Today we woke up not particularly early... around 8:30pm. As buffet breakfast was included in the room rate, we went down for brekky soon after we were freshen up. The breakfast was quite good... everything you need for a breakfast! After we were fully stuffed, we went up to the room to pack and brought down our luggages. The check-out was fast as I had already made the full payment when I booked through Agoda. They didn't even ask for deposits when we checked in.
We took a cab (RMB 8) to Guilin Bus Terminal. The terminal was small and a bit run down. Eventhough there were some touts approaching me to sell their tickets, I didn't bother and just walked straight to the counter and bought my tickets there. The bus ticket to Yangshuo cost RMB 30/pax one way(non-stop). The ride took about one hour. We didn't have to wait long, 15 mins max, and the bus ready to leave.
Actually there was another way of going Yangshuo - By cruise. We didn't take this option because it was winter and the water of Li River became swallow. The upstream river was frozen up with lesser water flowing downstream. The cruise boat couldn't sail all the way down to Yangshuo but stop at Xingping and then have to take bus to Yangshuo. Though the scenic view from Guilin to Xinping was stunning but it was too troublesome for us with those luggages. Furthermore the cruise takes about 4-5 hours and cost RMB 288/pax! But don't worry, we would take another mode of transport- Bamboo Raft upstream from Xinping on another day. (will blog about that later)
We reached Yangshuo Bus Station around 12:30 pm. Soon after de-boarding the bus, a 3-seater-motored-tricycle (like the Bangkok tutu but smaller) driver offered to take us to our hotel for RMB 5. Without knowing how far our hotel was, we just hopped on. Damn it... actually it took 3 mins to reach our hotel- Tangrenjie Hotel.
This time around I booked the room with Ctrip as they have the cheapest rate, RMB 230/night without breakfast. One good thing about Ctrip is they don't take full payment nor deposits when we do the booking. We only pay when check in.
The room wasn't ready when we reached there. The receptionist gave us 2 vouchers for complimentary drinks at their cafe while waiting...
I ordered a local beer and Mrs. Chialat ordered a "Loh Hon Ko Leong Char" (Tea) while waiting...
Just half way through our drinks, the receptionist came and handed over our room's key. Then the porter was quick to carry our luggages and walk us up to our room...
Once everything was settled down, the porter asked if we would like to watch The Liu San Jie Impression Show and he could help us buy the ticket for RMB 120 each. The actual price was RMB 198 each.
This is the show you must not miss when you are in Yangshuo. It is performed by 500 singers and dancers on the theater that built on Li River. The show was created by Zhang Yimou, the famous Chinese movie director that directed the 2008 Beijing Olympic's open and closing ceremonies.
The show is performed everyday throughout the year and only close for 3 weeks in Winter. It was very unfortunate that my arrival in Yangshuo was 1 day after their winter break started.
I realized only after I booked my air ticket or else I would have booked the flight to come one day earlier.
I told the porter this but he seemed not to believe and made a few phone calls instead. But somehow at the end he just conceded and left.
View of the rooms from the pool side...
Our room... The bed was huge, must be the size of 2 queen size beds joined together. Though it was big but very uncomfortable... very hard. Just like sleeping on the concrete slab.
The bathtub...
The standard amenities and 2 bottle drinking water...
The toilet was clean...
We saw bicycle renting was available just outside our hotel and Mrs. Chialat suggested we rent one two to explore the place. We paid RMB 20 each for one day (24 hrs) and started riding to West Street.
Yangshuo is a small town in Guanxi Province with the population of 300,000 and The West Street is the only happening place in Yangshuo where we would be coming everyday for the next 3 days for our foods and shopping.
Endless stalls on the West Street and its surrounding area...
Shops at the front part of West Street... normally these are most expensive ones due to the high rental. So don't "gan cheong" (rush)... just walk to the end and you will get better bargain. They are selling the same thing all over.
*Bargain tips- don't "pai sei"(shy), just slash 80% from the asking price. If they say "No", just walk away. Don't worry, there are plenty of stalls selling the same damn thing along the way. If they really can't meet your price, you would probably get a bit of cursing from them while walking away. But if they ask you to come back to increase your price a little bit more, now you must firm with you original offering price. They would definitely agree to your price. Well, if they've agreed to your price and now you decide to ask for further discounts or walk away, I advise you better run!
Plenty of restaurants to suit your taste-buds.
More restaurants...
The only McDonald's... I wanted to try their burger but Mrs. Chialat preferred KFC. So we headed opposite for KFC. We ordered their Combo set - 3 pcs of chicken and 1 chicken wrap with a regular Pepsi cost RMB 40. Damn expensive and didn't taste good. So I didn't bother to take photo.
View from West Street.
The other end of West Street.
After we had enough with West Street, we headed back to the hotel for a rest. We came out again in the evening to make full use of the bicycle. We rode to the other end of town- or village to be exact.
Mrs. Chialat had to wait while I stop to shoot some picturesque sceneries.
The only bridge leading to other parts of the country.
The bare riverbed in winter...
The cruise boats had to dock at port because of swallow water.
What a view!
CLOSED! The entrance of the Liu San Jie Impression Show... It was actually not far from our hotel.
Reached one village and it was nothing much. So we decided to turn back and headed for our dinner as it was now almost 7 p.m.
Again we rode to West Street where most of the restaurants located. We took a stroll and finally settled with this one...
Small restaurant with a few tables...
We ordered these...
The Beer Fish... the specialty dish in Yangshuo. You can find almost very restaurants in Yangshuo sell this dish. The fish was fried before it was cooked with beer and green chili. The fish tasted like Cod fish and it had less bones. It was a little bit spicy but bearable. Overall it was excellent dish!
"Mui Choy Kao Yuk"... Tasted good also.
Fried Dumpling... their house specialty but it was just OK.
Fried Veggie... don't know what veggie was that but it was fresh and sweet. Even though it was fried with pork lard but it was not oily. Excellent!
The portion was quite big for all the dishes... no problem for 4 persons, but both of us still "sapu" up everything and also asked for a Yangzhou Fried Rice to go for tomorrow breakfast. The total bill came to RMB 120.
The West Street at night... we continued to walk a little while there before riding back to our hotel and call it a day.
