Yangshuo

Insight Adventures

芙蓉路12号

Insight Adventures are the largest operator in Yangshuo and offer climbing and many other activities such as kayaking, caving, biking and abseiling. They are the most expensive outfit in town and offer a large staff of foreign and Chinese guides.

Bamboo Rafting

Rafting along the Yulong river is particularly popular in summer, but travellers should take care not to go rafting if the water is brown and turbulent. In 2005 there was a fatality during high floods. The duration for rafting depends on the wharf that is your starting point and the ticket price varies accordingly. For example, from Shui'e di Wharf (水苊底码头) about 35 min on raft, Jima Wharf (骥马码头) about 80 min, Jinlong Bridge Wharf (金龙桥码头) about 90 min.

Bike riding

Wandering through the countryside on a bike and getting lost is one of the best things about Yangshuo. The villages often have dramatic mountain backdrops, and the people are generally friendly. Another popular trip is to take a boat ride with a bike, then bicycle back to town. Bike hire starts at around ¥15-20 per day, and tandems are a bit more. The bikes tend to be poorly maintained, so be sure to check brakes and gears before you set out. For travelers craving reliability, Bike Asia (22 Guihua Rd, across from Bar 98 and next to Kelly's Cafe) has well-maintained specialized mountain bikes for ¥70 a day, including a map, lock, helmet and advice on routes. Bike Asia also has good bike maps of the area, and can advise on where to cycle and help out with a reliable guide. Find a farmer woman for ¥100 per day to give you a guided tour of the local paths. This may include lunch at her place if you're lucky.

From ¥10 per day

Blackrock

Claim focus on quality instructions, bilingual guides and safety. Offer other activities such as abseiling, kayaking and ziplining.

Exploring caves

There are an abundance of caves riddling the limestone hills. Guided tours are available. More serious cavers should talk to the staff at the various climbing shops (listed above) for information about possible cave climbs.

Huangyao Ancient Town

Huangyao Ancient Town is just over an hour outside of Yangshuo by coach. It is a lovely, rustic old town where the film, "The Painted Veil" was shot.

Impression Liu Sanjie

印象·刘三姐, Yinxiang Liusanjie

70 minutes long. The show, set to the music from the movie of the same name and produced by famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou, who was also behind the Beijing Olympic games opening ceremony, is grand and impressive, though perhaps not particularly entertaining. It features a cast of more than 600 wearing traditional Zhuang, Miao and Yao dress, and a highly impressive light show. Liu Sanjie translates as Third sister Liu, the heroine of an old Chinese story. You can see the show cheaply from a boat on the river, or even from across the river, but by far the best view is from the official seating area. Tickets only sell out in the very height of the summer tourist season. Seats are assigned.

Every day but closed in Jan or Feb for maintenance·¥188 face value, travel agents sell at about ¥150 for the cheapest seat

Swimming in the Li River

During the summer, the water and temperature is good for swimming. Locals swim from the docks on the Li Jiang (Li River) a short way upstream of the town centre. The water is generally clean and crystal clear but you may want to avoid a main waste drain near to the dock. Keep walking up to the north from the dock for around 20 minutes to find out a popular swimming spot, nicknamed "the secret beach". Pay extra attention on strong currents which can be experienced in many parts of the river, especially if you are not good enough at swimming. Also tour boats that travel the Li Jiang coming from Guilin are a hazard, but usually the time before 12:00 and after 15:00 is tour boat free. The Yulong River is also good for swimming, offering some quality swimming spots, e.g. near dragon bridge, although some parts of the river are crowded with bamboo rafts.

Terratribes

They also do multi-day camping, biking tours, rafting, caving, etc., for school/family/corporate groups. Stop by after dinner for a slack-lining session.

Water caves

Make sure which water cave you are visiting since there are at least two of them about 15 km south of Yangshuo. The Moon Water Cave is 2 km west of GaoTian town, but the ticket office is 2 km north-east of GaoTian town, on the road to another cave called Water Cave. Both caves state on flyers that they have hot spring baths but the one in Moon Water Cave appears to be artificially heated (ticket price ¥90).

Yangdi - Xingping

As of Aug 2013, this 18- to 24-km walk can be done both ways and it is a far more peaceful way to enjoy the Li river and mountain scenery than a loud noisy boat down the river. It takes you along the pebbly shores of the river, through many small villages, fields and bamboo forests. You will have to take three bamboo raft across the river at about ¥10-30 each after bargaining. Just tell someone you want to go "walking". In the direction of Xingping the first ferry crossing can be difficult to negotiate as it appears to not be entirely legal. The other ferries however are not an issue. If you get tired during the walk, you can always rent a bamboo raft to float down the river; don't worry about availability - you will be turning down offers of 'Bamboo? Bamboo?' the whole way. There are plenty of people selling food and drinks along the way, ranging from single sellers to sit-down cafes. One can then take a bamboo raft back to the start ¥300-500 one way. The 3 ferry points across the river might not be in operation all day, so the better way is to start the trail from Daqiaotou village instead of Yangdi to skip 2 ferry points. Or if you start from Xingping and don't want to do the whole trail, you can do the trail from Xingping to Quanjiazhou and walk back. You can get the updated direction for the trail from AllTrails app.

Yangshuo Basecamp

A family-run organization based in a beautiful village. Afa and his brothers provide friendly instructions with a strong emphasis on safety. Other activities include rock climbing, ziplining, abseiling, camping and BBQ.

Karst Climber

Beginner classes and guided climbs.

Rock Abond Inn

Provides a gear shop, hostel and guiding services.

Spiderman

on Xianqian Road, the first cross street off West Street as you come up from the river

Sunny Sky

Has English-speaking guides.