Magnificent Guilin — First Impressions of Yangshuo

My first impression of Yangshuo was that it was a vast expanse of a no-man’s land.

From the Edge of Yangshuo County to Yangshuo City Proper

Bright and early at 8:20 am I was at the Qianxing Square of Huangyao Ancient Town and ready to flag down the only bus of the day that would take me to Yangshuo. And surely it did come on time. There was no incident, I got on the bus and about 1.5 hours later, I arrived at Yangshuo.

Photo: Huangyao’s Qianxing Square in the morning.

Now here comes the problem. No one had ever told me that the bus would drop me off at the edge of Yangshuo County, not Yangshuo city itself. When I was dropped off, I found myself in the middle of nowhere, right at the edge of the county. I checked my map app and learned that to walk to Yangshuo city, where I would be staying and touring, it would take 2.5 hours.

Photo: Being dropped off in a no-man’s land at the edge of Yangshuo county. 

Walking was simply not an option then. I did not have a China mobile number so I was unable to use any app to call a car. A lady stationed right by the toll booths told me that if I just walked about ten minutes, I would arrive at a main road. That is where I could flag down a city-bound bus to get to Yangshuo.

As instructed, I went toward the main road and did see some buses passing by. They said they were heading to Yangshuo city proper. But there was no bus stop as far as I could see. I just kind of stood there on the road, hoping for the next bus. Perhaps I was indeed looking lost. Soon enough, a car stopped by, the lady driver told me to get in the car, “where are you heading?”

I didn’t think twice and went into the car. I told her I was going to Yangshuo old town. She charged me 10 yuan for the ride.

I still had to walk a good 15 minutes before arriving at my hostel. In this walk I was seeing what I imagined Yangshuo to be—vibrant, populated with shops—but maybe just a tad more commercialized than I expected.

Wangjianglou Riverview Hotel

I was staying at Wangjianglou (Riverview Hotel). I was very excited as I went into the hotel. There was a restaurant downstairs and it was very crowded. I also passed by a really nice café.

The room also turned out to be incredibly comfortable with a wonderful view. From the room I was actually just looking over at the Xu Beihong Former Residence, of which I would spend about 15 minutes touring.

Lunch at Jimo Zhutong Fan (Bamboo Rice)

I did not know what to do for lunch so I just walked around the neighborhood a little. I found Jimo Zhutong Fan (Lonely Bamboo Rice). The bamboo rice is served piping hot on a bamboo tube. It is also a specialty of Guilin. The rice is supposed to cook inside the bamboo, as such carrying with it the fragrance of bamboo. I ordered a spicy beef rice and it turned out to be very good. Despite the beef looking a bit dry, it is crispy and tasty. The rice also came with a crunch because it was cooked in the bamboo on open fire.

The Xu Beihong Former Residence

Xu Beihong is a famous artist in China. This old structure was built during the late Qing dynasty and early Republican period. In 1936, this residence was bought for the specific purpose of giving home to Xu Beihong, who just took up an appointment here in Guangxi. He would live in Yangshuo between 1936 and 1942.

During this time, he had made some iconic paintings, as the beautiful scenery here had inspired him so. Such titles included Spring Rain in Lijiang River, The Crowing Cock in the Storm, and Tweeting Birds in the Morning, Headwind, Qing’s Ferry  etc.

It was a bit disappointing that the exhibits had not even included a replica of his works. Famous as he was, I had not known much about him and his art. Suffice to say, he was well known for his ink and landscape paintings. He was also very well known for painting Chinese landscapes in oil paintings, showing his skills in western painting techniques.

The touring is relatively simple there. There were some minimal exhibits explaining Xu Beihong’s life. There was also a half-body bust in his image in the backyard.

I wandered in the neighborhood, and found myself at the riverside. As of that point in the afternoon, there was no plan as to what I would do in Yangshuo. I learned that the only boat tour on Lijiang for the day would depart at 3pm (there were two sessions in a day), and missing that, I would have to wait till the next morning session at 11am. I signed up for the 1.5 hour boat tour right away.