The next day I caught a bus to Yangshuo, about an hour to two hours south of Guilin. By the time i got to Yangshuo it was pretty late into the afternoon. I was starving but I decided to go shoot some photos instead because the light was awesome. My first impression of Yangshou was "WOW!" This place was exactly what I was looking for. It had a slower pace, plenty of nature related activities, cheap food and lots of nice hostels (something Guilin seemed to lack).
After getting dinner I headed back to the hostel I was staying at. I played some pool, made some friends and then called it an early night. The one main reason I came to Yangshuo was to ride bikes. I decided I'd get up early the next day and log some serious miles on a bike.
This is the main spot downtown on the river. So beautiful!
This photo is actually from the last day I was in Yangshuo. Two girls I met (Lemon and Carmel, yes that were their names!) were nice enough to show me a scenic point in the city know as TV Tower (due to it having a TV tower ontop). I thought it was going to be a tourist spot, but as we climbed to the top I quickly realized it was not. The only other people we saw on the hike were workers climbing to the top to make a repair. Unfortunately it was super hazy, but this gives a good idea of what the surrounding area looked like!
This was a smaller village about a 20 minute walk outside Yangshuo.
On the walk to the village.
Rice patties a few minutes outside Yangshuo.
About 5 minutes after this photo, Crane and I (one of the girls who worked at the hostel I was staying at and who was nice enough to show me around) came across a house with a recently deceased woman. In the smaller villages they keep the bodies in the home for several days before burning them.
This was the main street right outside my hostel.
In china, the girls do not like to get tan. One thing they do to avoid this is attaching umbrellas to their bicycles. I saw it everywhere I went, but just couldn't get over it!
Nice light in Yangshuo.