Yangshuo has been my China highlight. All of the cities in China are so big they aren’t even manageable. Yangshuo on the other hand is a small town set between limestone spires. It looks like something out of a movie. The mountains seem to go on forever and the town is knitted in between.
Amazing Mountains!
As steep as they look, you can climb to the top of a few of the surrounding mountains.
The Li river runs next to the town.
On my bus ride from Guilian I noticed this truck. I think there are over a 1,000 chickens on board. Lets just call it bird flu on wheels.
The best way to get around Yangshou is by Mountain bike. I rented this bike and immediately took off and of course I immediately got lost. I ended up miles down the river with NO clue of where I was on the map. An old Chinese woman, who spoke no English, some how convinced me that taking her ferry across the river would lead me to moon hill and then back to town.
I had to roll my bike down the jet way.
After a long ride and a bit of meandering I was able to find Moon Hill with the assistance of a Dutch couple.
35 minutes to the top of Moon Hill. It was a sprint to the top and the views were spectacular!
I said that Yangshou was the Highlight of China but I also had my low light of the trip here. This guy tried to steal my passport wallet, I was lucky he didn’t get it. It’s a long story but you can see the Umbrella which he used to shield his operations. I was seriously going to go and kick this guys ass but it was his town and I’m certain that there were quite a few others that were in on the scheme. I had been traveling for months and never had a close call with regard to theft but I guess it had to happen sometime.
Hand Pulled Noodles! I was craving these noodles ever since I was back in Shanghai several months ago. This guy made great noodle soup and the best part is he also served dumplings! I ate here 2 nights in a row which typically breaks my travel diet rule. But it was so damn good and cheap ($3 for a beer noodles and 6 dumplings) I just couldn’t resist.
Yangshou is a gem in China. I hope that it doesn’t suffer from over development as other Chinese cities have faced.