Guilin's Landscape Is the Best Under Heaven

The mid-autumn moon over Guilin’s landscape, the charm of Yangshuo drifts into dreams. A boat glides on green waters beyond the green hills, a cup of osmanthus comforts a lifetime. For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I spent three days in Yangshuo watching the full moon—a form of self-exile, a form of self-redemption.

Yangshuo is a small town full of landscapes and charm, a gentle haven that intoxicates you and leaves you unable to escape. It is not Suzhou or Hangzhou, places filled with stories and gardens; it is not Xiamen, a city brimming with coastal views. It is simply Yangshuo—the small town where the river is like a green silk ribbon and the hills like jade hairpins. It is simply Yangshuo—the place where the sky over Guilin seems small beside the vast green hills, each hill standing tall beyond the blue sky. Just one West Street, one stretch of Li River, even a single drifting boat—all are enough to make you feel you cannot escape its charm.

This is West Street—let love be intoxicated here!

China has many small towns, each with its own merits, but Yangshuo is different. Yangshuo has a unique backdrop of a Chinese ink painting, where people live amidst the shades of ink, finding joy in the ethereal beauty. Under the most beautiful clouds, beside the most beautiful landscape in the world, life here is nothing but happiness.

The backdrop of distant mountains makes one marvel at Yangshuo's grandeur, while the Li River, winding like a ribbon, resembles a delicate maiden, evoking its gentleness.

In Yangshuo, West Street is the huge center, with its various exits leading to every corner of the county.

Sometimes I envy these street vendors. In Guangzhou, when I look up, I see a higher concrete jungle; when they look up, they see an exquisite Chinese painting.

In Yangshuo, beer fish is a legend. Many people tell its story, many say they won’t eat it next time, but how many can truly come to this landscape and not be moved? Perhaps beer fish is no longer just a dish but a sentiment—a sentiment of the landscape, a sentiment of Yangshuo.

For many, West Street is an international street because people come here for bars and romantic encounters. But for me, the bustling crowds bring more noise. I come here more for the Li River and the osmanthus.

A friend once told me long ago that the best thing to do in Yangshuo is to laze around. Because once you’re here, you should go to bed only when you’re too sleepy to stay awake, and have breakfast only when you really don’t want to sleep. When I come to Yangshuo, I discover a kind of leisure—not the lazy kind, but a leisure free from worrying about work, a leisure that comes from just viewing the landscape. Even if you don’t go rafting, just sitting by the Li River with a cup of tea is a form of self-redemption.

Time is the eraser of memories... If there are many things we need to forget, why not pick it up and quietly erase the past, as if it was never written, and write the most beautiful verses anew on the blank paper of life.

West Street’s night market is exquisite and full of life, quietly nestled among the bustling nightclubs.

Is a legend a past event, or is a past event a legend? Perhaps this is a puzzle that can never be solved. I only know that a legend will surely become a past event, and a past event might be a legend. So where have our past events gone? Have they become legends? I smile and quietly walk past.

The owners of West Street shops could probably teach at foreign language institutes. It is said many of them are fluent in more than one foreign language, which truly makes me feel ashamed.

When you come to Yangshuo, if you only focus on West Street and the Li River, you might be missing out. Just by riding a bicycle, you will encounter many beautiful sights.

Golden Cat Cave Rock Climbing Base

Golden Cat Cave Rock Climbing Base

A bear is just a kind of loneliness.

Golden Cat Cave Rock Climbing Base

Golden Cat Cave Rock Climbing Base

Natural Sound · Butterfly Spring

Back at West Street, the sign of the Poor Traveler Club stands under the blue sky. Actually, whether it’s budget travel or luxury travel, what matters more is your mood. As long as you immerse yourself wholeheartedly in the landscape, why care about the method?

If there is one place in Yangshuo that I find most unforgettable, it is the Yulong River. The quiet water flows as if I am part of the painting. It is more beautiful and more delicate than the Li River. The clear water of the Yulong River often flows into my dreams.

Speaking of the most beautiful stretch of the Li River, it is widely agreed to be from Yangdi to Xingping. Yangdi is a small town, quietly existing amid the landscape, serving as the starting point of this Ten-Mile Gallery. At noon, under the lazy sunlight, the river seems asleep without a sound, except for occasional small ripples on the bank.

Li River Rafting (Yangdi–Xingping Section)

Li River Rafting (Yangdi–Xingping Section)

Li River Rafting (Yangdi–Xingping Section)

Yangshuo is a magical place—even the dragonflies are colorful.

Li River Rafting (Yangdi–Xingping Section)

Li River Rafting (Yangdi–Xingping Section)

On the Li River, these bamboo rafts are undoubtedly the best tourist tool—safe and allowing free enjoyment of the scenery.

Li River Rafting (Yangdi–Xingping Section)

Li River Rafting (Yangdi–Xingping Section)

A carp that leaps over rivers and seas.