Hello My Fellow Steemers!!

Today I am going to share some tips about my trip to beautiful Yangshuo.

I recently moved to Guangzhou, China and one of my keystone trips was to visit Yangshuo. As an avid and passionate rock climber, this is paradise!!! Some people call it Limestone Paradise, it is one indeed for Rock climbers with more than 800 routes in all levels. So first..... to the Essentials:

China Travel Essentials

Chinese SIM card China Telecom is recommended, probably you will need to show passport to get the SIM
VPN: I use star VPN for free http://starvpnapp.com/ and Astrill VPN (paid app) https://www.astrill.com/ if you want better, faster, stable service)
WeChat: Your Victorinox knife for all process within China, from pay at 7eleven to order a taxi all is included in WeChat.
Google Translate (once you have installed Chinese SIM and VPN you can make use of all Google services in Mainland China)

Our trip started from Guangzhou South Railway Station

We bought our tickets online trough C-Travel http://english.ctrip.com/ , with the reservation number and passport you can pick them up in the box office, therefore is recommended to be at least 30 min before departure time in the station.

Contrary to the beliefs of the previous post to travel in Yangshuo,

It is not really hard to get to Yangshuo, if you are a little bit adventurous you won't have trouble getting there. There is no need to hire a translator

The 460km train ride is mesmerizing with a trail of little hills on your way to Yangshuo.

Upon your arrival to Yangshuo train station you have to take either bus(20RMB pp) or tax(around 100RMB per car) to the city center, the ride is about 40 min by bus.

Upon our arrival we had a reservation for Rock climbing with http://www.blackrockclimbing.net/ they have a small shop in the center and took us in an Electric scooter to the G321 National Road, there are several hills, mountains, hiking trails and caves to explore in the premises. Some of them are really touristic in a Chinese style (neon lights, obnoxious tourist operators and might have long waiting lines in high season) but it is worth visiting due to the unique Landscape and nature of the area, the area is under the protection of UNESCO World Heritage.

We booked stylish hostel 15 min away from the city center.

https://booki.ng/2Hti9QP

Sudder Hostel is exactly as per pictures and the staff speaks really good English and give amazing tips for hiking, day trips, and restaurants around.

One thing not to miss is Sunset on top of the TV Tower Hill, the view is spectacular and you will enjoy a 360 view of Guilin. Be sure to prepare with a bottle of water and sport shoes. The urban hike includes going more than 1,000 stairs up. At the top of the "Stairway to Heaven" you will think you've reched Heaven and St. Peter is opening the Paradise Gates, truth is far from that, you reached the Central of a Telecommunications tower and the gate keeper ask you for a little "contribution" in order to access a Restricted area.

After a beautiful sunset, our body was asking for a full feast of proteins... therefore we choose the street BBQ option.

Contrary to the post of @kapilthakur nowadays there are a lot of options for Vegans and vegetarians in China. To begin we ordered a BBQ Aubergine with lots of garlic and spices, you can order white rice, fried rice, green leaks, cucumber salad, etc... In any case, Chinese are really flexible and they cook when you order, so you can always order any plate without meat just say "Méiyǒu ròu" (without meat) and they will understand. China has a vast variety of fresh tropical fruits (papaya, mango, banana, orange, mandarin, dragon fruit, etc) be sure to buy some to eat during the day.

Next day the Li River scenery was waiting for us with their spectacular 20RMB landscape.

We rented a Petrol Scooter (100RMB for a full day, gas included) and took the 40min ride to Li River,

On our way back we cross the river with the scooters and took a windy road filled with mandarin fields back to Yangshuo.

Overall the trip was full of adventures and activities, Yangshuo has a lot of activities to offer that are impossible to cover in a period of 48 hours, therefore I will be forced to be back again, hopefully pretty soon!

I hope you have enjoyed this summary of my trip, there are so many details I could write on. I tried to be as concrete as possible, please leave me a comment and share your adventures with me!!

References:

http://www.yangshuo-travel-guide.com/hiking-tv-tower-yangshuo/