Yangshuo: Backpacker Paradiso

Our past three nights were spent in the cozy backpacker haven of Yangshuo. Nestled in a valley between the peaks of the Karst and the Li River, it’s a nice place to enjoy the Great Outdoors and chill out amongst the throngs of ‘Westernized’ cafes and restaurants.

My mom linked me to a webpage chronicling a couple’s trip around the world, where they proclaimed Yangshuo as ‘the Ibiza of China.’ Though I think that it’s an unfounded analogy on numerous levels, there is an undeniable over saturation of bars pumping out tunes well into the night along ‘West Street’ (not sure if the irony of the name is lost on the Chinese). But the bar scene plays a distant second fiddle to the natural surroundings. Anyone who has their reservations need only look past the neon to see the shadows of the Karst looming over the city like a gothic cathedral, reminding all who is master over this dominion.