I have skipped out a leg of our journey when writing but purely for continuity our time in Xiaolan deserves a brief mention. In Xiaolan we stayed with Greg, our friend from training week in Beijing, and had a great time catching up with familiar faces and generally recharging. We didn't do a great deal (hence the omission from blogging) but it was really good to be able to sleep and wash our clothes and see so many people. The big bonus of being in Xiaolan was that we have now expanding our travelling party of 2 to a group of 8. The number will fluctuate as time goes on but for now its nice to be in a big group, although organisation is a lot less smooth than in our single minded duo!
So now we have left Xiaolan behind and moved on to continue our journey. A 12 hour bus ride took us to Yangshuo and the hub of the a south. The 12 hour bus journey wasn't too bad itself, the beds were comfy enough and the other passengers were very friendly, but the 9 hour wait until check in at our hostel was painful. A group of sleep deprived 20-something's don't do very well sleeping in a lobby. But eventually we were able to check in, ditch the bags and explore Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is set in a valley surrounded by towering green mountains and set next to the River Li, so is surrounded by great beauty but the city itself is lacking. It's much too touristy for my liking, with western style restaurants and clubs around every corner and tourists swarming. Most of the time we were in Yangshuo, the city was used as a base for visiting other places in the surrounding area; and if only for this Yangshuo was worth the visit.
The first day we visited the Silver Mines, a maze of stalactites and stalemites illuminated with multicoloured lights. It's always impressive to see first hand how nature can shape the environment to create something truly impressive.
However, after an hour in the caves the awe slightly wore off, as did the fun of the pareidolia effect - which made many of the rocks appear to resemble other things.
Day 2 we took a 3 hour cruise down the River Li to soak up some of the beautiful scenery that the region is most famous for. It was unbelievably relaxing to stand on the top deck of the boat in the sun, and be surrounded by so much natural beauty.
The scenery along the route is most famous because it features on the back of the 20元 note; when the specific area approached there was a mad rush of Chinese tourists comparing their 20元 notes to the scenery and snapping like things possessed on their cameras.
Although 3 hours was a long time to be on a boat, we managed to kill some time by engaging with our fellow tourists. We met some students from Indonesia who were lovely and incredibly friendly. We met a nice little old lady who let us have a picture with her. But most significantly we met a group of Chinese men who we're loving life on the boat. When we first started talking to them one man was topless and wearing his wife's hat, and his first was behind him jiggling his man-boobs. They were crazy crazy people but it's more fun to test out our Chinese on the eccentric folk than the shyly curious ones!
On the evening of day 2 we ventured out to the local bars for a couple drinks which somehow culminated in Shane getting a lap dance in the middle of the club in front of 100 odd people. I wouldn't consider myself an expert in lap dances, but this was unlike anything I could ever imagine. The lady straddled stripped Shane of his top and threw it into the over enthused crowd (of mainly middle age Chinese men), she straddled his head, she rubbed her face in his crotch, and just for good measure finished up by giving him a front wedgie. Sexy. We were all crying with laughter, while Shane looked pretty confused 90% of the time. It was certainly an experience but not something I think any of us would repeat.
After the excitimet of the night before we were up bright and early for our last full day in Yabgshuo to go visit the famous Dragons Backbone (Lobgdi 龙滴) rice terraces. The rice terraces are one of the most iconic landscapes in the Chinese countryside and one of the few things I knew that I wanted to see before coming to China.
They are set into the side of the mountains in Guanxi and spiral down in rice ladden steps. It's farming at it's most beautiful and the early start and steep climb were definitely worth it for the views.
On the way up to the top of the rice terraces we made the decision to pause for a mini photoshoot in full traditional minority outfits. It was a lot of fun to dress up and just be a bit silly and we definitely drew a crowd of on lookers!
Before actually reaching the rice terraces we stopped off in a minority village, touristically known as the 'Long Hair Village' because of the people who live there. All of the women in the village only cut their hair once in their lives, at age 18 to signify that they are ready to marry. This means that all the women have fantastically long hair that they pile up on their heads in intricate loops that vary depending on status in the family. Unmarried women kept their long hair covered while married women could expose their hair, and women with children have different hair to those without. A social documentation all in the hair of these women! Some of the women's hair reaches 2 meters when loose and it was interesting to see how one of the many minorities in China lived.
Overall we saw some immense natural beauty around Yangshuo, and it's this that redeems the city for me. I have no desire to see the touristy side of China that emulates the West, but sometimes you need to get through the tourist trash to get to the gems.
Yangshuo: 4/10 for Yangshuo itself, 8/10 for the surrounding area.
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