China Tour - Guilin, Yangshuo
I once mentioned to fellow tourist that I met that I like Yangshuo the most, because its a good balance between nature and night life. And somehow when I look at these photos again, I realised it did not managed to capture that. But as a whole now I prefer Lijiang. Guilin, Yangshuo has its natural beauty, but somehow I think it lacks hidden gem which I found in Lijiang.
First impression, when i got on the cab I saw basically this and I got excited and I must say the place is just full of such protuding rock structures.
Then I took the famous ferry ride on Lijiang, which is when I learnt ... never go on big tours. Basically I only managed to capture a couple of photos without someone's else's hand head etc. And somehow the whole ferry trip, though beautiful, was kind of disturbed by hordes of tourist bumping into you to get themselves into the pictures, shouting about how to get the best angle.
Comparing that to this ...
A boat ride in Yangshuo which I enjoyed a hell lot more. A quiet boat ride alone with my boatmen and a young 20ish local guide. It was so quiet and peaceful. The guide told me he never gets sick of this ride because he feels like he is inside a Chinese painting and I agree with him. But then I also had a hang over from yesterday night.
Talking about hangover, I based myself in Yangshuo. Its a happening backpacker place where there are many foriegners，situated in the midst of all these strange rocks (Though less charming than Suhe, Lijiang). One bar which I visited, RuGuo, as in "If" is the only one that boast that they play Hip Hop, Drum and Bass. Not really true but the owner is very friendly, introduced me to a few of his friends. We played games, drink, got drunk and I have forgotten all their names and did not even remember when and how I got back to my hotel. The owner invited me to dinner the next day but I was too tired to socialised so I did not join them, and felt kind of bad.
Okay then there is also this nice alfesco cafe where you can have dinner and this view.
I went to this cave, Water Cave, its worth mentioning because it huge and still relatively undeveloped. But at the same time it reflects the depressing state of China Tourism, basically, they did not manage to emphasis the size of the cave which is the main feature of the cave, and the tour guide was uneducated not able to explain the various scientific facts of the formation but instead keeps pointing out what each of these formation looks like. When asked who found this cave by one genuinely curious tourist, she said "Our Ancestors" We all laughed.
And it is very obvious they do not really care about the future of the cave. Instead of discouraging visitors from touching the formation like in New Zealand Australia, because it would basically destroy the natural composition of these formation and cause it to stop forming, turn dull and ultimately be destroyed. The tour guide encouraged visitors to touch, rub, climb on top of all these shiny sparkling formation. So throughout the tour the tourist were clamouring over these formations.
Then there is YueLiang Shan (Moon Sun) a curious whole in the middle of the hill will turn into an eclipse as you walk around it.
On my last day, I did a leisurely walk around Yangshuo determined to find a quiet place to spend my time. Walked along Lijiang River and relaxed at this place further off town overlooking the river. Deserted and the whole track is mine. You can walk here naked and no one will notice : >
Finally the only picture of Guilin, Yangshuo which I am happy with : >
First impression, when i got on the cab I saw basically this and I got excited and I must say the place is just full of such protuding rock structures.
Then I took the famous ferry ride on Lijiang, which is when I learnt ... never go on big tours. Basically I only managed to capture a couple of photos without someone's else's hand head etc. And somehow the whole ferry trip, though beautiful, was kind of disturbed by hordes of tourist bumping into you to get themselves into the pictures, shouting about how to get the best angle.
Comparing that to this ...
A boat ride in Yangshuo which I enjoyed a hell lot more. A quiet boat ride alone with my boatmen and a young 20ish local guide. It was so quiet and peaceful. The guide told me he never gets sick of this ride because he feels like he is inside a Chinese painting and I agree with him. But then I also had a hang over from yesterday night.
Talking about hangover, I based myself in Yangshuo. Its a happening backpacker place where there are many foriegners，situated in the midst of all these strange rocks (Though less charming than Suhe, Lijiang). One bar which I visited, RuGuo, as in "If" is the only one that boast that they play Hip Hop, Drum and Bass. Not really true but the owner is very friendly, introduced me to a few of his friends. We played games, drink, got drunk and I have forgotten all their names and did not even remember when and how I got back to my hotel. The owner invited me to dinner the next day but I was too tired to socialised so I did not join them, and felt kind of bad.
Okay then there is also this nice alfesco cafe where you can have dinner and this view.
I went to this cave, Water Cave, its worth mentioning because it huge and still relatively undeveloped. But at the same time it reflects the depressing state of China Tourism, basically, they did not manage to emphasis the size of the cave which is the main feature of the cave, and the tour guide was uneducated not able to explain the various scientific facts of the formation but instead keeps pointing out what each of these formation looks like. When asked who found this cave by one genuinely curious tourist, she said "Our Ancestors" We all laughed.
And it is very obvious they do not really care about the future of the cave. Instead of discouraging visitors from touching the formation like in New Zealand Australia, because it would basically destroy the natural composition of these formation and cause it to stop forming, turn dull and ultimately be destroyed. The tour guide encouraged visitors to touch, rub, climb on top of all these shiny sparkling formation. So throughout the tour the tourist were clamouring over these formations.
Then there is YueLiang Shan (Moon Sun) a curious whole in the middle of the hill will turn into an eclipse as you walk around it.
On my last day, I did a leisurely walk around Yangshuo determined to find a quiet place to spend my time. Walked along Lijiang River and relaxed at this place further off town overlooking the river. Deserted and the whole track is mine. You can walk here naked and no one will notice : >
Finally the only picture of Guilin, Yangshuo which I am happy with : >