I was in Shangri-La (almost)

Although momentarily stationed in Guangzhou here follows account of my days spent in Yangshuo and surrounding area. Last two days I spent hiking and cycling all over the place (my back side still hurts as a result).

My hiking trip took place on Christmas Eve as I took a bus ride to Yangdi and hiked by Li river to Xingping, from where I took another bus to Yangshuo. Initially I planned to hike all the way to Yangshuo, which is previously mentioned 44 km long trip, but I was delayed. Main reasons for the delay were absolute beauty of the area and river banks and my unsatisfiable appetite for making pictures. This hike momentarily belongs to my top three must see things to visit in China (others being Himalayas and Great wall). Altogether, I made c. 200 pictures which brought my memory card free space on the brink of extinction (I had to start deleting process as Hong Kong is coming).

Xingping is a small village down the river with some remarkably old streets and falling apart houses. It is also end station for the bamboo rafts starting from Yangdi (for those who are lazy to hike and have some money to shed). Area between Yangdi and Xingping is labeled as some national protection area or some sort of park and as such development is fairly limited. On the other hand entrance fee of 16 kuai does not include additional payments for crossing the river. There are two crossings but I paid only for one as in the first case I got across the river for free on the raft of some girls I met on the river bank (there is plenty of good people going down the river so do not hesitate to wait for a moment and look as lost as you can).

After my return I went for magnificent Christmas Eve dinner consisting of local specialty - beer fish. It is very easy to cook dish as you basically kill the fish in front of the customer, chop it a little, throw it on hot pan with oil, add herbs, veggies and spices, stew it on beer for a short time and serve it with rice and side dishes. I do not dare to say that is as good as the Christmas style carp my mom prepares (she would not let me in the country otherwise) but it is delicious:) I recommend everyone to go to the local farmers' market which is hidden behind the archway on Pantao Lu. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from and you can bargain your price (English menu is for orientation purposes only - what they actually offer :) ). Be aware that if you pick one restaurant the owners of others will remember that and make you suffer next time you show up (own experience). I picked my dinner of course by price but did not realized that in the process I rejected only restaurant selling the dried rats. Dowager of the rat place would than hike up the prices for my insolence and ask 50 kuai for the mouse dish. Her anger would preserve for following days until my departure. As a consolation price I decided to try snails a'la China (I honestly prefer French style snails).

Next day I got up early an went to watch sunrise over Li river (nowhere near the magnificence of Huangshan sunrise but still it is nice), hired bike and went on to Yulong river. Yulong river should by its scenery measure up to Li river (described above) and should be more comfortable as this is allegedly bikers paradise. I have to admit that I prefer Li river as it is more a back country and still undeveloped area. Yulong river is too civilized for me with villages and orange plantations, fish ponds and rice fields all over the place. Yulong bridge (built in 1412 - old school) is the final stop of the journey for most of the bikers but as I was there a little too early I cycled further along the main road to the village of Shangri-La. This is small village with out-door museum showing past life in China. I bet that it applies to most of the rural areas even today but why not ask 50 kuai entrance fee from naive city people coming in organized tours :) Anyway I did not dare to pay the fee and rather bought myself dried oranges on the way back.

Guilin area is renowned for it's touristic drive and as a 'must visit' destination for Chinese tourists. On the other hand it's smaller sister town of Yangshuo was described in Lonely Planet and by other people visiting it before me as a backpackers paradise. Unfortunately my experience is to the contrary. Yangshuo is changed and it is not to good. There are tourists all over the place (and December is supposed to be low season) and boats go up and down Li river in frequency I have not seen nowhere else (do not want to see this place in peak season). According to some locals my new acquittance talked with, Yangshuo is experiencing explosive development and growth of tourist oriented bars, restaurants, hotels and other touts.

After my return to Yangshuo I took bus to Guilin and from there the night train to Guangzhou, where my journey continues. I leave rural areas with orange and tangerine plantations (I proudly hold on to single orange I took from one of them) scattered all over the country side, where people grow sugar cane and other plants all year round, to spent my final week of travel in cities which were extensively exposed to western influence (Guangzhou is historical Canton).

Note on Chinese culture / soul
As I leave rural areas it will be even harder for me to discover and understand Chinese soul. Even until now I traveled through touristically popular areas (with exception of Changsha - attractive for Mao's pilgrims mostly) and I had to walk (literally) great lengths to see some original Chinese life and meet local people untouched by different cultures (e.g. Miao minority would have almost skipped past me if I did not apply 'strictly hard seater' policy for my train travels). What I saw so far, is the fact that Chinese people are nice, fun loving (of course exception of eastern provinces still apply) and talkative. They are eager to meet and create new acquittance (not only with westerners but also between themselves). For example during 50minutes bus ride they are able to talk with total strangers without problem and by the end of the journey whole minibus know each other. On the other hand Chinese people have utter disregard for environment and they living conditions (note to all travelers - never ever sit on the floor in Chinese trains - I saw mothers taking their little toddlers to take a leak on it without hesitation and without being reprimanded by anybody). They are prepared to throw away any packaging, peels or other on the spot. No matter that all the trash cans have separate parts for recyclable and non-recyclable trash and no matter that streets are constantly swept, nobody actually does separation and streets are instantly repopulated by tangerine peels, plastic bags etc. What worries me the most is that throwing away garbage continues also outside of the city where there is nobody to sweep it. Of course this way was alright until China started to use plastic packaging. Nowadays wherever you go you see trash and China is quickly becoming one large dumping ground. Unless people will change they habits, this might become unbearable.