Off to Yangshuo, We Go
It has been a crazy couple of days- amazing, but crazy. I think those words describe every single day in China. Amazing and crazy. This past weekend, we had a few days off at the school, so we were able to travel to Yangshuo and Guilin. These were both places that I was really excited to visit. I honestly was worried that Yangshuo wouldn’t live up to the hype that surrounded it. Luckily, it definitely lived up to the expectation I had in my head. In fact, we loved it so much that we are going to make another trip to Yangshuo and Guilin before leaving China. There are other reasons for us to visit again, but I’ll get to that later.
We left our apartment at 4:00 a.m. on Friday morning. Our little group was able to get to the train station with relative ease. Upon boarding the train, we discovered that we were actually boarding a bullet train. Jordan and I had assumed that the train would resemble some of the trains we rode while in Russia. I anticipated an old soviet era steam train to pull into the station, not a deluxe, high tech train. The train was super cool. It was pretty smooth to ride on, and obviously went super fast. There was a screen that displayed the train’s speed as we rode. We typically stayed within 140-150 mph.
Picturesque and Lovely Yangshuo
Our little group arrived in Yangshuo in the early afternoon. Finding the hostel was a bit of an adventure, but after about an hour of wandering, we made it. The hostel was nice, and the staff was wonderful. Three girls in our group opted to do some white water rafting. The rest of us decided to wander the city and take in the sights. We had such a great day! We were able to explore the picturesque, unique parts of the city, and take photos. Additionally, our group did some souvenir shopping, which was fun. Everything in Yangshuo is beautiful. Admittedly, it’s a bit run down, but that is a common theme in China. Despite the crumbling façade of most of the buildings, the city carries a quaint, beautiful element. Perhaps it is the outstanding mountains, or the gently drifting Li River, or the typical Chinese architecture that makes Yangshuo so amazing. Whatever it is, I love it. It’s a relaxing place.
One area that we found was an interesting park. It wasn’t interesting in the way of it’s flora or fauna, or in its sculptures. It was interesting because of the people. This park was filled with the elderly. All of them were playing games, singing karaoke, practicing tai chi, or practicing music. Each one of them had a childlike light in their eyes. We even had the joy of watching two older women play on a teeter-totter together. They giggled and laughed the whole time, completely uncaring as to what others thought of them. Groups of old women and men brought their own karaoke machines, and sang to their hearts’ delight. Most of the singing was off-key, but they didn’t care. Those people cared only that they were having fun. It was an amazing scene to observe.
A Hike With a Side of Bribery
The next day was a bit more eventful. Our group decided to climb up a mountain, to the local TV tower. From the TV tower, you are able to get an aerial view of Yangshuo. In order to get to the tower, you have to follow a very specific set of instructions. Luckily, ILP has a post on their blog, all about how you can reach it. The only way to reach the tower is through a labyrinth of apartment buildings and small alleys. All of the locals know that the only reason a group of Americans would be in that area is to go to the TV tower. As such, they all point you in the right direction.
After making our way through the little alleys, we found the trailhead. The hike was steep the whole way up. The trail consisted of nothing more than a crumbling, slippery staircase. For those who don’t know, or didn’t realize, Yangshuo is in southern China, so the temperatures are incredibly hot and humid. We lucked out by having a great deal of cloud-cover, which kept the temperatures reasonable. However, we still were so sweaty that our sweat soaked all the way through our clothing. Jordan was literally able to ring water out of his shirt at the end of our hike. Additionally, it was so muggy that Jordan’s hands started to prune.
The hike was steep, but overall, not too challenging. We hiked to the top in an hour and a half, and were able to go back down to the bottom within 45 minutes.
At the top of the mountain, we found a locked gate, which we had expected. The only way to get through the gate to see the viewpoint is by bribing the man who lives and works at the TV tower. After a few minutes of rattling the metal gate, a haggard, shirtless Chinese man exited his home and met us at the gate. He told us that he wanted 5 Yuan per person in order to let us in. We quickly obliged and were let into the gates. Because it was such a foggy, cloudy day, we weren’t able to see the valley too clearly, but we still loved the view. It didn’t capture well on camera, but we didn’t care. We had climbed a mountain, and were able to see the entire valley of Yangshuo. It was beautiful. After taking a few photos, we started back down the mountain. A short way down the hill, we came across another amazing viewpoint. The clouds had parted slightly, giving us a beautiful photo opportunity.
We loved the hike to the TV tower in Yangshuo. It was hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable, but was still an amazing experience.
Upon reaching the city after the hike, we were still drenched in sweat. Needing a quick cool-down, we sought out smoothies. That was one of the most rewarding smoothies I’ve ever had in my life. It wasn’t particularly special, but it was delightful in the moment.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent casually wandering through Yangshuo. We enjoyed having some downtime. During our vacations, Jordan and I have a tendency to overload our schedules, never leaving enough time to relax, and have a casual day. We took full advantage of that in Yangshuo. With how crazy our lives have been since arriving in China, we were more than happy to sit back and relax for an afternoon.
That evening, our little travel group decided to go to a little shop where the fish eat the dead skin off of your feet. It was one of the weirdest and funniest things I’ve ever done. I have some thick calluses on my feet, so I was interested to see if the fish would actually make a difference on them. The whole experience tickled so much! It feels like a bunch of cats licking your feet. It’s so weird. At the end of our time, I noticed that there was a dead fish at the bottom of my tank, and the other fish were nibbling on it. Seeing that freaked me out a bit, and I was suddenly worried that I would get a weird fish foot disease. Luckily, it has been nearly a week, and my feet are just fine. My feet are also much softer, so the nibble fish actually did their job.
Until then,
Madison and Jordan
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