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Yo! Yangshuo
MARK GRAHAM REVEALS WHY THIS RIVERSIDE GEM IS FAST BECOMING ONE OF CHINA’S TOP TOURIST DESTINATIONS
FOR the first time, China has an entry on the international chill-out trail, boasting a destination that can hold its own against the legendarily bohemian ambience of Samui, Bali and Goa. Inevitably, it was backpackers who first targeted the tiny town of Yangshuo as a prime destination to spend a few weeks – or even months – recuperating from their grand trans-China trips. The riverside community, just downstream from Guilin, has none of the big-city hurry and scurry that is so predominant in the Middle Kingdom these days. It is a place to do not very much or, if in the mood, tackle a spot of soft adventure. Options include cycling, raft ing, caving, hiking or even scaling the fabulous limestone mountains that girdle the town.
Hiring a bike is a popular
way to explore the
verdant countryside.Until a few years ago, Yangshuo was merely a disembarkation point for people who had taken the half-day cruise downriver from the city of Guilin. Holidaymakers would step ashore to stock up on souvenirs from hawkers and have a snap taken with a bearded, straw-hatted cormorant fisherman before boarding a minibus for the journey back to Guilin.
‘‘ It’s blindingly obvious why this riverside gem holds such appeal, both to foreigners and to the local Chinese‘‘
More discerning visitors liked what they encountered in this charming, sleepy spot; just the place to spend a few relaxing days wandering the cobbled streets or exploring the verdant surrounding countryside. Word spread about the unhurried style of Yangshuo and it quickly mushroomed into a community of travellers that has, at any one time, a sizeable population of young people from Europe, Australia and the United States. Daylight hours are filled with cycling tours or tai chi classes, while evenings are spent lingering over Tsing Tao beers and lattes at the scores of western-style cafés that line the streets.
Australian jazz musician Guy Le Claire has spent months in the town as an escape from the big-city pressures of his home base of Hong Kong. When in Yangshuo, the 44-year-old spends his time mountain biking, taking kung fu instruction, practicing tai chi, having Mandarin lessons or simply strolling the narrow streets with their picture-book Chinese buildings. “I fi rst came here five years ago for a visit and fell in love with the place,” he says. “I am a mad-keen cyclist and around here is some of the best biking in the world. There are so many roads and tracks, and in summer everywhere is green. It is just such an inspiring place to be. You can get cappuccino and the internet, but outside the town life is old – you are stepping back 1,000 years.”
It is blindingly obvious why this gorgeous 
riverside gem holds such huge appeal – both to people from overseas and to the local Chinese. Among the growing band of big-city refugees is former soft ware engineer Liu Tao, who quit a secure job in the nation’s capital, Beijing, to look for a more fulfilling lifestyle. “I wanted something less stressful and quieter,” he says. “I was working 12 hours a day. It was busy, busy, busy. I looked at many places before deciding to come here. It has all kinds of potential – you can go cycling, climbing, kayaking or camping.”
Liu ultimately decided to invest his savings in the Redwall Climbing Studio, located at the start of the main drag on West Street.
The building is an eclectic mix, part dormitory, part offce and part bar, with the wall behind the stage doubling as a climbing wall. Liu’s timing was perfect. Word is beginning to spread throughout the Asian climbing fraternity of Yangshuo’s mountain challenges; currently there are around 100 recognised climbing routes, with the potential for 1,000 in total if top climbers can be persuaded to scale the unconquered cliff s.
| ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES Despite its superficially sleepy appearance, Yangshuo offers an incredible variety of activities. It is rapidly becoming one of Asia’s key mountain climbing centres and a great place to learn the sport, tackling moderately challenging cliff s in the generally temperate climate. There are several operations that offer instruction on indoor climbing walls before a full-scale assault on the karst mountains that lie just beyond the town limits. Recommended are Redwall Climbing Studio (tel +86 (0)773 881-7010, www.adventureatchina.com) and Chinaclimb (tel +86 (0)773 881-1033, www.chinaclimb.com). For a look at the mountains from on high, book a flight with the Guilin Flying Balloon Club at $120 a time (tel +86 (0)135 9703-9399). Views from the ground are best on the back of a mountain bike, which can be hired for around $10 a day from one of a number of places on West Street. And budding Bruce Lees can contact the Bu Di Zhen International Martial Arts Centre (tel +86 (0)773 882-2695, www.budizhen.com) for kung fu instruction. |
One of the toughest ascents is Moon Hill, a landmark located just outside the town. The usual way to enjoy the summit’s gate-arched view of the fields and mountains spread-eagled below is to take the steep steps, where the greatest personal risk is running out of energy. Liu and fellow climbers opt for the trickier route, using ropes and crampons to inch up the rock face. Climbers who have completed the challenge rave about the exhilaration, the silence and the stupendous view of the surrounding karst mountains and patchwork of paddy fields down below.
souvenir posters
from a stall
on West Street. The region’s glorious mountain scenery has lured poets, painters and philosophers for centuries, all keen to record their own take on the natural wonders. In fact, it is de rigueur for every visiting dignitary to take the cruise downstream from Guilin to Yangshuo; visitors in recent times have included American presidents George Bush Sr and his successor Bill Clinton, French president Jacques Chirac, who reputedly praised the experience as the eighth world wonder, and the former paramount leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, who sailed at the grand old age of 84.
The journey takes half a day – some operators include lunch in the ticket price – and is possibly one of the few experiences in the world that can actually be enhanced by the onset of rain, or at least a light drizzle and low cloud cover. While it is also a great trip on a sunny day with blue skies, somehow the onset of wispy puff s of mist and gentle showers over those ethereal peaks add an extra shroud of mystery.
Over the years, imaginative (some might say fanciful) observers have pointed out that certain peaks – if viewed at the right angle, on the right day, by the right viewer – bear a passing resemblance to people or 
animals. It is best to offer a smile and nod of assent when the guide points out cliff s with the name Monk and Nun’s Tryst, or Nine Horse Mural Cliff . Although, to be fair, Elephant Trunk Hill in the city of Guilin does bear more than a passing resemblance to a pachyderm’s nosegear.
The Li is a shallow river, demanding low-draft boats and an expert skipper to guide the vessel towards the deeper water and around the potentially hazardous midstream sand-banks. Running aground is a real possibility in parts, as the river twists, turns, narrows and widens in an alarming manner. Along the banks, villagers give vigorously friendly waves as they go about their daily chores of harvesting bamboo, planting rice and tending to buff alo.
Fishing is also a key industry, undertaken from narrow bamboo raft s. The iconic image of Guilin and Yangshuo, depicted in countless paintings and photographs, is that of the solitary cormorant fisherman setting off for a night’s fishing on a slim, rope-lashed raft , using a long pole for propulsion and a single oil lamp to illuminate the way. Elderly fishermen, accessorising with a battered old hat and a pair of sleek black cormorants – the birds are used to catch fish for their owners – are more likely to be found on land at the Yangshuo dock these days, offering their (paid) modelling services to anyone toting a camera or video recorder.
| GETTING THERE AND AROUND Getting to Yangshuo is, of course, part of the fun. The quickest way is by bus or car along the main highway, but the most scenic way is to take the boat downstream past the limestone karst cliff s. There are local boats, but foreign visitors will be steered towards the more expensive options; go with the flow and use the state-owned China International Travel Service (www.guilin4seasons.com). A useful website for local tips is www.travel-the-real-china.com. For a personal tour of the town, two English-speaking guides are Amy Zhu Lin Feng (tel +86 (0)138 7837-6755, or email linfong2000@yahoo.com) and Melody Hung Ri Feng (tel +86 (0)136 5963-7519, or email melodyhuang2003@yahoo.com). |
Tourism has become increasingly important to the local economy – why do eight hours of back-breaking work in the paddy fields when you can earn handsome money as a tour guide? – and plenty of resourceful locals offer tours catering to outdoors-loving visitors.
‘‘The region’s glorious mountain scenery has lured poets, painters and philosophers for centuries‘‘
Amy Zhu Lin Feng is one such example; a farmer who began working as a chambermaid in a hostel, she picked up English with the help of friendly tourists and an electronic dictionary and now has a thriving business as a freelance tour guide.
| WINING AND DINING At the end of a hard day’s rock climbing or mountain biking, there are scores of small restaurants in which to wind down with a cold beer and hot food. Almost all serve local beer-simmered duck dishes and steamed river fish, alongside international staples such as pizza. Prices are cheap, with a meal for two costing around $20 with drinks. The bars and cafés are located in and around West Street, and include the Red Star Express Café, Minnie Mao’s Café, the Meiyou Café, Karst, Red Capitalism, Blue Lotus, Global Village, Lisa’s, The Buff alo Bar and the Hard Seat Café. |
From her base at Jimmy’s Café, the mother of two seeks out potential clients, opting for the chatty rather than pushy approach. Income from the $7-per-head tours has helped fund a new home, where visitors in search of the real rural experience can rent paddy-field-view rooms by the day or by the week. “I have learned a lot about the outside world and made many friends,” says Zhu Lin Feng, “but the furthest I have travelled is to Guilin, about an hour away by bus.”
Zhu Lin Feng and other entrepreneurially minded residents can expect to reap great rewards in the future, as the world wakes up to Yangshuo. The town is one of China’s true unspoilt gems.
| A PLACE TO STAY Accommodation ranges from the basic and inexpensive, at places such as the Bamboo House Inn and Café (tel +86 (0)773 882-3222, email bamboohouse23@hotmail.com) and Sihai Hotel (tel +86 (0)773 882-2013, www.sihaihotel.com) to the international-level Guilin Bravo Hotel (tel +86 (0)773 282-3950) and Yangshuo Paradise Resort (tel +86 (0)773 882-2109, www.paradiseyangshuo.com). A new option is the Hotel of Modern Art, with sculptures in the grounds, a resident artist, and some wacky architectural touches (tel +86 (0)773 386-5555, www.yuzi-paradise.com). |
PICTURES: MARK GRAHAM
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