Thoughtful Ink and a Blank White Page: Not So Lazy Days

One of the best ways to see Yangshuo is by bicycle. You could stay inside the town limits and gaze at large groups of western tourists, or you could peddle your way through villages for a taste of local living. We chose the latter.

I am not much of a cyclist as you all may know. In fact, I'm famous for saying: “I hate biking.” It’s true; for the most part I would choose walking over cycling. But as they say: “when in Rome.” So we rented mountain bikes for 20Yuan and took off for the day.

I was actually surprised at how excited I was for this adventure. It was beautiful to be away from the crowds and experiencing nature. Picture this: green fields and mountains all around you, clear blue skies free of pollution. Just what I needed. I really believe the landscape distracted me from the fact that I was cycling. I just couldn’t stop looking around. Every turn in the road brought new breathtaking views of the country side. Our first adventure was an eight kilometer ride to Moon Hill, which like its name suggests, a moon cutout in the top of a mountain top. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the site they wanted to charge us admission. Not even nature is free in China, so we opted not to take the hike. We biked a little further down the road for a free look and a picture then continued on the route Braeden planned out for us.

Our final destination was Dragon Bridge. Braeden found a route less traveled that followed the river and passed through several villages. It was great, not a white face for miles. I know that sounds bad, but like I said- we were in the Banff of China so wanted to get away from the tourists. After about four kilometers we arrived in the first village, Dragon Village. The streets were narrow and the people were just living life not noticing us as we rode by. There were no advertisements and no one trying to call us into their shops. We figured we finally found some peace. We were wrong. A man saw us approaching, jumped up, and blocked us from biking by. He produced a paper from his pocket that said 20Yuan. We didn’t know what was going on. There was no official signs for a toll booth or tourist attraction: just a man sitting on a stool waiting until westerners approached. Well out of pure principal we refused to hand over money because all we wanted to do was pass through the village. The man then produced a book that showed a bunch of rooftops. Apparently the village architecture was something to pay for. I don’t think so. We attempted to take a back lane to go around him. No luck. He met us at the end of the ally and tried to make us pay again. We left. Our backroute was ruined by some jackass trying to take advantage of our white faces. We had to backtrack and take the road more travelled.

I was seriously pissed off over this, but we quickly got onto another road and headed towards Dragon Bridge. This route was amazing: we road alongside a river, across fields, and through twisty streets of small villages. Several times our ride was interupted by farmers herding their cattle down the same narrow path. We ended up being guided by this guy on a scooter who just kept driving up a head of us, waiting, and then pointing us in the right direction. He lead us down this crazy route , which we wouldn’t have found on our own. Turns out he had a motive: he tried to sell us a bamboo ride once we arrived at the bridge. We politely declined several times as he followed us over the bridge and back to our bikes. Thanks buddy!

By the time we arrived I was exhausted. We had been riding for almost four hours, with only a few short breaks. Braeden assured me it was only nine kilometers back to Yangshuo and we got back on our bikes after downing a bottle of water. We rode probably a kilometer when I saw a bus with a wrangler shouting “Yangshuo?” I said yes, yes! He put my bike on the bus and I road back to town in comfort! Braeden was glad to be rid of me because I was slow. However, in comparison to him about 99% of people are slow. He is a year round commuter after and a biking enthusiast after all. When we got back to the hostel he told me I biked approximately 30 kilometers, maybe more on account of the windy roads. Not bad for a girl who hates biking.