Yangshuo Trip (13 – 15 July 2007)

Warning: Content and image heavy.

It’s hard for me to put down in words my feelings about my trip to Yangshuo. Simply put, it was an unbelievably awesome once in a lifetime experience. We had so much fun just basking in the natural karst scenery which is only unique to China, in Yangshuo. For the sake of remembering every single experience in Yangshuo, I will write down each experience individually. Pardon the long-windedness.

Before the trip:

We planned for this trip 2 weeks in advance, not knowing how to go about booking hostels, transportation and local tour guides. We were blessed with help from our managers and colleagues. Meggie, my manager linked us up with another colleague from the Electronics division to help us with the entire planning and coordination of the trip. Right from the beginning, she was the one who source for the best rates and most economical itineraries. All of us at that point in time, felt super indebted because it was our trip and she was the one doing most of the booking and planning. That is how nice, all our colleagues are.

The package includes, 2 way transportation to Yangshuo on a sleeper bus (turned out to be a complete experience from what I had in mind, shall elaborate on it later), lodging in a townhouse, 2 breakfasts and lunches, 2 bamboo rafting trips down Li River and Yulong River, Limestone cave and cycling in the countryside.

All for 510 RMB (approximately S$102). It was a total steal!

The Sleeper Bus Experience and a first glimpse of karst scenery in Yangshuo.

What came in mind when you think of a sleeper bus?

One that comes with cushy and comfortable seats that can recline 90 degrees backwards; a decent sleeping position to ensure a good enough rest for a whole day trip the next day upon reaching your destination.

That was what I had in mind.

So I had a rude shock when I saw the actual seats on the bus. No, there weren’t any reclining cushy seats. Instead, I saw rows of 3 tiny double-decker beds. Ok, it’s hard to imagine really. Think of those navy ships with double deck beds in the movies you watch. You get my point? Haha. I do not know whether to laugh or to just accept the fact that we will have to sleep in those tiny beds for a full 9 hour overnight journey.

Here's how the 'seats' look like:

All cramped. You can see how cramped we were.

That wasn’t all. The entire ride was super bumpy and rough going. I can literally feel my head going up and down as I tried my best to get to sleep. We tried playing cards and talking but eventually we gave up because the ride was very bumpy and we kept rolling off our beds. I just said a quick prayer for a good night’s rest and I played gospel songs while I tried to sleep. And I practically conked out like 10 minutes later, I have no idea how long I stayed awake after that prayer but all I know is, I slept really well. So much so that according to my friends, there was this extremely bumpy part of the ride and most of the people on board woke up because it was so bumpy that it was near impossible to sleep through it. I had no recollection of waking up. I slept right through until we reached our destination. Lol. And I thought I was a light sleeper. Thank God! Hahaha.. And strangely, no one snored. I was expecting lots of snoring but I was wrong.

An unknown shot of me trying to sleep.

I was the first among my friends to wake up the next morning and I opened my eyes to lovely scenery. Mountains and farmland was right before my eyes, just flashing past as the bus went along. That moment was extremely surreal; I wanted so much just to stop time in its tracks and just bask in that moment for the longest time possible. I just sat there in front of the window, hugging my blanket and staring at the mountains that went by. The cramped space, the bumps on the road, my itchy scalp and growling stomach did not matter at all. I was just happy to just experience the wonder of beautiful scenery right before me. The 9 hours ride was more than worth it.

I am such a sucker for beautiful scenery.

Oh in case you are wondering what is karst scenery, it is only found in China especially in the southern parts of China. Karst Mountains are unique limestone mountains that are covered mostly by greenery and they do not belong in ranges, rather they stand mostly alone or inter-joined with one or 2 other mountains. Karst scenery is a completely different sight to behold as compared to the scenery you find in most parts Europe, Australia or New Zealand. The mountains in the western countries exude an air of grandeur while those in Yangshuo and most parts of China, a mystical aura. Just by looking at them, you can actually feel the richness of China’s history. It’s breathtaking, seriously. All of us were just left in awe. That far off gaze as we just sat there in silence just looking at the mountains ahead. The karst scenery is the reason most people visit South-West China. And Yangshuo/Guilin is the place to go for the best karst mountain landscape.

Ok, I’m getting long-winded but this post is purely for my own reference when I look back at this experience and I have a written memory to fall back on.

Lodging

Our lodging was a 3 star townhouse. I rate it myself actually. It exceeded my expectations. We came with as low expectations as possible. 2 months in China, we have learnt to do that. Most of the times, our expectations were well met. This time round, we were not bothered by the extremely cramped ‘lobby’ and we were more than happy when we saw the room; it was clean, the sheets were clean and strangely, we felt right at home. We did not expect much and we got what we wanted. A clean and no-frills place to rest for the night. Michelle was my roommate for the night and she is such a quiet sleeper! I felt like I was sleeping in the room alone.

Our local tour guide (he’s also the owner of the motel we stayed in)

His cute little daughter. I couldn’t resist taking a picture with her because her smile is so cute.



Shen Yeong couldn’t resist either. We just fell in love with her cute smile.

She’s such an adorable kid. I’m so emo; I had tears in my eyes when we said goodbye to her when we left the motel to go back to Shenzhen. Ok, I’m sucker for cute kids as well.

Day 1:

Our first breakfast in Yanghuo – The famous Guilin Mee fen.

One lesson I learnt in China:

Looks can be deceiving (for better or worse)

It might look bad/unsightly, but you never know, it can turn out to be a hidden gem.

Its definitely true, food wise in Yangshuo;

This is how they prepare the mee; first thought: The thought of eating road side food gives way to doubts like, Will I get the runs after eating this?

Just eat lah. Alaska was like, Say Grace. Alaska, Michelle, Don and I are Christians so naturally we will say grace to thank the Lord for the food and sanctify the food before we eat. And honestly speaking, we say grace more often now in China than back in Singapore. Oops. Alaska, my roommate has a very weak stomach and any food cooked in less than hygienic conditions and she will have the runs the next day. Thankfully, no such incident occurred during the entire trip.

The mee was damn nice! Hahaha, seriously. It’s better than the Bedok Ba Chor Mee *10.

Ok, Im exaggerating. But it’s really good. I was so hungry and the mee was so good that I was practically eating at twice the rate I usually eat at.

Limestone Cave Trek

Right after breakfast, we took a bus to Yangshuo’s famous limestone cave. This is the third time I’ve been to a limestone cave so I was pretty bored most of the time. The natural sculptures would be quite an eye-opener if it was my first time.

A picture of us outside the cave.
(Adrian didn’t join us on this trip because he is saving up for a trip to Tibet)

Pictures taken in the cave.

Looks like an enormous jelly fish cast in stone.





Ok, it gets alittle boring after a while. We were trekking in the cave for close to 2 hours.

So we started goofing around...

What's behind the door?

The girls,

The guys, notice how far they are standing from each other. Totally separate entities.

(from left, Zhongwei, Shen, Shen's Colleague whose name I forgot.)

Our first lunch in Yangshuo:

It was a 8 dish + one soup meal

Look at the number of dishes and still counting

Busy eating

This dish is Yangshuo’s famous beer fish. Yes, fish cooked in beer. Haha, yummy.

Meat and mushrooms in a flower. Its really a flower. Interesting. But I didnt try it =X

Overall, it was a good meal.


The oldest village in Yangshuo

A glimpse of village life in the countryside


The toilet

(we walked past it without knowing it is the toilet and the smell is unbelievably stinky)

This, is the villagers' version of a cigarette filter. I have no idea what they use to make those things. =<
Michelle and I (she is exactly 3 years younger than me cause we share the same birthday)
=)

Our first drift down Li River

It was a first time for all of us to take a ride down a river on a raft made entirely out of bamboo. The raft we took down Li River is actually pretty advanced since it was powered by motor rather than manual rowing.

The scenery along Li River

Traditional Fisherman with Cormorants

Folks from NYP (my new found friends!)

SMU girls

Taking in the view of karst mountains while meandering down the Li River on a bamboo raft is a wonderful way for me to sit back and see a part of China that is very different from sprawling metropolis life in first tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

The air is fresher, people are more down to earth and simplicity of life rules over all in these rural side of China.

Materialism doesn't exist in Yangshuo

Day 2:

Round one Breakfast (we woke up early so decided to walk along West Street)

Breakfast at Drifters' Cafe + Roadside Guilin Gao and Beancurd

this tiny western cafe we found. It was packed full with western tourists.

My bacon and eggs breakfast which costs around 2 Sing bucks plus a huge cup of indonesian coffee.

Qiuxin's choc sauce + bananas pancake. Damn good!

Walking down West Street

we found a roadside stall selling Guilin jelly and homemade beancurd. The local tour guide recommendations. It was yummy. We were a bunch of very greedy people.

We even went for Round 2 Breakfast; another bowl of Guilin Mee Fen. Went to another stall to try. Roadside again. hahaha thankfully, we didn't fall sick and get the runs. Cause this time round, the stall looks dirtier. =X

We are seriously local-fied.

The 2nd Guilin mee stall

While waiting for the food to be cooked

Second breakfast of the day



Shen Yeong and Donna

A familiar sight!

This is so unexpected! Fancy finding New Zealand Natural in Yangshuo.

Hey Jax, seems like you can't keep me from eating New Zealand's Ice-cream. (you see, he will always pull me away from buying an ice-cream from New Zealand Icecream back in Sg)

Its everywhere!The following picture is for you. Lol =P

The first thing I thought of ordering; mango smoothie!

Cycling in the countryside

It was quite a harrowing experience for me because we had to cycle first on the roads before reaching the countryside. I decided to ride with Zhongwei since my riding skills have turned rusty over the years.

Cycling on a typical Chinese road in Yangshuo was quite an experience. The roads are messier and dustier plus there are plenty of motorcycles on the roads.

We went off-road after cycling for 10 minutes on the roads.

We managed to take truckloads of pictures even while cycling. Thanks to Alaska and I who do not need to do maneuvering while cycling. So our job is mainly to take pictures of the scenery and of us cycling.

Our sleeping tour guide


We finally reached our destination, Yulong River

Drifting down Yulong River on a Bamboo Raft

As compared with the first drift down Li River, I prefer this one more. The scenery is way nicer and the rafting is more traditional with manual rowing. Ok, now, I sound like an advocate for manual labour.

The uncle who rowed our raft.

He's really fit and strong because we found out the weight of the bamboo raft alone is 300 kg not including the passengers and the bicycles we had on board. There were parts of the river whereby he has to single-handedly push the raft down a slope embankment.

Mr. Full of Shit (my raft partner)

Rainclouds behind us.




Man of steel. No sign of fatigue after rowing for an hour plus. He might look very fierce but he's actually quite nice, answering the numerous questions I asked him about the river and Yangshuo. Halfway through the conversation, he told us we are very lucky to be able to go to university because many people our age in Yangshuo do not have the financial means to go the university even though they can pass the entrance exam. The look on his face when he said that, I cannot find the words to describe but at that moment, I realised how fortunate and blessed we are. Even though I do not really understand what he was trying to say most of the time and neither could he, but that conversation packed so much meaning that I'll always remember that conversation along Yulong River.

It was a memory to remember, mingling with the locals in Yangshuo. Different people, very different lifestyles, different backgrounds but our paths crossed albeit for a short period of time.

Time for us to leave for Shenzhen.

Our sleeper bus trip back.

We had to resort to eating on the bus since we were rushing for time. Hence, we packed dinner from Drifters' again. The Shephard's pie is thumbs up! If there is a chance we are going back to Yangshuo again, we'll go back there to hang out, for food and cheap beer.

I'll go back there again. Without a doubt.

So there, an unforgettable weekend spent in Yangshuo.

Ok, a little background on Yangshuo from what I gathered during the trip. FYI if you are interested.

Location:

Yangshuo which is an ancient city with 1000 years of history is about 40 miles south of Guilin, a major city in Guangxi province in southern China. Yangshuo is situated right at the Li River so it is easy to stroll along the river from the town and catch glimpses of traditional fishermen with cormorants (a type of bird which catches fish).

In recent times, it has been traditionally a backpackers' haven, but Yangshuo now sees its fair share of domestic tourists as well as foreign package tourists (that would be us). It is a relatively laidback town with pubs, live band bars and cafes along street corners. In my opinion, Yangshuo is a wonderful change from big-city-China. This small town, by Chinese standards, only has about 300,000 people so it seriously feels like a village.

Features of Yangshuo

1) Karst mountains and limestone caves

2) West street, or Xi Jie - it is the place to shop, chill and have an ice cold beer. Plus, there are plenty of western tourists (eye candy). It is also the backpacker/tourist street, full of cafes, souvenir stalls, tourist touts, hostels and hotels. The place to bargain hard for hand painted shirts, food products and accessories.

3) Boat Rides Li River and Yulong He

4) Cycling in the countryside

5) Visiting the oldest villages in Yangshuo

Some tips to take note while traveling in Yangshuo

1) Book a bike tour, the best way to see the surrounding area is a slow meandering bike ride through the valley.

2) Be very careful with personal belongings because there are many pickpockets and cheats since Yangshuo is such a big tourist destination. Keep your wallet safe and bargain hard, and you'll have a great time. We didnt bring any shoulder bags and bulky wallets. Just travel as light as possible. I didn't bother bringing my heavy make up bag and facial stuff. A good change for a while. Just the essentials. =)

This trip is the shortest, the cheapest trip I've been on, but the memories are priceless.