The Beautiful 'Li River'

Karst Mountain Landscape - Li River

During the application process for my teaching position in Nanning, I did some research about the area. Google image searches for 'Guangxi Province' turned up countless photos of the famous 'Li River' in Guilin. I had seen the area before, as it is probably the most famous scenery in China, next to the Great Wall. If you go to a local Chinese buffet, you are bound to see a painting (cheap reproduction) of the Li River landscape. Its beauty has inspired artists for thousands of years and it attracts hordes of tourists every year.

I have done little travel in China thus far, choosing instead to head south to Vietnam and Thailand. The main reason behind this is:

A) Since I work in China, my holidays align with Chinese holidays. This means that in order to escape the mass migration (Spring Festival being the largest annual human migration in the world), you must exodus the country. With over 1.3 Billion people, the last place you want to be on the holidays is cramped on a Chinese train. Tickets are hard to come by, they sell more then there are seats, every washroom turns into a horror scene within an hour and survival of the fittest reigns supreme. You are also taking your chances when it comes to visiting popular tourist destinations (overcrowding). Keep in mind that when the Chinese travel, they tend to bring the 'whole' family along – Children – Parents -Aunts – Uncles – and Grandparents from both sides.

Cruising Around Yangshuo

B) China is a fairly new tourist destination, having only really opened up to the outside world in the early 1980's. As a result, tourism is not as developed as you would find in other Eastern Asian countries (excluding North Korea!). English is also relatively non-existent outside of major metropolis centers and Lonely Planet destinations.

To the gratification of my students, I chose to head North, to Guilin and Yangshuo for the week long tomb-sweeping holiday. Highlights of the trip included:

- Taking a cruise up the Li River to Yangshuo. The cruise lasts about 5 hours, lunch is included and the second level of the boat is open for taking pictures. The boat power hauls it upstream, in formation with a dozen other cruise ships.

- Traveling to the famous rice terraces of Longsheng. They are unique in that they are situated in the mountains, at elevations ranging from 380-880 metres.

Rice Terraces of Longsheng

Crowded Streets of Yangshuo

Li River Cruise

- Spending the majority of the trip in the town of Yangshuo. The tourist section is a throw back to classical Chinese architecture, cars are forbidden and there are many unique stores/restaurants. I was surprised by the number of foreign tourists in Yangshuo, the number of foreign owned businesses and the amount of English. The town is a major tourist trap, but a must see!