Visiting China: Closer look at Yangshuo

When visiting China Yangshuo is a hotspot that is hardly missed by tourists, especially for it's picturesque views and authentic traditional feel. It is particularly popular amongst European visitors, as it provides a relaxing break after traipsing up and down the country. Thus most people you would come across there would be towards the end of their visit. Yangshuo village, neighbouring Guilin city experiences a huge influx of people during the summer months, sometimes reaching multiple times of its inhabitants.

The village over the years have prepared itself to tend such large number of visitors, and therefore has vast array of activities catering all sorts of interests. One of the most popular activities is the bamboo raft ride, which is one of the most relaxing thing to do around there. It takes you along the River Li, surrounded by gigantic hills and fishing villages on either side. The landscape it cruises you though is breathtaking, and only costs around 40-120RMB per person (depending on your haggling skills).

Moon Hill village which is only a few miles off Yangshuo village, has retained more of its authenticity as it is also a little away from the tourist beaten tracks. However, it is becoming increasingly popular and starting to see a large rise in population over the holiday season. A short bike ride takes you through to Moon Hill from Yanhsuo, passing through some of the most beautiful sites of the area.

Moon Hill is hard to miss as it is very high and has a distinctive shape. The peak of the hill displays a moon-shaped perforation in the middle, which has been caused over many years through wind erosion. The climb to the top of the hill can be very steep so it is not recommendable for very young children or elderly people. Also, riding a bike isn’t the only way to get to Moon Hill village, you can also get there by bus that leaves regularly, and takes approximately 40 minutes to get there.

Cormorant fishing is also one of the main attractions of Yangshuo village, that would be an absolute shame to miss. Traditionally the fishermen use the trained cormorants as well as their fishing nets. For visitors they normally do it during the evening towards sunset, and you can take a bamboo ride up to the fishing spot where they turn off their engine and let the cormorants do their job. It is a real sight and very exciting to see how well behaved they are. It is also very relaxing to flow with the river and not have any other noise except for the splashing water and the birds.

Since it is very hard to get any decent pictures of the birds or the event in the dark, you are also able to take photographs with these birds at the river bank, for a mere 5RMB (50p) during the day time.

Being a tourist village the place is scattered with restaurants and cafes so finding somewhere reasonable to eat is never a struggle.