Yangshuo
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Just over an hour south Guilin, Yangshuo, with its natural scenery and laid back air, Yangshuo traveling can be a great escape from the gray and pollution of China'a big cities.
The town of Yangshuo is a backpacker's paradise. Quirky souvenir shops and essential services like internet cafes, telecom services, food guzzling corners and pharmacies abound. Yangshuo town has flourished so swiftly that it is practically unrecognized from the latest edition of whichever guidebook you own-new streets have sprouted up with shops offering all sorts of comfort foods, the main thoroughfare has been widened to accommodate the growing volume of traffic. Clusters of shops selling herbs, teas and daily provisions line the inner alleyways.
A lively buzz hums throughout the cobbled streets. Young and old gravitate towards the chill-out joints, especially along West Steet, a 2km stretch crammed with shops, pubs, cafes and hotels. Here's where flickering neon lights have replaced red lanterns and the air is rich with band music and banter.
Yangshuo's subtropical weather, characterized by temperate summers and winters, encourage the travel-weary to lounge by numerous street-front cafes, enjoy a banana pancake and sip an ice-cold beer or two.
This little county of some 300,000 inhabitants, comprised of various ethnic groups such as the Zhuang, Yao, Miao and Han, has blossomed since the Sui dynasty some 1,400 years ago. Glimpses of the rich cultural background can be seen in the many shops selling local products such as talcum, silk, huge wall fans, scrolls and exquisite pottery pieces.
Enriching the land are the pristine waters of the Jinbao and Li river, the latrer winding some 56km through Yangshuo, connecting it with Guilin. The river is central to Yangshuo's prosperity; river water is funneled to irrigate the lush fields. Most locals still work the land on the paddy fields and orchards punctuating Yangshuo-many peaks, though a growing number of locals are involved in the more profitable tourism industry.
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