fueled ourselves up with a breakfast of waffles and bacon sandwiches, grabbed a couple of bikes and headed off on a cycle loop of the Yu Long River, heading north up the eastern side of the river until Yu Long 'Dragon' Bridge, and then heading back down the other side.

Breakfast!

With the river on one side and farm land and villages on the other, we loved watching the farmers at work, Chinese tourists navigating the river weirs on bamboo rafts (its the thing to do on the river) and fisherman patiently waiting for their catch.

Bamboo rafts

The cycle route was relatively clear if you looked for signs of recent tracks, and followed a mix of stone paths, roads and dirt tracks - all of which were pretty flat and easy to cycle. It was a wonderful way to spend a day, and after two hours of taking it slow (stopping to take lots of photos) we reached the Yu Long Bridge.

Cycling

Look no peddling!

Hello!

There were lots of people touting for bamboo rafting business, but we wanted to cycle the rest of the route, so instead we found a little cafe on the waters edge and sat down to rest the legs (more to give the bum a rest!) and ordered some fried dumplings and noddles to fuel our afternoon stint.

Lunch noodles

The return journey on the other side of the river was mostly on a small local road, travelling through a few villages. We met quite a few dogs, chickens and very sweet elderly people sitting in their homes, happy to wave us on in the right direction when we needed a some directions.

Working in the fields

Having found the bridge that we needed to cross back over at Da Shi Zhai village, we made our way across and decided to cycle down to where Chris had stayed when he had been here 9 years before. In the village of Ling Shang we found The Giggling Tree, which had been down a dirt track when Chris and Rob had stumbled upon it all those years ago. Now a fully-booked guesthouse, serving European wines, and a swimming pool full of kids, it was certainly a popular place but no longer the empty peaceful retreat that Chris had remembered so vividly. Like with the rice terraces, these little pockets of peaceful escape from the tourists hubs seem to be disappearing fast!

The Giggling Tree

We headed back to our little peaceful retreat of the hostel, and enjoyed an evening chilling and chatting with the other people staying there and the staff, celebrating one of the staff members birthdays with a strong shot of rice wine!

...just cannot get enough of these views

We slept like logs until around 7am when we heard the sound of heavy rain on the roof...uh oh...perhaps our luck was out now?!

So we enjoyed a lazy morning, more waffles and bacon sandwiches and sat back with the view but in the dry of our hostel. At around 2pm our luck changed and the rain cleared up so we grabbed a couple of bikes and headed off south of Yangshuo to see Moon Hill.

With the volume of rain that had fallen the river had turned brown and broken its banks, flooding the cycle path, but wet feet didn't put us off and we continued along our way, cycling through the flood water.

Moon Hill is a karst peak with a huge moon shaped hole in its centre - quite an iconic view within the limestone karsts of the area. We parked up our bikes and walked the 30 minute stepped path up to the top. We were able to get right underneath the rock and walk through the 'moon' at the top.  On the return we decided to take a few of the side paths to seek out a better view - are we were in luck!

Moon Hill

There were a few other things to see along the stretch of road to Moon Hill which all seemed very commercialised and a bit over the top, so we avoided these and headed back towards our hostel taking the bikes through the middle of some of the karst hills along the trail of the Number One Scholar. The route was a little uphill so as our bikes could not get out of one gear, we had to push them up to the top, before freewheeling down. It was defiantly worth the effort as the path weaved its way through the karst pinnacles and allowed us to get right up close to the towering landscape surrounding us. We ended up on the main road back into Yangshou, so even though it was busy, we could quickly make our way back.

Walking through the scenery

Cycle path through the hills

Passing Yangshuo itself on the ring road, we turned off to the village of our hostel and found a great little cycle path along a small tributary / canal which the locals were using for their day exercise. It took us right back to our hostel!

We decided to head over to Yangshou for our final night, staying in another excellent Wada Hostel in the town itself. This was so we could catch an early bus back to Guilin to pick up our train to Hong Kong, but also head up to Xingping, another town on the Li River. So the following day we jumped into a taxi and headed over.

The town is very busy - much busier than what Chris had remembered. But after we had dropped off our bags, we decided to head straight out to Xingping so walked down to the south bus station and found the bus.

Xingping

The journey was pleasant enough, travelling through fields with the karst pinnacles as a backdrop. The journey took just over an hour and we arrived into the bus station in Xingping in good time to make a day of it. We wandered through the town's old streets and over to the river, where there were a number of tourist boats vying for space and the now customary packs of Chinese tourists. As we didn't really fancy a boat ride on the now swollen river, we looked up and thought wouldn't it be great if we could climb one of the pinnacles and see the landscape from a different angle.

Tourist boats in Xingping

After asking around, we soon found a route up - it was going to take about 30-40 minutes in very humid conditions - but this didn't put us off, as we knew it would be worth it for the view.

The route up

We walked up the steps to a small concrete pagoda at the top of the pinnacle, with the view coming and going as gaps came and went in the vegetation. Soon enough we were at the top and wow what a 360 view. You could see the Li river, winding its way through the landscape, with a spectacular U bend and the kart pinnacles peaking out from the mist in the distance. Spectacular!!!

... now that's a view!

Don't look down

Stunning view of the limestone karst landscape

Xingping is also famous as part of the river appears on the 20 Yuan note - so after some debate with an Italian chap at the top to find its location, we decided to head down and find where the view actually was.

It wasn't that far along the road and actually, in typical Chinese style, there were signs and several tourist photos booths. After chilling out for a bit and taking lots of photos, it was time to head back to Yangshou.

Look its on the money as well!

Back in town we still had some time in the day so checked out the local market with its meat and vegetable stalls. If you are squeamish this one probably isn't for you as there are a lot of live animals, many of which we would not consider food such as dogs and cats. An interesting insight into Chinese life non the less.

The market

The Italian chap we had met earlier in the day said there was a good walk up another pinnacle in Yangshuo behind the market, so we headed up (again) to take in the view. The going was a little tough as we were getting a bit tired and the heat and humidity were taking its toll. But we kept going...

Yangshuo from the air

Right at the top there was a small hut with what looked like a couple living there. As soon as we approached they started demanding money. It is sad that people demand money in this way, but we wanted to see the view and there was no way past, so after some quite heated negotiations and being joined by another Chinese couple who could speak good English, we came to an agreement and headed up to the 'unofficial' view point.

Stunning

Again the view was spectacular and offered 360 views of the city and surrounding landscape. We got chatting to the young Chinese couple which was nice and headed down with them as it began to get dark.

After freshening up back at the hostel, we headed into town along the pedestrian West Street. It was packed! Wow - how different this was to Chris' last visit when the place was half empty and they struggled to get a drink. Many Chinese restaurants stop serving quite early, so after a few false starts we found a nice little restaurant and had a bite to eat. 

The place was really buzzing, with night clubs (where everyone just sits down???), restaurants and street sellers - it really was a hive of activity, if a bit tacky - but I guess that is what China is nowadays - tacky.  It is clear this was designed for the Chinese tourism market and it is sad the place has lost its charm, but that's Chinese progress for you.

Night on the town

We woke early, but the power was out. In fact the whole place didn't have power. There had been the most torrential thunderstorm overnight and not only had the power gone, but as we were to find out the whole town centre was flooded. After checking out, we had gone to catch the bus, but with no bus turning up and time was running out for us to catch the the bus back to Guilin, we decided to walk. We soon found out why the buses were not running.

...the oh crap...moment

The entire main intersection of the town was under two foot of water - there were abandoned vehicles and shops were flooded.  But we had to get our bus to catch our train to HK, so we changed out of our shoes, put on flip flops, rolled up our shorts and waded into the murky brown water trying not to think about what was in there. We walked very cautiously to not stub our toes or trip up.  Julia got a small graze, but luckily nothing more than that.

Our 30 minute wade to the bus station

After about 30 minutes we were through and on higher ground. The next question was if the buses were running? Luckily, even though it was clear the bus station had been flooded, but the waters had receded enough to allow buses to go. We got there just in time and after Chris lost his flip flop in the mud and having to walk bear foot through the thick mud that was now carpeting the bus station, we got on board and headed out.

We made it!

It was not exactly how we envisaged the end of our time in Yangshou, or China, but we knew we were lucky that the bus station had recently moved to the edge of town and was higher than the flood waters.

We got back into Guilin in surprisingly good time - probably because no-one else was travelling - grabbed some snacks - steamed buns and cakes (again!) - and got another bus to the train station. It was quite a day, and it wasn't even noon, but we were on our way to Hong Kong and our final stop before finishing our 2016 trip and head home.

A lasting view