Perhaps you may have heard Yangshuo being a very touristic place but it all depends on how you explore it. Places where genuinely friendly and welcoming villagers offer you an insight into the local culture and customs. To little local family-run restaurants with character with true local foods and to beautiful isolated spots you can have all for yourself and that will cost you hardly anything. This is my travel style, going the local way.

It was a gloomy morning when we took the high-speed train from Guilin central station to Yanghuo, a half an hour ride away. Actually, the Yangshuo station is not right smack in the middle of town, but rather on the outskirts of another village called Xingping.

An ancient Chinese poet once depicted the scene of Yangshuo as “scattered houses at the foot of Bilian Peak”. He would never expect that the residential spot of a few households has developed into a town today. The most amazing section of Yangshuo is its West Street, about 1000 meters long, popularly known as “Foreigner’s Street”. It is just another backpacker’s street with a long stretch of bars, pubs, restaurants and hostels. From the high-speed rail station, there are shuttle bus options to go to Xingping ancient town (the nearest town 5 yuan), Fuli (15 yuan) and Yangshuo town (20 yuan).

There are several ways to enjoy the wonderful scenery of the majestic Li-river in Yangshuo. These include hiking, cycling, or cruising the Li-river down either on a small motorised PVC raft (none of them real bamboo) or per larger Li-river cruise boat. Below we have added the pros and cons of either a raft or boat cruise on the Li-river as part of your transfer to Yangshuo, either from Guilin or the rice terraces. We did not want to risk taking the PVC raft as it did not offer any shelter and the weather for that day did not look promising. The cruise boat was the safest option for us.

The most famous section of the Li-river meanders between Yangdi and Xingping and covers some of the most impressive part of the Li River with giant limestone peaks, sub tropical forest shading the banks and long white pebble beaches (depending on the water level). The downside is that it is also the most touristic stretch of the Li-river especially between 10.00 and 16.00 when you will encounter dozens of tour boats cruising up and/or down the river and a myriad of smaller rafts floating in between.

Since we only had one full day to explore the Yangshuo and had no time for an overnight stay, we chose the tour boat down the Yangshuo. The boat ride was 2 hours long and costs 67 yuan. For those who prefer a more private boat tour, which cost around 120-150 yuan and can bring you to more unexplored places. The boat used for the private tour is a smaller version, compared to the bigger ferries that ply the Yangshuo.

Our ferry was filled with Chinese domestic tourists who were loud and boisterous. The tour guide on board spoke solely Mandarin, so those who do not understand may be at a disadvantaged. We felt like we were on a photo taking cruise because the guide would make us line up for photos, teaching us how to pose and where to stand. Once everyone was done, we would move off to the next place for another photo taking session. The pros of this boat tour is that we got to visit the iconic sites of the lower Yangshuo without forking out too much money, and we had people to guide us in posing for photos, where the opportunities were aplenty. The most famous scene has got to be the backdrop of the limestone mountains with the river running through it, as depicted on the 20 yuan note.

For those with more time to spare, you can consider taking this route to discover the villages along the Yangshuo. Yangdi – Xingping – 9 horse fresco hill – Yucun fishing village. Stay the night in one of the villages, so that you can wake up early to catch the sunrise over the Yangshuo.

After the boat tour, we had lunch at one of the local stalls in Xingping village. It is a quaint village with traditional houses, that have either been converted to hostels or boutique hostels and shops. It was nice to soak in the sights and smells of this small village, walkable within one hour.

Besides exploring the village, you can also take a hike up the hill (Lao Zhai Shan 老寨山) to have a panoramic view of the town and the meandering Yangshuo. The hike takes about half an hour, or slightly more for the unfit ones. The view at the top is definitely worth the effort, although I wish that the sun was out.

After that, we took a shuttle bus from the bus station in Xingping to the high-speed rail station. The shuttle bus runs every half an hour. From Yangshuo rail station, we took a high-speed train to Guangzhou, where it all started.