The first time I went to Guilin/Yangshuo, it was an eight-hour slow train from Hengyang (I had a hard seat, and it was crowded). Less than two years later, a two-hour 高铁 bullet train was up and running. Such is China.
Guilin 桂林 and Yangshuo 阳朔 are two popular vacation spots in Guangxi 广西 Province, in China's southeast (rumor has it, international visitors don't even need a visa if they're only stopping there for 72 hours). Because it's necessary to take a bus from Guilin to get to Yangshuo, people typically make them a package deal. To do both justice then, a week simply isn't enough - five days is more like it. I took this on as my first real solo trip in China, when I embarked on my extensive summer travels after my first year teaching in Hunan.
The area around these two oases is dotted with small rolling hills popping out of flat ground and intersected by the famous 漓江 lijiang, or Li River, immortalized in classical Chinese poetry (and not to be confused with 丽江 Lijiang, in Yunnan Province and another post). Guilin is a prefecture-level city, and the area's hub for just about everything. There are crowded pedestrian streets lined with shops, cafes, small hotels, and osmanthus trees, leading up to a lake and the twin pagodas of the Riyue Shuangta Cultural Park (lit orange and blue at night to represent the sun and moon). I walked around until my feet hurt, including to a small island accessed by a rickety monkey bridge, and around the university, where I rescued a discarded drawing from an abandoned classroom (it hung on my wall until I left China). I climbed a nearby "mountain" for an an uncharacteristically clear view of the city. From the banks of the river, I could see the 象鼻山 xiangbishan, or Elephant Trunk Hill, and the botanical gardens.
I took a day tour through my hostel to see the nearby Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces, which were verdant green and swirled as far as the eye could see. (The tour also included a minority show about the long-haired local women, which felt staged and wasn't something I would have chosen on my own anyway, but the transportation to the rice terraces alone was worth it.)
The best way to transfer between Guilin and Yangshuo is by taking a bamboo raft down the Li River. Most people do a raft/bus combo now, so the bus will carry one's bags, and I set up the same through my hostel. The rafts hold four people each, in a little square in front of the captain, who paddles over the rapids with a long bamboo pole. The scenery is spectacular, with the mountains, river, and cloud formations that grace the back of the 20 RMB note. This, it must be noted, is the boat ride I often talk about in which the woman in front of me opened an umbrella to block the sun (and, as a consequence, my view) and the captain told her to put it away because it wasn't raining. (I won't even go into how many people on the bus and other boats were sleeping through the stunning views because it was after-lunch nap time and they had already taken their pictures...) I, at least, particularly enjoyed the boat ride.
Yangshuo is smaller and more relaxed than Guilin, and has a bit more of an otherworldly feel. There is a tourist street in the main town, and a nightly light show, but these are easily skipped. In addition to the Li River, Yangshuo also sits on the banks of the smaller Yulong River, in which I enjoyed a refreshing swim on a hot afternoon and another ride on a smaller bamboo raft past water buffalo and rice paddies. I took a bike ride up to Moon Hill, a natural limestone formation that seems to show the phases of the moon depending on where one stands, followed by a mud bath in a cave with hot springs. I signed up for a cooking class that taught several local dishes, including eggplant and stuffed pumpkin flowers. (Note: This was the only market in all of China- and I visited lots - in which I actually saw live cats and dogs for sale.) I sampled delicious beer duck and fish in the hostel, and chatted with many other friendly guests from around the world. I remember it contentedly. These were things I would happily do again.
Unlike most places I traveled to in China, I did return to Guilin and Yangshuo. Kitty and I chaperoned a field trip with the first international class, which was completely different from my solo trip. We were all in a bus together and were in a different place each night, making quick stops for shows and museums (the most interesting of these was a museum about the Japanese war, which actually included English subtitles), but the kids were mostly interested in shopping and eating. Later, Melody and I returned to Guilin to hike more extensively through the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces. It seemed to us that most of the locals were abandoning rice planting in favor of operating a guest house and carrying tourists' luggage up the steep steps, as most of the paddies were dry and brown while all those in the surrounding areas were in their most prolific season. Still, it was a beautiful walk for the time being, and we stayed in the best hostel I have ever seen - it was in a prime location and had thought of all the needed details to make a backpacker feel comfortable. I'll add the name here if I can find it again.
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