Yangshuo = Paradise

Back from blogging hiatus -- Gene and I just got back from whirlwind Spring Break trip to Southern China! We spent most of our time in Yunnan Province, but made a stop in Yangshuo, Guangxi (陽朔，廣西) for the first few days... an excellent start to an epic journey!

A breathtaking yet common rustic scene in Yangshuo.

Don't you just want to roll around in the fields? Getting lost while riding a bike is the biggest favor you can do for yourself here!

Yangshuo is simply amazing. I can't emphasize that enough. If you're looking for that special mythical China experience where fog rolls in and out of towering limestone hills set in lush green fields, this is it. "Yangshuo the Town" is mobbed with Chinese tourists and turns into a tacky neon bar street at night (West Street = yuck), so most Westerners/Chinese-who-like-peace-and-quiet prefer to live a bit outside in the small villages just 15 minutes away. We stayed at the Yangshuo Village Inn, which is the #1 B&B on Tripadvisor for that area and situated in Moon Hill Village (月亮村). The price was definitely palatable at 400RMB (~$65 USD) per night for an adorable room with a balcony. I recommend its sister hotel (Yangshuo Retreat) if you can book it, otherwise go with Yangshuo Village Inn.

These beautiful pillows are EVERYWHERE in Southern China.

I bought two of these pillowcases as souvenirs. So pretty!

The B&B's rooftop restaurant, serving excellent Italian food and imported wine.

We ate here almost every meal, so delish. You're probably thinking that I should have gone out to try "Yangshuo" food. Well I did, and it's gross!!! Baked ziti FTW.

A lovely bright afternoon, relaxing with fine wine. See the little crescent in the hill?

But of course right outside there were stands for tourists to dress up in ethnic minority costumes so they could pretend to "hold up the moon". I much prefer the "Hadouken-ing the sun" trick. :)

Freshly picked strawberries straight from the nearby fields. Very sweet!

We also went rock climbing, which was the first time I've done it in an outdoor setting with natural rock features!!! Man, it was so so so much fun and I highly recommend everyone who comes to Yangshuo to give it a try. We were able to achieve a height of around 7 stories, well above the treeline, which gave you a spectacular and thrilling view (if you were brave enough to turn around and soak it in 70 feet above ground). I wasn't particularly afraid while climbing the rock face, but there were a few times where I had to let go and pray that the climbing company knew what the hell it was doing. All in all, I give it a challenge factor of 7/10 and awesome factor of 10/10!!! :D

This particular rock face was called "Swiss Cheese" (瑞士奶酪).

I went up 4 lines in total that afternoon. The key to not exhaust yourself is to rely more on your legs to push your body up instead of using your arms to pull. Logically sound but your forget that rule when your body is plastered on the cliff and you're hanging on for dear life, haha!

Rock climbing requires high physical exertion!

Eww... sweaty! :p

We also went to see Zhang Yimou's lightshow, Impression: Liu Sanjie (印象：劉三姐), which was set in an outdoor natural valley. Being that Zhang Yimou is only THE most famous Chinese director of all time (To Live, House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Beijing 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony), I just had to give this a shot!

I consider my 190RMB ($25 USD) ticket the same as buying a pass to see the Elephant Man at travelling circus. You go in because you're curious what the dude really looks like, but you realize that he's actually just an obese American... one that you can see in any Midwest state. It's the price you pay to satisfy your curiosity. Truth revealed, I will never spend another dime on a Zhang Yimou outdoor show because if I wanted to see a lightshow with ethnic minorities again I'll just go to a rave party in New York City.

Of course, there are people who think that the show was good, but it's nothing worth spending 2 hours for when you have a billion better things to enjoy in Yangshuo. I felt rather disappointed with the whole plot (What plot? Is the plot that you have ethnic minorities waving at the audience at the same beat?) and the simple synchronized paddling from ~100 rafts wasn't impressive enough to make up for the fact that it was just a meaningless show.

Oh, and don't forget the usual Chinese mad rush to get up and leave before the show is even over. Because they don't give a shit that you're still watching the show (and the performers are still singing), they just want to hustle you out of a cab. Because that gives them greater utility.

And of course, Yangshuo's main attraction is the Li River (灕江), which is so incredibly beautiful. The landscape is featured on the 20 RMB bill. Even though you have other noisy tourist boats sputtering by you at all times, you won't even really care because this place is simply legendary.

我是個烏龜!

This leg of the trip went by way too fast... Gene and I were truly sad to leave (I practically had to drag his sorry ass to the airport). Yangshuo deserves at least 4-5 days for people to fully appreciate all that it has to offer, and even after that you'll want to just sit there, relax, and soak in its natural beauty. There are many places in China where all I'm interested in doing is taking a quick peek and move on, but I can say with 100% certainty that I WILL come back to Yangshuo, again and again and again!