CRUISE ON THE LI RIVER TO YANGSHUO

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Day 19: Guilin - Li River Cruise - Yangshuo

At 6 in the morning and not to lose the habit that we have adopted since we started this trip to China for free, the alarm sounds to get us started and that is that today we will take a Li river cruise to Yangshuo, where we will spend the next 2 nights.
We have breakfast with French toasts, with a couple of American coffees in the lounge of the Guilin Riverside Hostel that make us feel great and at 8:30 in the morning, Fausto, from TheChinaGuide, will be our guide to the port, which is the place where will we take the Li river cruise to Yangshuo.
In about 30 minutes from Guilin we spent listening to the thousand stories of Faust about the areas we will visit during the Li river cruise, we are planted in the port and as soon as we arrive we realize the tourist of the place and it is that several "cruise ships"They wait in line for all tourists, this time if we are all Western, we are accommodated in our seats.

We have a table on the second floor, first class seats, although we are not going to lie to you, the idea is not exactly to be here for a long time, the idea is to go up on deck and enjoy the incredible views during the next 4 hours that is the How long the cruise lasts.

The price of Li river cruise to Yangshuo You can hire it directly from an agency or from the same accommodation, most of them offer this service, which includes the transfer from Guilin to the port (approximately 30 minutes by car) plus to the Li River cruise (4 hours or so) by Approximately 395RMB per person. The cruises leave at 9 am and arrive in Yangshuo about 1 noon. Once in Yangshuo you can choose to stay here or return to Guilin by bus in about 1 hour and a half.
There are two cruise options to choose from: ships with explanations in English, which is full of Westerners or ships with explanations in Chinese, which logically is full of local tourists. This last option is somewhat cheaper than the first 😉
You can book here in advance the Li River cruise from Yangshuo. Another of Guilin's most recommended excursions is to book this bamboo raft ride on the Li River.

A few minutes after 9:30 in the morning we set out under a totally uncovered sky and a sun that augurs us one day of the most complete after day, a bit cloudy, that we lived yesterday in the rice terraces of Longshen.
If we have to be honest, we only need a few minutes to see that the landscape in front of us is the landscape, we believe more spectacular than we have seen so far in our Trip to china and without a doubt, it is a crime Do not do this cruise or a similar one to show you these unique landscapes if you are in Guilin.

Cruise on the Li River to Yangshuo

Stunning scenery on the Li River cruise

For us this is one of the images we had of children when we thought of China. Those mountains that surround a river, with almost impossible shapes, that remind us again of why we like to travel so much.

Li River cruise to Yangshuo from Guilin

Stunning landscapes from the Li River cruise

We had read that there are many people who find this Li river cruisetoo touristy, so choose to go directly to Yangshuo by bus and from there take a tour of the river by bamboo raft.
After our experience we have to say that, despite being touristy, the views and experience that this cruise is worth and is worth the 4 hours of the tour.

Images of the Li River cruise

More practical information to prepare your trip to China
- 10 essential places to visit in China
- 10 essential tips for traveling to China

Li River Cruise

How extra We will tell you that about 12 in the morning you pass through the mountainous landscape represented on the 20 yuan bills. You have to be aware of the moment and not miss it ...

And that is what happens to us even if it seems a lie. And although we had said that we were not hungry and we were not going to eat, the ship's buffet opens at 11:20 in the morning and if you do not go at that time people devastate what is there, in the end Roger comments that we could go down to eat something (the buffet is on the first floor of the ship, you take your food on a tray and you take it to your table), and just then we pass through the exact place that is reflected in the tickets !!
When we realize the "failure", before our face of surprise, a Spanish couple that we have met on the cruise, who come on an organized tour and who have captured the moment, tell us to send us a photo by email so we can have the memory and put it in Unfortunately, we have not received the blog, so we advise you not to miss the moment and come down to eat later.

* Update: On May 24, 2016, Cristina Lorente, a reader of the blog, has sent us by email the image we were talking about, so we can already include it in this post, which had been a bit "lame" without she. For things like this, it deserves every minute spent writing our experiences traveling. Thank you very much Cristina!

Image of Cristina Lorente, a reader who has remembered us on her trip to China

Landscapes of the Li River cruise

Li River Cruise

Incredible landscapes of the Li River cruise

We arrive at 13:15 in Yangshuo and after picking up our bags, we leave them on the ground floor of the ship in the front (very few people carry suitcases, since most travel in an organized group, carry a guide and will only be a few hours in Yangshuo and then return to Guilin by bus), we set off into the streets of Yangshuo.
Our accommodation in Yangshuo is on the street parallel to the west street, the most decorated and best known of Yangshuo, so we are heading there.
We find a lively town, focused directly on the westernmost tourism, reminding us at first sight of the feelings we had when arriving in Ubud in Bali or Gili Trawangan in Lombok.

We check in at the Yangshuo Magnolia Hotel, where we will stay for the next two nights and go directly to Yangshuo, missing out on its hundreds of little shops, restaurants, bars ... all wrapped in a dreamlike landscape.
We take the opportunity to eat a natural mango ice cream and fried mango ice cream for 65RMB, in one of the many places and we have to say that it is not good, if not the following.

Snacking at Yangshuo

And with our stomach already toned and refreshed we return to the streets of Yangshuo to continue enjoying this incredible place.
After several laps we leave the town as such, following the road that runs parallel to the Li River, until we reach the Yangshuo River, to see more or less how the terrain is tomorrow to come through this area by bike, since that is the plan for tomorrow, tour this area of Yangshuo by bike.

Yangshuo surroundings

Li River in Yangshuo

After this walk of just over an hour and when we are back, a woman stops us to ask if we want to take a walk in bamboo raft by the river Li.
To all those who had previously stopped us we had said no, but on this occasion and seeing that there is good light, it is almost sunset, we ask for the price: 1 hour walk, the opposite direction of the river we came with the Li river cruise to Yangshuo, 200RMB, 100 per person.
We haggle it a bit and in the end it lowers us to 140RMB. Something else could have been haggered, but the truth is that we found that this is a good price, so we closed the deal and in a few minutes we got on the raft that will return us to the waters of the Li River, surrounded by landscapes dreamlike.

Bamboo Raft Cruise on the Li River

If you can do not stop doing it, it is very worth it for the tranquility and the landscapes, but without a doubt, if you have to do it, choose to enjoy it in the afternoon, since there are fewer people and that is appreciated.

Bamboo Raft Cruise on the Li River

Sunset on the bamboo raft cruise on the Li River

We finished the walk at 18:30 in the afternoon, so we have no choice but to return to Yangshuo, this time with the firm intention of looking for something that has to do with our beloved Italy for dinner and you do not know how we miss Less Italian cuisine.
We ended up in a restaurant that announces that they make homemade pasta, where we order a pizza and a pasta dish plus two homemade lemonades for 115RMB that bring us back to life and are the perfect end point for this day full of incredible landscapes and experiences.

Dining in Yangshuo

* During our trip to China we made the Li River Cruise maintaining a collaboration with The China Guide. This has not influenced the opinions that are reported here, which are all a summary of our experience and feelings during this incredible cruise.