This Yangshuo travel guide includes must-see Yangshuo attractions, Yangshuo China map, video clips and photo galleries, trip reviews, getting there and around, and where to stay.

Few of Yangshuo attractions and things to do include: The Giant Banyan, The Moon Hill, Bamboo Rafting, Cruise or Trek along Li River, Bicycle Tour to Gaotian, Fuli or Baisha Towns, Impression Liu Sanjie Show, Chinese Cooking Class etc, as you will find out from the video clips under Yangshuo Attractions section.

Two Yangshuo travel maps listed below will be useful for planning your Yangshuo vacation. With Yangshuo town map you will be able to locate where is the famous West Street and few of the town's main streets. Yangshuo attractions map highlights to you most of the sightseeing spots.

If you think that Guilin's landscape is remarkable, Yangshuo is even more fascinating.

Guilin tours, if you are joining one of these tour groups, normally include a boat tour that cruise the Li River from Guilin and end their trip at Yangshuo. From here, very likely you will be given one to two hours to do some shopping along West Street. And then, the tour bus will send you back to Guilin.

To have a really fun and wonderful trip in Yangshuo, a free and easy tour is a better choice than a packaged tour.

My first travel to Yangshuo was in 1993. I enjoyed every minutes and love every corner of it.

West Street (Xi Jie)

Also known as Foreigner's Street, this cobblestone pedestrian street is lined with small cafes, antique shops, arts and craft shops, gift shops and guesthouses. If you speak English you will feel comfortable here. Almost all shops here cater specifically to travelers.

After talking to some foreigners, we were surprised to discover that some of them have stayed here for weeks, even months.

It won't take you long to feel at home here. Just walk into any cafe and ask for a drink. By the time you walk out of the cafe, you will have a complete plan of what to do in town for the following days thanks to the assistance of the cafe's manager or owner.

One-Day Bicycle Tour To Gaotian Scenic Areas

Gaotian scenic areas refer to the series of beautiful sceneries along the Guili Highway in the Gaotian village. According to our travel guide, this area is one of the most beautiful areas in Yangshuo.

Our first stop was The Giant Banyan which is a huge tree that is an amazing 1,300 years old. Wow! I knew that I had to take a look.

The Giant Banyan

Located 7.5 km from town, it took us 40 minutes to get there by bike. When we were cycling, very few vehicles passed by us. The ride was smooth and fun and the scenery along the way was fantastic.

The Giant Banyan, looks like a green, giant sized umbrella, which provides a huge shady area of 1,000 square meters making it a perfect place for resting.

While we were sitting under the tree and looking around, we were treated to a pleasant view of limestone hills, bamboo rafts floating on the rivers, people working on the paddy fields and peasant houses. All these make a superb landscape for painting.

Moon Hill (Yueliang Shan)

Situated 1 km south of the Giant Banyan with a height of 230 meters, Moon Hill is an amazing peak with an opening in it shaped like the moon. Viewed from different position as you approaching the hill top, it appears to change shapes. From one angle it was half-moon and from another it looked like a crescent.

It takes about 45-minutes to hike to the top. The view at the top is spectacular. You can see the Li River winding through hundreds of funny shaped limestone peaks, rice paddy fields and vegetable crops.

Peaceful Countryside Life

We traveled further down the Guili Highway and came to a village before we turned back to town. The countryside landscape of this village was stunning.

I can recall instantly the scenery I used to painting during my school years: rivers winding through crops and hills, a small flock of ducks swimming in the pond and bamboo rafts drifting along the rivers. All of this is set against the thick craggy hills in the distance. This is exactly what you will see in villages near Yangshuo.

It's very peaceful here. No traffic noise, no one shouting, and even the tourists seemed to have disappeared. In this kind of environment, I think I would be able to live a longer and higher quality life. Come and have a taste of it!

We stayed in Yangshuo for only 3 days according to our plan. Like many others, we didn't know that this was in fact another fairyland. If given a choice, we would like to stay for weeks to explore the surrounding villages.

I heard recently that Yangshuo was flocked with throngs of tourists and it may not be that fun and enjoyable anymore. My view is that if you were to get out of the tourist-packed West Street, there are still many interesting places for us to explore.

Just rent a bike and you are out to the spetacular country side. Besides, you have many choices as for what to see and do in Yangshuo as shown in the video under Yangshuo Attractions section.

How to travel to Yangshuo by plane, train or buses? Few of the common entry points include Hong kong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Guangzhuo and Nanning. Check out ways to Travel to Yangshuo.

Yangshuo is a small town that may take you less than one hour or so to see it all. However the surrounding villages and towns could take you weeks to explore. Check out how to Travel Around Yangshuo to explore Baisha, Fuli, Gao Tian or Xingping towns.

The following video clips showing attractions that are generally recommended by Yangshuo travel guides. Frankly speaking, they are all great. I truly enjoy all these sightseeing spots and acitvities.

The performance was divided into five episode, each with a different theme. It was produced by China famous director Zhang Yi Mou and performed by a total of about 600 local people. The show lasts for about one hour. The special effect of sight, sound, lighting and Zhuang's folk song are highlights of the show. Preview the video clip on the right before investing CNY188 for a ticket. More details about Impression Liu Sanjie Show can be found at China Travel Guide site.

Yangshuo Cooking Class course details can be found at Yangshuo Cooking School site.

Yangshuo provides a wide range of accommodation for budget backpacker as well as affluent travelers. It all depends on your budget and choice of locations.

Budget Hostel and Hotel

One of the best rated budget hostel is Yangshuo River View Hotel. It's situated besides the beautiful Li River and just few minutes walking distance to the famous West Street. If you are looking for accommodation that is near to town and yet far away from the noise of West Street, this hotel could be your best choice.

Mid-Range Hotel

Few of the popular hotels are listed below for your reference:

Personally I love Yangshuo very much, no matter how touristy it becomes. Because it takes you less than half an hour or so to cycling to the neighboring beautiful countryside.

Actually you can have both sides of the world. Spend one to two days in town to have a feel of what made Yangshuo to become so popular. Then pop in to some of the cafes and restaurants in West Street to sample some of the well known local food and chat with the locals to get most of your queries about the people and its culture answer. After that shop around for some nice souvenir and gifts to bring back home for your loved ones.

When you are tired and bored with the tourist-packed West Street life, spend another two or three days to travel to the surrounding villages and towns.

You may want to get an unbiased view about Yangshuo by reading few of the most recent trip reviews and photos from the following sites:

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