Yangshuo, 2nd day. We did have a blast, watching the The Impression of Sanjie Liu (印象刘三姐) and biking across the Yangshuo countryside for the hills and karst mountains. Today we wake up a bit late and just hanging out after an early Indian brunch.
We still have hours to kill before we go back to Guilin (桂林) and catch a flight back to Shanghai (上海市). We met a few Chinese backpackers whom can speak well English. So fun talking to them. They have plan to go down the Yulong river (遇龙河) and see a part of Li River (漓江) for 2.5 hours with a traditional bamboo raft. Might as well eh? We’re already here after all and the view is spectacular if I can say so my self.
Li River (漓江) is more touristy and we’re not comfortable with going down a busy river with larger boat. It’s also the main artery from Guilin to Yangshuo with cruise boat, I hear some tourists prefer this, stretch about 83 kilometers. Li River (漓江) flows from Mao’er mountains in Xing’an (兴安) country to Guilin (桂林), Yangshuo (阳朔县) and Pingle (平乐县). We did miss a couple of Yangshuo’s river landmark, but oh well, can’t help it, we only have a few hours to kill.
Yulong river (遇龙河) is a smaller river connecting to Li River (漓江). In fact, the stage for The Impression of Sanjie Liu (印象刘三姐) is between these rivers. Yulong river (遇龙河) stretch for about 35 kilometers, passing Litang, Chaolong, Yima and Gaotian towns, before it ends inPingle (平乐县). We did bike to Gaotian town yesterday to see the The Big Banyan tree (大榕树) and now we’re trying for the river experience! Yulong river (遇龙河) is a shallower river with the depth around 5 to 25 meters and in the height of summers, many foreigners tourists opt for a swim, but not this late in winter.
Our new friends take us in a nearby place where we can hire a bamboo raft, including the guide whom also our boat man. Bus to there, 6 CYN. Bamboo raft for Jacinda and I is 120 CYN.
Our new friends in their of raft. You can see how the bamboo raft look like with manual driver.
Because it’s still late winter, some of the flood-prevention-barrier is above the water level and our guide need to manually pull the raft up and over the man-made dam.
The water is so clear! We can see the deep inside.
The view is amazing, there are karst hills and mountains everywhere we look and it looks like Chinese painting in water color don’t you think? Hazy with mist, a dream like quality in it.
Passing through the 400-year-old stone bridge. There are some fishermen on the bamboo with a traditional fish catching method using the pair of cormorant birds. Mostly this is for show, hardly people fished like this anymore.
Another man-made dam we have to go over
This one is higher.
Can see the seaweed and fishes in clear water
Our friends take our photos with Ziggy. Hahaha we have so much fun!
We go back to the hostel with our friends, riding the local car by paying 30 CYN for the four of us. They are very kind and guy is insisting to pay for us girls. In the afternoon, we spend the rest of our time with them and the other backpackers, sharing a Chinese alcohol. Heh.
Yangshuo (阳朔县) city in a glance.
Our last day in Yangshuo and our last day in our trip around China before we’re going back to Shanghai. Sad, but all good things have to end and another good thing (another trip, who knows?) can begin.
Gualin, Guanxi Province Trip:
- Longji Rice Terrace at Longsheng
- Yanshuo, Impression of Sanjie Liu
- Yanshuo, Exploring the Countryside
- Yangshuo, Rafting Down the Calm River
Source information: Wikipedia, Travelwiki, DK Eyewitness Travel China.
101MonkeyMagic 
I like leaving my itinerary free to do things like see other tourist suggestions! Also, that bamboo raft driven manually is so interesting! :D
yes that’s what we did too. we have a list what we want to watch and all, but not all of the list are a must and there are some activities that are not on the list in our travel.