The Tour de Yangshou

To get a chance to see more of the countryside around Yangshuo we rented two “Giant” brand bikes. Paul found a (heavy) downhill bike in good condition and Kristen found a cross country bike that was also `tip top`. After some bargaining, we rented both bikes and two locks for a little under 5 dollars Canadian for the day (from 9:30 until 7:00pm). Armed with a really poor map of the area and a small segment cut out of our guidebook we set off through the crazy traffic to try and find a trail that would take us up the Yulong river.

The Li river is big and fast. The Yulong is the Li`s much smaller cousin. It meets up with the Li just South of Yangshuo and to find it, we cycled some back roads and paths beside decaying apartment buildings until we found a small track that took us through aquaculture ponds and rice paddies. We were given directions by `helpful villagers` that turned out to lead us to a dead end on the bank of the Yulong. To get across, we had to negotiate with one of the many bamboo raft polers who were waiting for us there. It was really cool actually, and a pretty worthwhile experience.

Getting the bikes on was the hard part...

At least for us.

For the next few hours we cycled through some amazing countryside, only encountering other tourists a very few times. Rice fields, water buffalo and staggering karst peaks were the norm, and we passed through a number of small back country villages. Finally we came out of the paths onto a main highway, which we negotiated with our hearts in our mouths. After stopping to ask a few people for directions with our limited Mandarin, we made it to another track that took us to Yulong Qaui (Dragon Bridge). The bridge is six hundred years old and was a wonderful spot to stop and have some noodles and dumplings for lunch.

Getting through the peleton was easy... Kristen had a great support team and a wicked domestique...

Sweaty Paul in front of the rice paddies.

traffic jam.

"Dragon Bridge" in the guidebook. However, if you want to find it, best to say Yulong Quai to the people you are asking directions from.

Eventually we set off again, and not long after we had left the restaurant made a fatal error. Instead of turning left down a dirt track along the river, we continued on the more road-like path to the right. For the next three hours we cycled up and down hills through some of China`s back country. It was incredibly beautiful semitropical forest, high peaks of karst, and orange groves, rice fields and vegetable gardens as far as the eye could see. But no signs, no people, no villages.

We passed under the main highway several times and even saw some road signs that showed us we were heading north (towards Yangshuo and the nearby town of Gaotian). However, after following the highway towards Yangshuo for about an hour, the track turned sharply and went in the opposite direction. It was at this point that the heat, the lack of water and the fact that we had truly no idea where we were going all kicked in. We had a moment that involved some swearing, kicking rocks and the throwing of sticks. Just as we were about to tear into one another or take the long ride back towards the first turn off by the bridge a man on a beat up scooter showed up. As best we could make out, he thought it was hilarious that we were looking for Yangshuo, and pointed out the direction we should take.  We soon found out why it was so hilarious.

We had come up one valley, towards Yangshuo, but there was no way for us to actually get to Yangshuo from where we were. Even though the town was less than two kilometres away, we had to cycle back the other side of the valley, through tiny (and I mean TINY) Chinese villages where we were considered to be 11`s on the freak scale. Some of the kids had clearly never seen a white person. Eventually after making it through the footpaths that led through the orange groves and surprising countless old women carrying their loads on the backs through the fields, we found the pass through the hills that took us back to the Yulong river. In essence we added about twenty kilometres of serious, hilly cycling to a trip that was only supposed to be twenty kilometres in total. We definitely took those bikes up and down some paths that tested them to the fullness of their capabilities.

Grave markers were everywhere in the hills. Well looked after and often with incense in front of them.

This is what rice looks like in the early stages.

Not exactly the lazy bike ride most tourists to Yangshuo get up to.

However, we made it back to town without any injuries, only a slight sunburn and a wealth of sights, smells and experiences to think about. We dropped off our bikes with the lady we rented them from and received a huge sigh and a disapproving glance from her when she saw just how covered in mud and dirt they were. She shook her head and gave us back our full deposit without any haggling.

Which was a nice surprise.