I ended up spending 3 days and 3 nights in Yangshuo. I totally fell in love with the town. I have been to some pretty amazing places but I think I would put Yangshuo in at least the top 5 it not, top 3. Up to this point I was starting to lose faith in meeting friendly Chinese people my age. That also totally changed in Yangshuo, I definitely met a number of very hospitable people (Thanks Olive, Crane, Lemon and Carmel!!!) One of the coolest things I got to do was go swimming in the river at a secret beach the last day I was there! I don't have any photos from this because I didn't bring my camera but it was a great way to end my stay in Yangshuo. If you ever end up in Yangshuo and wanna go swimming, let me know! I might remember the way or could give you some contacts!
After Yangshou I headed back to Guilin to catch a flight back to Beijing (which proved to be a very scary budget airline but thats a whole other story). I only had a few days in Beijing before leaving for home (I included those photos with my earlier Beijing Post). So this post ends my travelogue of China!
While the first few weeks were a bit tough (between adjusting, long production days, getting sick, getting use to the food, etc) I ended up having an amazing time. I think I must just be getting good at traveling because even after 25 days away, I was ready to stay for another month!
Before I left a number of people kept saying "Oh what a trip of a lifetime." While I appreciate this, I really don't expect this to be the only time I travel to China... at least i hope not!!!!
A few bamboo rafts wait to take passengers on a ride at dusk.
A women wasting clothes in Yangshuo.
One of the many walking streets in Yangshuo.
The hostel I stayed at in Yangshuo. Note the pool table outside... awesome!
This is Crane (who worked at the above hostel and ended up being showing me around). We went out to dinner at a very non-tourist restaurant. When the bill came it was seriously less then $5 for all that food. I like China, I can totally be a baller there!
I thought the river was beautiful during the day, well at night it has a totally deferent but equally (if not more) awesome vibe! A man looks for valuable rocks with a head light.
It happen to be the "Ghost Festival" while i was in Yangshuo. I would have had no idea what was going on if it wasn't for Crane explaining it to me. During Ghost Festival people burn money (or most cases fake money) and wish for good luck from their dead relatives.
We stopped and talked to these guys for a bit. They gave us some fake money to burn with them.
Another shot of locals burning money to honor the dead.
The view from the top of the hostel.