A Day in YanShuo

Published on July 4, 2007 in China

We awoke at 8:00 and went to breakfast. At 10:00 we rented a bike (a tandum!) and started biking to Moon Hill. The traffic was pretty dense so we needed to be careful, but we enjoyed ourselves none-the-less.

Half-way up the road we paused for a break and an older lady came up to us asking if we wanted to buy post cards. Since they were cheaper than in town (about 70us cents) Yan-Shih bought a pack. The hunt was on, and all the other ladies all surrounded us. Yelling "go away go away" had no effect, if they understood it at all. We cycled across the bridge and took our rest.

Within an hour and a half we had reached the hill, which is obvious due to the masses of people trying to get you to buy stuff or sell you tickets. We decided to pass on purchasing tickets and continue up the road -- indeed, just around the corner was a perfect view of the hill/rock with a huge hole in the middle.

We continued up the road seeing rice patties being worked by water buffalo. We reached the next city, which was pretty dirty, turned around, and returned to the city. On our way back we took a break under the bridge and marveled about how every possible thing had been transformed into a tourist activity. The little patch of river we sat on was the only undeveloped tourist spot.

By 16:00 we were back in YanShuo, and we wandered around a little. Yan-Shih took a shower, and we pondered what to do next. We decided to go read somewhere, but unlike the U.S., there aren't that many cafes in China. Especially YanShuo (or at least the one's that don't charge $4/drink). So, we sat in KFC. The ice cream was a nice treat. After three hours of reading we ate dinner at a "Taiwanese Style" resteraunt, yet Yan-Shih nor I had ever eaten that style of food before. Still, not too bad. The waitress was the first nice person we had met in China, even though the customers were extremily rude.

We purchased some water and food, and got on our bus for Guangzhou.

Tagged as: biking | country | hills | tourist trap

Comments are currently closed for this entry.