Li River

The main reason Yangshuo is such a popular destination is the Li River. It's absolutely stunning how it carves its way through a valley lined with steep limestone karst peaks. The easiest and most popular way to acess the the most impressive stretch is by taking a bamboo boat between the villages of Yangdi and Xing Ping. The one thing you absolutely must not forget is a functional camera with a full battery and plenty of disk space.

It took me over an hour by local bus to get to the small riverside village of Yangdi. I originally thought I’d like to walk a path down the valley for 24 km to Xing Ping but I was getting kind of a late start. Upon arrival in Yangdi a Malaysian man, who I met on the bus, invited me to join his group if I just picthed in a share for what they already paid for the boat. However, the locals caught on right away that I had originally arrived alone and would not let me join another group. They pretty much suss out who arrives with who in order to get as many boats hired as they can. The Malaysian man spoke fluent Mandarin grew very angry as he argued with the locals. He genuinely wanted my company, the boat was paid for, and there was plenty of extra room but the locals wanted to sell another boat. I deabated sticking with my original plan to walk because I was a bit put off by it all.

As I debated what to do I figured out the pricing. Chinese pay 80 yuan. Foreign tourist pay 100 – 120 yuan with Americans, as usual, singled out to be charged the highest. The boats are modeled after a traditional bamboo raft variety and hold around 4 to 8 people depending. The price is for the boat not per person. My choice was either walk or get my own boat. With a good amount of effort I got the price down to 100 yuan ($15 USD). Had I planned a little better beforehand I’m sure I could have met up with some other tourists and split cost but I didn’t really know the situation until I got there. Oh well, what the heck, I paid a 100 yuan and hopped on a faux pvc bamboo boat for an incredibly scenic ride down the placid yet swift flowing Li River. With unbelievable scenery everywhere before me I powered up my camera with a screen message alerting me, “NO MEMORY CARD”. Oh well, I wasn’t going to let it dampin my experience so I just sat back and enjoyed a ride that lasted almost 2 hours…

Looking back I should have just started walking down the valley. There are numerous places along the way that if it got too late or you got too tired you could just hire a boat to take you as far as Yangshuo. Since I plan to stay awhile longer in the area I may go back now that I’ve got it all figured out. Although I don’t have any photos of the boat ride I’ve posted a picture of the Li River as seen from Yangshuo early in morning….