Yangshuo (Guangxi)
View of the Yulong from the Dragon Bridge
- An Introduction to Yangshuo
- Yangshuo Town
- The Yangshuo Picture Gallery
- The Yangshuo Slideshows
- The Surrounding Countryside
- Dragon Bone Rice Terraces
- Tai Chi in Yangshuo
- Things to Do In and Around Yangshuo
- The Yangshuo Climate
- Getting to Yangshuo
- Accommodation
- Other Basic Expenses
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An Introduction to Yangshuo
Yangshuo is in Southern China, not too far above Hong Kong, near to the city of Guilin.
It is the one of the top tourist destinations in China, famous for its beautiful scenery - the inspiration for much of China's art work.
This has meant that the local infrastructure has developed and is suitable and enjoyable for Western tourism. It is a beautiful place to stay for a while and have a holiday at the same time as learning Tai Chi.
Yangshuo Town
Yangshuo from Above
Yangshuo has always been an interesting town.
Because of the beauty of its surrounding countryside, it found itself part of a fascinating Chinese experiment in early tourism and benefited from a relaxation of the control that existed elsewhere in China.
The rest of China has taken almost twenty years to receive the same sense of freedom, but Yangshuo still has a different feel.
Most visitors to China feel more comfortable in the Yangshuo area than in any other region of China.
The town itself has been tastefully developed to provide a more beautiful ambience than the early Communist grey buildings, blending the older wooden buildings with newer ones.
The Yangshuo Nightlife is Lively and Interesting.
The town is famous all over China for its 'West Street' which has had shops and restaurants catering to Western tastes for thirty years.
Shopping has always been a major Yangshuo occupation for the foreign visitors and there is a very wide range of craft goods available here, mostly hand made in ethnic minority villages in Guangxi and Guizhou Provinces.
Yangshuo is attracting high quality artists to itself and there are now several galleries with high quality Chinese art for viewing and purchase along with other shops displaying Chinese silver work, silk weaving and many other goods.
Atmospheric Restaurants with Food to Suit the Western Palate
The restaurants in Yangshuo are certainly different to the Chinese norm, though there are also many high quality traditional Chinese restaurants as well.
Menus are in English and Chinese. Chinese dishes have been adapted to suit Western preferences. Western dishes and deserts are available everywhere and the bars and restaurants are fitted out to provide an ambience that is unusual still in China.
They often play Western music as well.
There has always been a wide variety of tea, coffee and alcohol available here to cater for Western tourists as well as breakfast favourites like orange juice, banana porridge, fried eggs and bacon and maple syrup pancakes etc.
The quality of Western food is very high here with good steaks, oven made pizzas and tasty pasta dishes and there is a famous French restaurant Le Votre in the main square run by a Frenchman.
There are also high quality Chinese fish restaurants serving the local delicacy of river fish cooked in beer along with a host of other dishes. A real treat for special occasions.
Finally, the town now has an amazing Chinese vegetarian restaurant which has really added to the diversity of choice available in the town. Complete with traditional style furnishings, its ideal for a unique dinner out.
Ironically West Street has now become a genuine tourist attraction in its own right for Chinese tourists who come to savour the unique atmosphere here. It has become famous all over China.
Yangshuo Picture Gallery
Li River Frontage, Yangshuo
The Li River frontage at Yangshuo
Tasteful development around the Paradise Hotel, Yangshuo
One of the Original Yangshuo Restaurants from the 80's
Yangshuo is a Town Full of Personality
Yangshuo West Street Night Life
Yangshuo Slideshows
The Countryside around Yangshuo
Most visitors to Yangshuo come to see the surrounding countryside. Yangshuo is situated next to the beautiful Li River (Lijiang) in the centre of the most stunning Karsk Limestone mountain area in China.
It really has to be seen to be believed, an artist or photographers paradise.
If you climb one of the hills the mountains go on and on into the distance, but it is easy to reach exceptional places from Yangshuo either by taxi or by bicycle which are easily rented in Yangshuo town. Cycle trips out to Moon Hill are part of the Yangshuo experience.
The author recently completed a private boat trip along the Li River from Xing Ping to Yangdi and after visiting this area for the last 14 years, I was completely blown away by the beauty of the scenery on this stretch of the River. It truly is one of the special places on the planet.
The pictures say enough...
Along the Li River, Yangshuo
Hills around Yangshuo Park
Hills around Yangshuo Park
Karsk Scenery around Yangshuo
Karsk Scenery around Yangshuo
The Yulong He River near Yangshuo
A Slideshow of the Surrounding Countryside - To do
Yangshuo Countryside
The Dragon Bone Rice Terraces at Longsheng
Longsheng is a mountain area approximately 3-4 hours North of Yangshuo and is easily reached via tours from Yangshuo. Again this area is simply one of those amazing places on Earth. The local minority Zhaung and Yao tribes have carved the landscape here for over 800 years to make a subsistance living in this mountainous area. This is a great place to visit for a day or preferably a couple of days with time to walk among the hills and enjoy this quiet place.
One of the Long Ji Rice Terraces near Longsheng
View from an adjacent hill
Wooden Houses at Longsheng
Building and maintaining these things is not for the faint hearted!
Tai Chi in Yangshuo
There is no particular tradition of Tai Chi in Yangshuo, but Tai Chi has always been taught there to tourists passing through.
It was natural for this to evolve into large scale teaching and so several schools have formed in the area around good Tai Chi practitioners - see Wang Zhi Ping and Fu Neng Bin.
Mei, of the Long Tou Shan school is moving to America, but it sounds like some of the teachers from her school will form a new school based near the Yulong River, just outside Yangshuo.
It is also possible to take private Tai Chi lessons with some good teachers in Yangshuo.
Yang Dong Bao teaches Traditional Long Form 85 in the park or in his studio and is excellent, and Kim teaches 'Chen Zhen Lei' Chen style, privately in the park and he also seems very good.
Things to do in and around Yangshuo beyond seeing the Countryside
Yangshuo has always been the place where travellers put down roots for a while on their journey and this has made the town a very interesting place to stay and do things. Tai Chi has always been one of the activities but many others are also offered.
Mountain Biking around Yangshuo is a must!
Mountain Biking is a major activity here obviously with all this scenery to explore.
Chinese Language teaching is easily available and the Tai Chi Schools can help you find a teacher if this is of interest.
Chinese Cookery is taught to a good standard by several cooking schools in Yangshuo.
Caligraphy and Chinese Painting is everywhere. Yangshuo attracts many Chinese artists because of the combination of the scenery and unique atmosphere here, allowing them to sell their work.
Yangshuo is World Famous among International Climbers
Rock climbing though a relatively new sport in China, is a major scene in Yangshuo because of the unlimited number of quality faces to climb in the region. Many international climbers stay here for months.
There are shops here to buy gear and climbing tours are offered for tourists.
Therapeutic Massage, acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine are available in the area at a high standard but reasonable price. I've used Dr. Lily for myself, but there are many to explore around the town.
The Butterfly Cave is one of many Caves around Yangshuo
Caving is available in a tourist controlled way.
Obviously with the limestone this area has some of the most spectacular caves in the World.
For the moment these can only be visited through controlled cave experiences, though no doubt eventually caving will develop like the climbing.
Visits to the 'Water Cave' or some of the dry caves form a part of most people's visits to Yangshuo.
This list is only a beginning...
The Yangshuo Climate
The Yangshuo climate is an interesting mix of the tropical weather which comes up from the South and the cooler more temperate weather which comes down from the North.
As such it is not easy to predict the weather pattern for a given year as each year is different depending on larger scale weather patterns.
There are general trends which can be taken into account though :
January - Winter : Quite cold but snow and frost is very unlikely. Temperatures will be 5-10°C probably, but sunshine is possible which makes things more comfortable. Tai Chi is still possible with plenty of warm clothes but not so comfortable.
February - Winter : Still quite cold and can be wet, but this is not a bad time to start a long period of study. Some years have a dry sunny winter and so this period can be beautiful and surprisingly warm at times.
March - Early Spring : Temperatures rise a bit 10-15°C. It can be quite wet but this doesn't disturb the Tai Chi training so long as there is a roof to train under. This is a good time to study.
April - Late Spring : Temperatures rise to 15-20°C perhaps and there is a higher chance of 'perfect' weather but it can also be a wet period some years. This is a very nice time to study Tai Chi in Yangshuo.
May - Early Summer : Temperatures are 20-30° increasing through the month as Yangshuo moves into Summer. This is a beautiful time for most of China.
June - Early Summer : As May but slightly hotter. Tai Chi is best practiced out of the sun, early and late in the day.
July / August - Summer : Temperatures are often hot 30-34°C and humidity is high. Many days will be sunny and beautiful and this is a peak time for the Yangshuo tourism generally. As with June, Tai Chi is best practiced out of the sun, early and late in the day. There can be heavy rain for short periods during the Summer which cools the air.
September - Late Summer : Temperatures fall slightly and this can be a very beautiful time in Yangshuo. September is a good time all over China.
October - Early Autumn : Again this is a beautiful period in Yangshuo. It can be hot still some years or ideal with temperatures 20-30°C and sunny.
November - Autumn : As with October it is generally an amazing time to be in Yangshuo, but some years are less reliable and the 2005 and 2006 seasons were quite wet and cloudy in November.
December : Early Winter : This is still a good time weatherwise though air temperatures drop quickly through the month. It is not unusual to have sunshine and clear blue skies right through to Xmas, in which case temperatures later in the morning onwards are very comfortable.
Click here for the weather forecast for the next 5 days
Getting to Yangshuo
If you are outside China, then travel to China and Guilin is easy and reasonably priced :
Hong Kong, Bangkok, Beijing and Shanghai are major travel hubs and can be reached from most international airports.
From Hong Kong, you can fly direct to Guilin, or take a cheaper flight from Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Zhuhai which are just across the border of mainland China. Guangzhou has the best schedule.
From Thailand the flights to Guilin are very convenient and reasonably priced on Bangkok Airways or China Southern Airways. The author recommends Bangkok Airways.
If you are in China then travel to Guilin is straightforward :
By Air : Guilin airport is the nearest airport and as this is a tourist area , it is well connected to the rest of China. From Beijing or Shanghai there are many flights each day to Guilin.
By Train or Bus : Again Guilin is well connected by train to the rest of China. There are direct trains all the way from Beijing or Shanghai down to Guilin. A Railmap of China
Those more experienced in China can save money on the journey between Guilin and Hong Kong by travelling by bus or train to and from Shenzhen. This is approximately 200-300Y for both. Note buses will stop at Yangshuo if you ask, but the destination to mention in Shenzhen is usually Guilin. Train travel to Guilin only.
Please note the local flights are very reasonably priced (600Y from Guangzhou) and so unless you really need to save money we recommend flying to Guilin.
Transfer from Guilin :
Taxis direct from Guilin airport to Yangshuo are expensive 500Y+, however if you have already booked with a Tai Chi school, you can email them before you arrive with the time and flight number and they should arrange a taxi to meet you at the airport with a card showing your name etc. at a cost of about 200Y. This is recommended especially for night time arrivals in Guilin.
There shouldn't be a problem arriving at night as a woman in Guilin airport as long as a taxi is pre-booked. I'd mention any concerns you might have and seek reassurance from the school.
There is also a low priced bus to Guilin most of the time, where you can arrange a taxi by yourself for about 150-200Y.
Between Guilin and Yangshuo there are two modes of public transport : Government direct buses between the Yangshuo Bus Station and Guilin Bus Station which cost 15Y and take an hour and a quarter and Private Mini Buses between the Yangshuo Bus Station area and the Guilin Railway Station for about 10Y which take longer. The latter are a stopping service and we do not recommend you use them especially when travelling with luggage. There have been reports of crime on these buses. The owners may try and take advantage of your ignorance and persuade you to take them, but we recommend walking to the bus station.
Accommodation
The Li River Retreat Hotel, Yangshuo
Yangshuo has accommodation to suit most people and budgets.
Hotels are available to suit a range of budgets :
Brand new hotels providing a good standard can cost 250Y - 350Y per night for a double room, but there are very good hotels just two or three years old offering comfortable rooms for 100Y-150Y per night.
The price then falls depending on location but it is easy to find rooms without a view for 40Y-60Y per night in Yangshuo often with twin beds.
Lower prices may be available if you pay in advance for a long-term stay but the prices rise dramatically during Chinese holiday periods - Chinese New Year (Jan / Feb for two weeks), May 1-5 and October 1-5.
Long Stay Accommodation :
A room in a Boarding House with shared bathroom
Comfortable long stay accommodation is available in Yangshuo at reasonable prices, although you may need some help to find it. This is on a monthly rental basis of about 500Y per month+, although sometimes a little less is possible.
The houses are usually very clean and maintained to a high standard.
Rooms usually come with bedding, television and basic furnishings. The bathroom may be attached or shared. Hot and cold air conditioning is usually provided but the electricity is likely to be charged for extra on a meter.
There are also flats available for rent in Yangshuo, so its really possible to set up home there but I can't help you any more than this at the moment.
People requiring a higher standard of accomodation can make a long stay arrangement with one of Yangshuo's hotels, often for about 1200Y-2000Y a month.
Other Basic Expenses?
Although Yangshuo is a popular tourist destination, it is located in Guangxi Province which is one of the poorer provinces of China. As such Yangshuo has always been and still remains one of the best value places to visit in China.
While it is true that West Street is more expensive than other areas of Yangshuo or the surrounding area, it still remains good value for Western travellers or holidaymakers.
Restaurants provide good quality, safe food for 15-30Y per meal in West Street and the surrounding tourist areas.
Generally it is also safe to eat in places catering to local people or in the markets and then the prices of food drops dramatically. A breakfast of rice porridge and steamed bread or pork dumplings in the market will cost as little as 5Y which is 45p.
Local Transport is also good value.