A Taste of Guanxi Province

Once again, last weekend's themes were escaping the city and exploring China. Two hours by plane south of Shanghai, in Guanxi province, lies Yangshuo, known for its scenic rivers and dramatic "karst" mountains. Our adventure began with a 90 minute hair-raising late-night taxi ride from Guilin airport to Yangshuo, along narrow, winding, dimly-lit roads.

We awoke to find ourselves ideally situated on the Yulong river, with front row seats to the procession of bamboo boats carrying pairs of (mostly Chinese) tourists perched on bamboo chairs under brightly coloured umbrellas. We spent our first afternoon cycling alongside the river, a popular passtime in Yangshuo. As we wound our way through the quiet villages, Jerel enjoyed cheering me on in my feeble attempt to overtake a little old lady in a pink blouse on a one-gear clunker...she was quick! The following afternoon we intended to take a short countryside stroll, but thanks to a wrong turn, ended up on a several hour trek in the hot sun on a deserted road with nary a vendor in site (imagine that!).

That night, we attended Yangshuo's must-see show: "Impressions of Liu Sanjie", created by renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou. The show is set literally ON the river, against a backdrop of mountains, and involves a cast of 600, and plenty of spectacular lights, music, singing and dancing. We had planned to wrap up our trip with a kayak outing, but something in our last dinner changed our plans for the worse...an inauspicious ending to an auspicious weekend.

For more photos of Yangshuo click here.