Xingpeng

From Yangshou we left for Xingpeng, but the gov bus for that 20km ride was RMB 20/pax and the touts driving cars were not budging and asking for the same price of RMB 20/pax for a colectivo. Not willing to give in to the touts, I suggested DIDI which was like Uber in China and between me and Zaine, spend RMB 25 each to reach Xingpeng.

Xingpeng Hi Grey hostel was RMB 40 a night and it was a good proper international hostel unlike those smoking hostel in China. Zaine had not experience any of the smoking hostel so far in China, so he tought hostel for RMB 40 was expensive. I for one know that a good proper hostel for RMB 40 is actually well worth the money.

Xingpeng Old Town

Xingpeng River Cruise

Xingpeng was suppose to be the heart of Guilin tourism. Everyone comes to Guilin to go to Yangshou to actually end up going to Xingpeng to see the famous Karst Mountain formation along the Li river which is most scenic along Xingpeng and a standard picture behind the RMB20 note

Walking Map of Xingpeng

Zaine and Me did this part the cheap way. By walking along the river for the whole day. Xingpeng was really small, 30 minutes and we covered the whole town. Touristy but not large enaugh to spend more days beyond 2 nights. 

Maybe if I was not rushing due to Visa running out, I would have camp there another 2 more night but such is the nature of travel Visa.

The Famous View of Xingpeng

Xingpeng

Xingpeng

Local ferry boat Xingpeng

Traveled on: Dec 2023

Electric Biking around Yangshou

We took the local bus to the main bus station in Guilin which was quite a way south and somehow Zaine figured that taking a tout bus was better than the goverment one. Initial tout price offered was RMB 30/pax and final bargain price was RMB 15 for one person. 

Quite a long journey too around 40km to Yangshou and we made it in a good price I suppose. For me it does not really matter for the half price RMB 15 (Official Bus was RMB 30/pax) but the risk was unknown. If I were alone, this was a bad decision due to the unknown risk but I had Zaine company which effectively reduce the risk by half.

Yangshou Old Town

Lijiang River at Yangshou

Yangshou

Yangshou was stayed at a local hostel but we got a private room for RMB 35 each. I guess patnering up with Zaine really save up quite a few bucks by sharing accomodation. It helps too that he belived everyone is out to cheat him so had no issue asking for more than half the price discount everytime. 

The hostel turn out to be a great stay as the host and people staying at the hostel all had a good conversation exchange in the lobby.

First day in Yangshou, just chill and walk around the pedestrian street while figuring out the electric bike rental. We end up not bargaining for the bike which was rare for Zaine but I guess a full day rental of RMB 30 was well worth it.

Electric Bike for Rent

We went for the popular loop around Yangshou which was interesting on its own but skipped most of the attraction along the route as each one of them required a ticket. Only willing to part with RMB 20, we saw the only attraction which was the Banyan Tree including a small bamboo ride across a 20m wide still river.

Yangshou and surrounding was definately a new experience biking around China. Nowhere else in China no matter how touristy did we see something like this. Before we know it, we made the whole loop going almost 70km. 

Tianlai Butterfly Spring Spot

Darongshu Scenic Area 

Banyan Tree - Yangshou

The rental shop told us it was a 40km loop but I guess we kept venturing off the loop and with many U-Turns we actually cloacked 70km. The electric bikes maxed out at 40km/hr and battery only drop to half after using the whole day.

The second night in Yangshou we got home cooked meal from the hostel reception. The guy was a good cook and invited us for dinner. I tried to pay but he would not accept it and more or less treated the whole hostel guess to dinner. 

Scooting Around Yangshou on a Electric Bike

Longtan Village 

There was a girl that could speak a little english which had worked in Africa for a year once upon a time. She was just travelling around china for now, a retired old man which was also travelling for fun, a tik tocker young man of 20 which was bycycling around China and surviving by doing soooo many tik tok stream that he had nearly 10k followers. 

They say its nothing in China to have 10k followers ... its peanuts, but he earns barely enaugh to be a proper digital nomad which in my opinion a great pay which allow travel forever.

Traveled on: Dec 2023

Visiting Guilin City

As we make our way from Nanyue to Guilin, we were back on a tourist trail. A famous one in fact since its Guilin. Still it was a nice pace travelling without having to do much intensive research.

Waking up late afternoon in Guilin after a long journey, it was time to get out of the hostel, find food and explore. Guilin City felt like an underrated destination. Most people seams to sell the river cruise of Guilin to Yangshou and that Guilin was just a stopover point to get to Yangshou. 

Sun & Moon Pagoda in Guilin 

Two River & Four Lakes Garden Walk 

I find Guilin a lovely city, beautiful with many gardens and just busy enaugh that it was not cosmopolitan white wash.

We walked around aimlessly and stumble upon the pedestrian walking street and they were full of tourist trinkets. Park walk at night was filled with live street performances of locals and it was one of those places where there is not much to do yet so easy to burn time wandering around. I decided to stay another night the next day and felt Zaine was a bit hesitant but did not want to voice out.

Guilin Zhengyang Road Pedestrian Walking Street

Dongxi Lane Scenic Shopping District 

Xiaoyao Building - Guilin 

Street Performers in Guilin

The second day after much info probing from the hostel reception lady at night, we decided to skip the solidarity mountain scenic attraction which house the prince palace. The entrance ticket was a costly RMB100 and the hostel lady hesitantly recommended another mountain for the hike which was free.

We looks like poor but healthy backpackers hence she told us the info. The hike was not pure steps but rugged through rough stones and with the last portions mostly scrambling up a large rock with no safety barriers which was way too dangerous for sane people to be doing it.

Krast Mountain Around Guilin City

The Best View in Guilin 

Guilin City

The view at the very top however was the best view in Guilin in my opinion. Totally worth hanging out another day in Guilin just for this excursion.

Traveled on : Dec 2023

Sacred Mountain Mount Hengshan - Nanyue

We arrived very early in the morning in Nanyue, hence we headed stright for Mount Heng. I did not want to climb the 6 hours hike and opted for the shuttle bus which was costly in a way. 

RMB 78 for a two way shuttle bus and RMB 80 for the entrance ticket. Lots of local tourist were going up the hill and all were holding on to prayer incense to be offered at the top of the mountain.

Zhurong Peak at Mount Hengshan

View at Zhurong Peak

The shuttle bus was a blessing for as the bus started winding up the road, I could tell that there was no way I would have made even the one way journey. Bus took us all the way to almost the top and the last stretch was on foot where everyone had to walk or be carried by tradditional hand carrigae. That was a bomb as well costing RMB 110 per way for a very short distance but very steep hike.

The short hike itself drag out much of my strenght and took an hour to reach the top. Mount Heng was a spiritual mountain for China and it was quite a view from the top. Taoist, Confucious and Buddist temple lined the mountain everywhere. 

Hiking to Zhurong Peak

Mid Checkpoint Hike to Zhurong Peak

Palanquin for Charter going to Zhurong Peak

On the way down we keep hopping off the shuttle bus to see some of the other temples along the mountain. Nothing too facinating but the detour to Nanyue was a fresh breather from all the touristy places. This place was rated AAAAA tourist scenic area but the visitors were mostly locals on pilgrimage.

The next day we had ample time so after a late wake up, we took a stroll into the largest temple in south China which was at the base of Mount Heng. There is nothing much to say about it I guess, just visiting and enjoying the ambiance. By 4pm we packed up and headed back to Hengyang via the colectivo and got our super late train tickets at 1105 pm to Guilin.

Grand Temple of Mount Heng

Grand Temple of Mount Heng

Super cheap tickets and lousy general class seats meant we were super tired once we reached Guilin at 4am in the morning.

Traveled on: Dec 2023

Journey from Fenghuang to Nanyue (Mount Hengshan)

Nanyue was another detour in a way which I did not expected. Similar to Fenghuang, I found out about this place through some sort of social media reel. The other big driving factor however was actually the reluctance and resistance to follow the heavenly laid out route / trail which kept subtly guiding us to either Changsha or Chongqing.

The direction was to get to Guilin, but all train connections and bus route kept forcing our journey to Changsha. Chongqing was in the wrong way and this is when I knew I was really in a small tourist trail not many ventured or at least not many foreigner ventured. 

Somehow stubborn not to be led on by an invisible hand, hours of effort was poured into the web to find another way, another route and another destination.

Fenghuang Route to Nanyue

We went to Fenghuang train station to see how our luck was holding up with train tickets to Hengyang. Bullet train check was RMB 170 with late timing making us arrive Hengyang at 8pm which does us no good in trying to catch the bus to Nanyue. 

After many round of ticket permutation check at the counter (luckily there was no one at the line and we could take our time talking with the officer trying many different permutation), we finally settle for the cheapest option.

1630 pm train ticket from Fenghuang to arrive at Huaihua South 1700 , then take a local bus through Huaihua city itself to Huaihua North train station. Burn time loitering around and board the “K” slow train at Huaihua North at 1915 heading for Hengyang arriving at 2345. Total Damange = RMB 85. Bullet train was RMB 170 so we call it a win.

We reach Hengyang at midnight out in the freezing cold. A quick look for a hostel and we found a cheap hotel which was like a last minute lodge for travellers near train station. Clean albeit like one of those rumah tumpangan for sketchy seedy stays. 

RMB 50 for two person private room with private toilet. Hard bed and a 6 hours sleep was all we need before hitting the road again to catch the first bus to Nanyue.

Nanyue by bus cost us RMB 15 yuan each and the ride was quite ok on the colectivo bus and arrived nice and early in the morning. We made it to Nanyue or more well known as Mount Hengshan one of China’s Five Sacred Mountains.

Traveled on: Dec 2023