Yangshuo County

Yangshuo County (simplified Chinese: 阳朔县; traditional Chinese: 陽朔縣; pinyin: Yángshuò Xiàn) is a county under the jurisdiction of Guilin City, in the northeast of Guangxi, China. Its seat is located in Yangshuo Town. Surrounded by karst peaks and bordered on one side by the Li River it is easily accessible by bus or by boat from nearby Guilin. In the 1980s, the town became popular with foreign backpackers, and by the late 1990s packaged tourists began arriving in greater numbers. At that time, domestic tourism represented only a small fraction of the tourists but by 2005 domestic tourists outnumbered foreign tourists by a great margin. Today, the town has become a resort destination for both domestic and foreign travelers.There is a lot to explore in Yangshuo. The West Street of Yangshuo has become a must-visit place. The history of West Street dates back to over 1400 years ago. At that time, there were only a few grocery stores in the street. Now, it has become a popular street that you can find many foreigners walking around the street and even become the boss of a bar or restaurant. There are signs written in both Chinese and English. You may find almost everyone here could speak English.That's the unique feature of Yangshuo.^[1]

Rock climbing

View of Moon Hill

The town of Yangshuo

Rock climbing in Yangshuo was first put on the map by American climber Todd Skinner who visited in 1992, establishing a number of classic lines such as "Moonwalker" which traverses the famous Moon Hill arch.

Approximately 200 routes are documented in the current edition of the Yangshuo climbing guidebook by Paul Collis, and new routes are being established almost daily. The majority of these have been established by visiting foreign climbers or expatriates. While most routes are single-pitch bolted sport climbing routes, a growing number of multi-pitch sport routes are appearing as climbers venture above the first anchor. There is also great potential for traditional climbing.

The Yangshuo region has numerous locations for climbing, most easily accessible by bicycle, public bus or taxi-van. The most famous of these crags is Moon Hill with several 5.13 graded lines. Other crags of note include Low Mountain, Twin Gates, Baby Frog, The Egg, Bamboo Grove and Wine Bottle Cliff.

Landmarks

• Li River
• Moon Hill
• Yulong River

Sister cities

Yangshuo has city partnerships with the following cities and/or regions:

• Since 1994: Morehead, Kentucky, United States
• Rapid City, South Dakota, United States

Miscellaneous

• The picture on the back of the 20 yuan bill is taken at the Li River near Yangshuo.
• A digital panorama of the distinctive scenery of Yangshuo was used in the landmark 1993 video game, Doom as one of the backgrounds.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yangshuo.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Yangshuo County.

• Official website of Yangshuo County
• Guilin Tourism Organization
• Photo Gallery of Guilin, Li River, Yangshuo Town, and Longsheng Terraced Rice Field