Yangshuo and the Lijiang Cruise

Sunday, Shuai’s family, Ning and I took a trip to Yangshuo, a backpacker destination and small town near Guilin.

We took the bus to Yangdi and from there took a bamboo raft down to Yangshuo. Although the Lijiang was a little bit busy with other boaters/tourists, the view was absolutely amazing. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life. We also got off the boat in the river and went swimming, which was quite refreshing.

We also passed by the large boats that foreigners usually take and costs 500 kuai. I don’t see the appeal at all of those boats, and felt like it was much better in the bamboo raft.

Once in Yangshuo, Shuai’s parents took the bus back to Guilin because they had work the next morning, but Shuai, Ning and I stayed for the night. In Yangshuo, the place is packed with tourists. I saw more Westerners there in one day than I had seen in my entire time in China from Hong Kong, to Guangzhou, and in Guilin.

I must say, I really don’t know any backpackers and don’t understand the whole backpacking culture, but they were all over Yangshuo and the results of that are restaurants all over offering pizza, foreign food, and everything is written in both Chinese and English, meaning Yangshuo wouldn’t be the best place for me to improve my language skills.

Accordingly, when we went to go eat beer fish (a local specialty), the price was insane and although it was good, wasn’t worth the price in my opinion.

The next day, though, we rented bikes and went out of Yangshuo. We went to the Yulong river, villages surrounding Yangshuo, and just out into the beautiful countryside. It was amazing and I felt like I got a glimpse of what old China may have been like.

All in all, the view was completely worth it to take this trip, and Shuai’s connections get us into any tourist park for free in the Guilin area, which is an amazing money saver. We are back in Guilin and about to head out and go to a KTV bar, so I’m ready to show off my Chinese singing ability.

PS. One day I will post pictures on here if I ever get any readers who don't me on Facebook haha, but that will only happen when Blogger isn't blocked.