Activities in Yangshuo

Yangshuo isn’t a big city by Chinese standards, with only about 500,000 residents. It’s famous for its stunning location along the Li River, surrounded by mountains and close to the Dragon River. The tourist area is concentrated around the district near the Li River, where you’ll find hotels in all price ranges, restaurants, shops, stalls, and bars—some even have KTV, which is karaoke. The best way to explore the area is by bike. Even though the landscape is rich with mountains, the roads wind around them, making it super easy to cycle around. If you want to venture into the mountains for a ride, that’s definitely possible too. According to Lonely Planet, you don’t need a guide since it’s easy to navigate. But then you miss out on all the little stories and the chance to connect with locals and hear about their lives. Our guide took us off the “main route” and into the rice fields. She also acted as a translator when we met locals who didn’t speak English. At this time of year, the rice fields aren’t green yet. They’re waiting to be planted. It’s possible to harvest twice a year, and everything is still done by hand. The government takes 20% of the harvest. The rice is used for human consumption, while the rice straw is fed to the water buffalo. A bike ride can take you out into the countryside to see rural life, Moon Hill—which is shaped like a moon and offers the most beautiful views of the area—along with the many stunning limestone caves, where you can even swim in mud and hot springs. The Dragon River is great for bamboo rafting or kayaking. There are plenty of tour guides in town, so you won’t have to search long for opportunities to try something in Yangshuo. You can hike up Moon Hill in about 30-40 minutes. It’s a steep climb, but thankfully there are stairs all the way up. The entrance fee was 15 yuan. The Yangshuo area is rich in limestone caves. There’s Silver Cave and Water Cave, where you can swim in mud or hot springs. Water Cave is 2 km deep. It costs 120 yuan to explore the 2 km inside Water Cave. The hot springs cost 80 yuan, and mud bathing is 120 yuan. We paid 140 yuan for two people to walk the 2 km in Water Cave—of course, only because it’s off-season! :o) Our guided bike tour lasted about 5.5 hours, during which we cycled around 35 km. Mountain bikes start at 10 yuan and go up from there, depending on how good of a bike you want. We paid 20 yuan for a mountain bike with 27 gears. Our guide cost 50 yuan for the whole day. During peak season, a guide should cost around 100 yuan. In those 5.5 hours, we made it out to the countryside, Water Cave, and Moon Hill.