In the southern provence of Guangxi, China is a small town called Yangshuo. This town has been on the must see list of travellers visiting China for many years, who come to see the most unusual, beautiful scenery one will ever encounter. My first glimpse of this scenery was as we were descending into Guilin airport, located about one hour north of the town. Hundreds of tall rocky limestone peaks (or karsts) jutting out of a green landscape, looking like a mishmash of sharp teeth, was a sight I will never forget.

The best way to see the countryside of Yangshuo is by hiring a bike and local guide. As the land is flat, bike riding is easy and a pleasant way of exploring off the beaten track.  My guide organised our bikes and off we went. It wasn’t long before we were out of the town and riding through the countryside. This is a great rice growing area, one of the lucky regions that is able to harvest two rice crops per year. On either side of the road bright green fields of rice spread for miles with farmers tending their crops. I had to make many camera stops as every time we turned a corner, another magnificent view came up. Rice fields are everywhere but corn, sugercane, peanuts and chilies are also popular crops you see growing. It is worth a trip to the local market in town to view all of the fresh produce this land produces.

After biking through a few small villages we came to the slow-flowing Yulong River. Hiring a bamboo raft (made up of several thick bamboo poles bound together), we loaded our bikes on the back and sat in every comfortable seats under an umbrella towards the front, our boatsman steering the raft with a long pole. As it was Sunday the river was quite busy, many Chinese from other cities come here for the weekend to enjoy the countryside, and today they were clearly making the most of it having loads of fun squirting water at each other from their rafts. The river is sectioned off regularly with small sloping dams, the rafts can descend down these with ease so its like going down slow rapids, a bit of a thrill, and there are photographers on hand to catch the moment for a small fee.

Once again we were back on our bikes riding through a maze of bumpy roads, having left all of the tourists behind on the river, it was lovely and peaceful.  We decided to visit a brick factory down one of the lanes, there are quite a few scattered around the region (all of the houses are made from brick) and they provide employment for many locals. This is very hard work for low pay. We watched 2 young girls load raw bricks (drying outside) onto a trailer, load after load, which were being taken to the kiln nearby.

It was time for lunch and we stopped at a great café below Moon Hill, one of Yangshuo’s most popular sites, so named because it has a huge open arch through its centre . Its worth climbing the 500 odd steps to the top for the amazing views.

Dark clouds were looming so we decided to head back into town. Unfortunately we did not make it back in time and got absolutely drenched, but it was all part of the fun, and after drying off back at the hotel, I was planning my next day’s adventure.

Want to have fun in Yangshuo? Join Getaways for Girls Silk, Pearls and Dynasties Tour departing May 2008.