Cycling through Yangshuo’s karst scenery makes many lists of China’s greatest hits – right up there with the Great Wall. So our first weekend in Yangshuo we set out for a ride. Yangshuo’s Bike Asia recommended a two-day route, gave us detailed turn-by-turn directions, and provided us with top-notch mountain bikes, helmets, and a repair kit. The only tricky piece of cycling in Yanghuo was saying “go biking” in mandarin: qi zixing che.
The route was a 50-mile loop that started and ended in Yangshuo. The first day took us north to Xing Ping, situated on on the shores of the Li River among some of the region’s most picturesque scenery. We stayed the night on the outskirts of Xing Ping in a lovely inn nestled amongst the karsts. On day two, we jogged north of Xing Ping to admire some of the most dramatic scenery and then crossed the Li River by ferry at the famous Nine Horses Fresco Hill. We then climbed “Husband Mountain” and cut across the countryside on a high-ridge road before descending to the lovely Yu Long River, which we followed back into Yangshuo – partly with the aid of a bamboo raft.
A few highlights:
The Roads. Anyone who has set foot in an Asian city knows the roads can be a bit chaotic. We wondered whether we would feel safe on our bikes. In the end, the chaos worked in our favor – cars and buses were already on the lookout for the abundant slower traffic (of all kinds!) on the edges of the road. Still, on our first day of biking, the main road from Yangshuo to Xing Ping felt a bit busy, so we took a chance on a network of unmapped smaller country roads that seemed to run in parallel. We were grateful for our mountain bikes: brand-new pavement lined by solar-powered lamps in a village off the main road quickly turned into gravel at the village outskirts, then rocky and rutted trail snaking along cultivated fields. Still, it was a lovely diversion. On day two, we found hours of road that seemed too-good-to-be-true: brand new pavement on wide, well-graded roads, which we had all to ourselves. In such a densely populated country, we didn’t know what to make of this immaculate, un-used infrastructure. But it made for glorious cycling.
The Money Shot. The spectacular karsts just north of Xing Ping are featured on China’s 20 yuan bill. The spot of inspiration for that image is a big draw for Chinese tourists – a business opportunity not lost on the nation’s entrepreneurs, who capitalize on (and intentionally fuel) confusion about the “true location” of the money shot. One entrepreneur stood out for going the extra mile. The official image has a traditional fisherman in the foreground. So, this guy ferried tourists out to a small sandbar in the middle of the Li River where two “traditional fishermen” await - perfectly weathered old men with long beards and a cone-shaped hat, perched on a bamboo raft alongside with two impressive Cormorant birds. Cormorant fishing is absolutely fascinating, but there seemed to be little fishing in the hour-long photo shoot that followed.
Xing Ping at Night. Few tourists stay the night in Xing Ping. Doing so let us see a different side of the city. At dusk, the restaurants and shops begin to shutter. A big open space that serves as a parking lot for bus stations during the day transforms into an open-air gym for Xing Ping residents, who come out in mass to play basketball, dance, and enjoy the cool night air. Robynn was inspired to join in. The dance steps felt surprisingly familiar, not that different from line dances she learned at Iowa weddings as a kid.
Kindness of Strangers. Before we arrived in China, we were warned that Chinese people can sometimes be a bit cold and unforgiving of non-Mandarin speakers. China is an enormous country, so no doubt it has pockets where foreigners receive a chilly welcome – but Yangshuo is not one of them. The second day started off with a giant climb, up from the Li River to a high ridge. We worked up an appetite in the ascent and were thrilled to come across an unassuming open-air restaurant with a spectacular view. The menu consisted of handwritten Chinese characters that stumped our translation apps. We tried to order a few staples for which we knew the Mandarin names – dumplings, fried noodles – but they were not on the menu. Undeterred, the super-friendly woman marched us down to the tiny kitchen, where she pointed to eggs, tomatoes, and fresh greens – the ingredients that became a perfect lunch overlooking a sea of karst mountains. When we finished, they shared a slice of sweet watermelon they had cracked open for their kids.
Later that day, we stopped at a tiny shop to buy water. The older gentleman who owned the place invited us to take a moment to sit in front of his cool fan. On his wall was an illustrated poster to teach little kids basic Mandarin vocabulary – many of the words we were just starting to learn. As we read out loud the few we knew, he began to gently correct our pronunciations - patiently repeating the foreign sounds for us. Before we left, he introduced us to the perfect snack for a hot day: cubes of clear jello derived from beans, swimming in a refreshing, subtly sweet liquid. He wrote down the name of this local dessert for us – 广东凉粉, or Guangdong liang fen, we think – so that we could ask our teacher about it when back at school the next day.
Rafting Down the Yu Long. We capped off this remarkable weekend with a cruise down the lovely Yu Long river on a bamboo raft. The woman with whom we negotiated the trip threw our bikes on the back of her raft and poled us downriver for 15 minutes herself before passing us off to one of her business partners. The water was cold and clear; the sun was setting over the karst. We were far from alone in this romantic setting. The booming bamboo raft industry draws big crowds of domestic tourists to the Yu Long river. For kids, the outing frequently includes water guns and swimming. It turns out to also be a popular place for wedding couples to do photo shoots. We enjoyed the dozens of brides in their elegant white dresses. As the sun set, however, the crowds dwindled, and we had a few minutes of delightful solitude to enjoy the evening scenery.
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