A French cafe in the middle of the Old street of Yangshuo. It has a great terrace from where you can observe the street life enjoying fresh home-brewed beer.

yangshuo.mychinastart.com

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Yangshuo is without question the tourist destination in China that most caters for the western tourist, reflected in both costs and food. It is surrounded by some beautiful countryside, but don't think that it is typically representative of China, because it isn't.

Pick up a local tourist map for rock guidance in any paper shop, don't pay more than five yuan for it

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Yangshuo is one of the few places in China where foreign tourists can easily escape the urban jungle. Hire a bike and see a tiny corner of the real China of rice paddies and peasant farmers, all of it framed by the scarily photogenic karst rock formations.

Rental shops around the tourist market, and from cafes and hotels.

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I stayed in a small place (the minority cafe with a great cook but it may have changed hands by now) on Guihua road opposite a traditional medicine shop. It's cheaper and quieter than West Street (only minutes away) with a really great cake shop on the corner.

If walking up West Street towards the river turn left, over a bridge and it should be somewhere around there.

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An oasis of calm for weary travellers in China!

Four Streets of hotels, bars, restaurants and budget travel agents.

An excellent, clean, air-conditioned room (with shower) cost me CNY 60 (GBP 4) per night. Beer is CNY 6 a pint! Internet use is free all over town in bars and hotels.

You can get an English breakfast and yes a sandwich. I was caught staring at one for too long because I have been away for a long time. I just about got away with it as the shopkeeper spoke good English.

You can also revamp your traveller's wardrobe as the shops offer clothes in Western sizes and most people speak good English here.

Come here by tourist boat (CNY 400) or bus (CNY 20.) Stay here and not Guilin as it is much cheaper (see above.)

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Cycle to Moon Cave and take your bathers because the trip includes a mud bath which is great fun.

Opposite Moon Hill, directions well publicised around Yanshou

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You what? Cormorant fishing - it's a traditional practise involving painstakingly-trained birds on the end of strings. These then dive into the river and catch fish on behalf of their handler. At Yangshuo it's been touristified, so with floodlit barges full of tourists on the scene it's not ideal, but still a rare chance to view a way of life that few know still exists.

Book through cafes and hotels - and it goes on at night, so bring a torch, warm clothing and loads and loads of mosquito repellent.

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