Yangshuo, China

Yangshuo, China

Due to the unexpected change of our travel plans, Anna and I decided to go to Guangzhou and then head to Guilin by train from there before taking a boat trip along the Li River to Yangshuo. Anna had been to Yangshuo before and was eager to see what it was like now, while I was really looking forward to going there to witness the beauty of the Karst landscape. Therefore, we had agreed to make it our main destination.

The next day, in case of missing our train, we arrived at the train station totally two hours ahead of the departure time. Fortunately, it wasn’t that difficult to find out where we had to get on our train. As at the departing time all of the people in the room started to push their way towards the doors. We just followed their steps.

The 13 hour overnight train travel to Guilin was rather smooth and peaceful, I had a amazingly good night’s sleep, but had to wake up early at 6:00 AM to get off the train. After booking tickets for our late-morning Li river cruise to Yangshuo, we had our breakfast with noodles from a street vendor just outside the station. I had put much chili sauce in it supposing it would be something special. We walked around Guilin to kill some time before our cruise. We stopped at a hotel named ‘just for tea’. Don’t be cheated by its name. It is not allowable for you to have just a cup of tea, so we ordered some food as well. Later, we took the bus to the place where our boat trip would start. Our boat finally departed after waiting for the other passengers about half an hour.

It was really cold in the boat, especially for me who just come from the heat of Hong Kong, the Philippines and Australia. However, the Karst scenery was so amazing that it had lessened our coldness and the discomfort. It was pretty gorgeous. After an uncomfortable end of the journey in a squashed minibus with my backpack balancing precariously on my lap, we finally reached Yangshuo at around 4pm. I liked the town at the first sight, in spite of the large number of the tourists. The atmosphere is so harmonious and it is positively much easier to stay there than anywhere else I had been to in China. Many more people speak good English. The market stalls and shops selling beautiful fabrics and other gifts and souvenirs can be found everywhere. The restaurants and cafes offer both Chinese and Western food, and acting as a splendid backdrop to every view. At any angle are the lovely, awe-inspiring Karst mountains. Anna was too surprised to see a word. The things have changed beyond her recognition in these years. But at least one point that she was glad to find that the incredible Karst mountain has retained its charm.