Self-Drive to Yangshuo: Catching Up on Springtime Beauty in One Go!

Returned from South Korea on January 18, followed the call to stay home and avoid the epidemic, quietly stayed for two months, truly bored from head to toe! At the end of March, unable to restrain my restless heart, I drove to Yangshuo, planning to find a cozy courtyard, enjoy with a few close friends. Must face the Yulong River, with an infinity pool within reach... Eat the most rustic ingredients, play the most exciting activities, to make up for two months at home!

Self-Drive Tips: Highway tolls are fully waived, gas price only ¥5, it's time to travel around China!

Temperature Tips: Yangshuo has a large temperature difference between day and night, adults and children must bring warm clothes, and an umbrella is essential during the rainy season.

Fruit Tips: The oranges and tangerines now are so sweet and juicy, three a day aren't enough, you must stock up!

Souvenir Tips: Liu's Beer Fish sauce packets can instantly make you a chef, bringing Yangshuo's beer fish home is easy!

Local specialties from Qingjiangdu can also be taken along, absolutely wild and cheap!

3.26 Day 1

Self-drive from Guangzhou to Yangshuo ~ Lunch at service area ~ Arrive at hotel ~ Stroll along Yulong River ~ Dinner at hotel.

3.27 Day 2

After breakfast depart ~ Shui'edi Pier for rapeseed flower photos ~ Liu's Beer Fish lunch ~ Sanmu Off-Road Vehicles ~ Local Home Cooking dinner

3.28 Day 3

Hotel breakfast ~ Qingjiangdu lunch ~ Hotel relaxing afternoon tea ~ BBQ

3.29 Day 4

Self-drive from Yangshuo back to Guangzhou

Self-drive from Guangzhou to Yangshuo, left at 10:15 AM, stopped at Huaiji service area for a simple lunch, arrived at hotel at 3:30 PM. Just after the epidemic, most hotels in Yangshuo were not yet open. This Backyard Inn Yulong River branch had just reopened, currently the only art gallery luxury river view resort hotel in Yangshuo, so we decided to stay there.

I've stayed in many hotels, but this 'art gallery luxury river view resort hotel' was my first encounter. The design style is simple and bright, ink paintings adorn the rooms, log design with marble interior exudes elegance. The rooms have a small river view balcony, offering a panoramic view of the Yulong River, and also overlooking the hotel's infinity pool, with excellent scenery. The room has a single bathtub, washing away fatigue with a pool of warm water, relaxing the whole body and mind.

After a short rest, we walked along the Yulong River. The river water was quite murky, but the scenery on both banks was excellent. Guangxi's beautiful peaks have long been famous; no matter how many times you come to the Yulong River, you still find it beautiful. However, this time it was different—there were very few passersby. At this moment, Yangshuo had a different kind of misty charm. We were all glad we chose this self-drive trip to experience a different Yangshuo, a different Li River, a different Yulong River.

We had dinner at the hotel, which could be called 'private custom'. On ordinary days, this art gallery Chinese restaurant is quite famous, with a chef from Guangdong, known for Cantonese cuisine. But the most attractive thing is dining in the art gallery, looking at the valuable oil paintings on the wall, experiencing a different kind of refined life.

In Guangzhou, it was still single-layer clothing, but in Yangshuo, we needed to put on jackets. Such temperature is perfect for hot pot! A pot of fish bone soup, a fat free-range chicken, and a Li River fish create a heavenly delicacy. The black fish from the Li River was sliced by the chef to translucent thinness, showing it was done by a Guangdong chef. After a few seconds of boiling, it became fragrant and delicious, one bite unforgettable!

The hotel offers Chinese and Western breakfast options. The Chinese breakfast is homemade, with steamed dumplings that can instantly beat 'Guilin rice noodles'! Eggs, minced pork congee, buns, and mantou are all available. A good day starts with a rich breakfast! Shui'edi Pier is originally a Yulong River rafting pier, but the timing wasn't right for rafting. Taking photos of rapeseed flowers, or even rapeseeds, was a good choice. What's most lacking here is the rare greenery seen in cities—full of lush green and warm sunlight making you even more lazy!

Walking around the streets of Yangshuo, most restaurants were still not open, but you must eat beer fish when in Yangshuo. What to do? Then we saw Liu's Beer Fish Dinge branch was already open, and we were overjoyed—we went for it!

For beer fish, you must order sesame swordfish. The live fish is freshly killed and brought to the table, tender and fat, with few bones. The serving was full of ceremony: first, a whole sesame swordfish sliced in a coiled dragon pattern was brought, then special sauce packets and beer were poured in, and the pot was simmered. When the hourglass ran out, a pot of deliciousness emerged—this is the taste you must have in Yangshuo! It is said the sauce originates from Guangxi intangible cultural heritage. My husband especially likes strong-flavored fish, so I bought a few packets of sauce to make beer fish for him at home in the future!

Zhuang bamboo tube chicken: using bamboo tubes as containers, the chicken absorbs the fragrance of bamboo, the soup is clear, the chicken is cooked until soft, and the aroma spreads all around. Handmade bamboo knot stuffing: specially selected bamboo knots, stuffed with premium ingredients, very appealing in appearance. Dried bamboo shoot stewed wild duck: bamboo shoots are a famous ingredient in Yangshuo, especially in spring and winter, not to be missed, stewed with wild duck, endless flavor. I've known about Lipu taro's reputation since childhood, and it truly lives up to its name—so powdery and soft that one bite makes you fall deeply in love. So this Lipu taro stewed pork rib is a must-order!

After a short rest, it was time for the men's favorite part—Sanmu Off-Road Vehicles. In Yangshuo, you must have wild activities to attract men. One of them is driving off-road vehicles along the Li River. At the Shuangtan Sanmu Off-Road Base, you can choose from beach buggies, kart buggies, and jeep buggies. Racing on the riverbank or country paths is thrilling and addictive, leaving you wanting more!

For dinner, a friend took us to a restaurant favored by locals. This is a truly non-touristy area. It is said the restaurant is known for its ingredients and very local cooking methods.

Wild mushroom and free-range chicken soup: almost no cooking skill required, relying entirely on the power of the ingredients. The wild mushrooms are smooth and delicious, the free-range chicken is full of flavor, even the bones are fragrant! Steamed wild bonefish: this bonefish doesn't look particularly appealing, but the taste is fresh and tempting. Boiled Li River shrimp: varying sizes, hand-caught, extremely sweet. Stuffed field snails: a Yangshuo delicacy I've been longing for, complicated process but very delicious. Stir-fried sour rain fungus, quick-fried local eel, spring omelette with bamboo shoots, taro stems, stir-fried Li River small fish... completely won the hearts of diners! No wonder this 'Local Home Cooking' is so popular among locals—truly delicious!

After hotel breakfast, quietly enjoying the Yulong River view from the room was also a good choice. I searched online for a trendy restaurant, whose slogan is 'With mountains, water, and a bit of field', best for DIY family trips or family dining.

Qingjiangdu Ecological Agriculture: their own farm produces a range of self-grown products: free-range chickens, wild vegetables, rice, tea, and more.

At Qingjiangdu, you can taste their signature fruitwood kiln chicken, truly freshly roasted in an earthen kiln. As soon as it's served, it's snatched up, leaving no bones! The chicken wrapped in foil is so fatty it drips with oil and juice, making you unable to stop licking your fingers. That pure 'earthy flavor' is a long-lost temptation for city dwellers, indescribably wonderful.

Qingjiangdu's spring-water-fed free-range chicken impressed me deeply. The 200-day self-raised chicken is unforgettable. Its fat distribution is very even, with the unique sweet fragrance of free-range chicken. The pure chicken aroma is enhanced by the pure mountain spring water, the soup so sweet and moistening it's 'outrageous'! Stir-fried thunder fungus with homemade pickled beans: a lucky encounter, thunder fungus grows only during the thunderstorm season, smooth and tasty, perfectly paired with pickled beans. Stir-fried toon shoots with free-range eggs: a springtime limited edition, rare to find. Wood-fired stewed duck, homemade tofu, homemade sun-dried fried tofu skin, Pulsatilla (wild vegetable), spider flower (wild vegetable), farm lettuce—ingredients from Qingjiangdu have become a landmark food label. No wonder it's far from Yangshuo city but still incredibly trendy!

Notably, the wood-fired tripod pot rice: the handmade purity alone wouldn't make this rice amazing. It requires an iron tripod pot seasoned for at least half a year, combined with skillful cooking techniques, plus home-grown rice, to turn a seemingly ordinary bowl of white rice into a royal experience! The rice grains are distinct and fragrant, and importantly, the tripod pot keeps it warm. Even after two hours of hot pot, the rice remains warm and tasty—I can only describe it as 'stunning'. I wish I could eat a mouthful of this wood-fired tripod pot rice every day!

Backyard Inn is famous not only for its art gallery but also for its custom trendy afternoon tea. Enjoying a quiet afternoon by the infinity pool or in the hotel courtyard is definitely a great joy in life. Especially during the transition from spring to summer, the sound of cicadas helps you sleep in the breeze, lazy time and rich desserts make your trip to Yangshuo worthwhile.

For dinner, we had an enviable little party by the pool: poolside BBQ, everyone was a star! I have to praise the hotel chef. I thought Cantonese cuisine was exquisite, but I didn't expect even the spicy garlic sauce for BBQ to be so meticulously made. For a picky eater like me, I finally tasted authentic grilled oysters! Chatting by the stove, drinking and laughing—it had been so long since I felt so carefree! Grilled steak, grilled pork belly, grilled tofu, grilled corn, grilled shrimp... fresh ingredients are their attitude, everything was perfect.

From the lobby came pleasant guitar and singing. It turned out a certain internet celebrity had been sleeping here for three consecutive days, and invited local singers to livestream in the hotel. This rainy night did not extinguish the enthusiasm from all over; instead, it brought our hearts together, and we enjoyed it!

The trip was nearing its end. Outside the window, a light drizzle and cold air gave the illusion of winter. It was perfect for having a pot of hot soup to warm up. We were too lazy to go out for lunch, so we ate at the hotel. It's great that the Cantonese chef makes food to our taste: fresh wild fish and tofu soup, scallion oil free-range chicken, salt and pepper river shrimp—the Li River ingredients in the chef's hands show the beauty of cooking in various ways. Notably, the health black tofu, with sesame added for richer flavor, brought a touch of warmth and aftertaste on this cold spring day.

This is my umpteenth time in Yangshuo; I come almost every year, and I like it more and more. As the saying goes, 'Guilin's scenery is the best in the world, and Yangshuo's scenery is the best in Guilin.' Every time I come, I gain beauty from different seasons and periods. Help revive Yangshuo's tourism—let's plan a trip soon!

Travelogue Contents: 1. Itinerary 2. Day 1 3. Day 2 4. Day 3 5. Day 4

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