We had been advised that we'd only get one day sans rain in Yangshou, and the best way to spend it would be to take a trip down the river Li, known for its spectacular showcasing of the karst. So we got on our bikes, got on a bus and a few hours later found ourselves at a wharf of sorts.
Yangshou, because it is so other worldly beautiful, is also very touristy. And touristy equals touts. While we waited for our ride to get sorted, we were assailed by loads of local women, holding bags of peanuts and oranges and home made shoes asking us to buy. Instead of paying for stuff we don't want, Tim offered this woman some money to pose for some snaps.
I know she doesn't look delighted, but in real life she was.
Only about a week of these to go!
The river cruise went for an hour and a half, through scenery like this. We had the only woman river boat driver (go sister!) and although she could only say 'hello' in english, she used hand gestures to explain to us what the mountains were said to look like.
For example, around about here she yelled 'hello' and when I turned around, she pointed at the mountain and held up her index finger which she waggled around. I was like, oh I get it, 'Finger Mountain', and told Tim to take a picture (in newly discovered black and white). At home and looking at the map I now see it is actually 'Pen Holder Peak'.
Again black and white. A good thing, cos in reality my nose was uber mega bright red. That river was cold and I was sick. Not pretty.
Hand charade: five fingers up and gesturing towards face.
My imaginative interpretation: 'Five Finger Mountain'.
Map: 'Grandpa Eating Apple'.
(A side note: we are struggling to see a lot of the images that are allegedly in rocks / caves / other natural formations. In any one site, you are guaranteed a lotus, a man fishing, and a beautiful lady performing any number of activities, the most recent of which has been flying. Any time a guide asks 'what is this', Tim will suggest any of the above and if he isn't right on that occasion, there will be one around the corner. Happy tourists, happy guides.)
There were quite a few other people enjoying the rain free day. Tim just does not get sick of waving at other boats but I think this young lady does.
Even though the cruise was for an hour and a half and freezing, it was impossible to get sick of these.
Along the river there were tiny swallows ducking and diving and dancing across the water. The were just lovely. I have found a bird I dig!
'Tortoise Climbing up the Hill'. I thought the guide was doing the wavy arm dance. Almost joined in but am relived now I didn't.
Remember how Tim felt about flags? Same deal with anchors. (Isn't he very clever, though? I think this snap is lovely.)
As we drew towards the end of the ride, you could see that the Li still stretch on, with many more karst (and many more mystery hand gestures) to be had.
Just before the town Xing Ping there is a section of karst (the main ones in the snap) that are on the twenty yuan note. Hence this photo (although you can't see the note karst cos of the Chairman's head on the other side. Ah well).
We had to walk back to the town, again past lots of springing farms. These will eventually support beans.
Xing Ping town, set in the lovely mountains.
We had a bus ride from here back to Yangshuo. The mini bus allegedly had a maximum of 19 people, but it carried spare plastic seats and shoved as many people in as humanly possible for the 40 minute trip. Safety third or maybe even fourth in China.
But we made it back to town, still kinda numb with cold, but happy to have made the most of our only non-rainy day.
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