Mom with the owner oif this old mansion!One of the highlights of our cycling tour!!
If you are going to Yangshuo, you should definitely do a cycling tour through the breathtaking countryside. While on our cycling tour we all enjoyed the beautiful natural scenery and the fresh air. Its also the best way to learn about the life style of the local people and see what their residential houses look like.
The whole valley of the Dragon River is amazing. The mountains, the fields, everything is so lush and green. About 8 kilometers from Yangshuo is the village of Jiuxian. Here with the mountains as a backdrop there is a whole set of old mansions and Qing Dynasty buildings around 300 years old.
The owners are the descendants of the original families
Owner of the mansion
Inside the courtyard
Playing around with one of their swords
The ancient villages and Karst limestone hills in Yangshuo attract thousands of travelers at home and abroad. In the villages, there are some well preserved big houses and mansions of wealthy families in the past. Many of them are well preserved and the descendants of the families are still living in them.
We were shown around one of these old mansions by the lovely owners. It was such an interesting and amazing experience, hearing about their family history and even learning a bit about the wonderful Chinese culture.
Inside the mansion
Inside the mansion
Inside the mansion
Inside the mansion
Letting us all taste her home-made snake wine!Are you brave enough to drink this snake wine?
The beautiful courtyard
Inside the mansion
Looking out over the small courtyard
The small courtyard of this majestic building was filled with beautiful details of their country lifestyle. It s a pity that some of the house are turning into runes but there are still lots in good condition that are definitely worth a visit.
This peaceful countryside journey is the perfect escape from the boisterous urban cities of China. To cycle through the breathtaking scenery of Yangshuo should definitely be on everyone’s must-visit lists.
Lady sitting outside the house selling some souveniers.Some of the guys from our fabulous China Oddysey
Group Cycling through the amazing Yangshuo Countryside
Ready for the open road!!
Yangshuo is a popular place for cycling tours as the town is surrounded by karst mountains, winding rivers and beautiful scenery.I don’t know who was more scared of the day of cycling that lay ahead, me or my mom. We are both quite unfit when it comes to cycling but we were really looking forward to the bicycle ride through the Yangshuo countryside.
Our group got bicycles and bicycle helmets from the hotel we were staying at. I was the “lucky” one to get a baby blue peapod motorbike helmet as they ran out of bicycle helmets. Luckily there was a light drizzle every now and again so I didn’t get too hot wearing it.
This is where the town ends and the countryside adventure started!!
Yangshuo rice paddies
Yangshuo rice paddies
We got to experience the hustle & bustle of the Yangshuo traffic for 10 minutes before we escaped onto the country roads of the beautiful Yangshuo countryside. The scenery along the path that we followed was breathtaking! Biking alongside the paddy fields and orchards that surround the mist covered mountains gave us a fascinating insight into life in rural China.
Pitstop next to the beautiful Yangshuo River
An amazing day with my mom!!
Such a beautiful countryside
Cycling through fields of rice paddies, absolutely breathtaking!
Standing on Dragon Bridge
Love the bamboo rafts
Mom standing on Dragon Bridge!!
Our first official rest stop was at Dragon Bridge. We made our way through small villages and over bumpy roads to get to the 400 year old Yu Long (dragon) Bridge. Although the bridge is not particularly spectacular the scenery is magnificent and worth the whole ride! Looking out over the river filled with all the bamboo rafts made me forget about my sore bum for a while!
Such an amazing view!
Yangshuo countryside is amazing
The famous Moon Hill!!
Arriving at Moon Hill
Just up the road from Dragon Bridge we reached Moonhill which is about 8km south of Yangshuo. This is a very popular scenic spot the main attraction being a hill with a huge hole in the shape of a moon. The hills here can be climbed for spectacular vistas from the top. It is not an incredibly long trek to the top but the gradient and strange angle of the 400 odd steps that are covered in slimy moss didn’t look that inviting. So my mom and i opted not to join the group for the 400 steps to the top and waited for them at the bottom. We sat down at one of the hawkers at the entrance and had some very tasty bean jelly while got resting our sore bums.
Enjoying some very tasty bean jelly
Yangshuo river
Bamboo rafts floating down the river
Stopping off for lunch!
The scenery did make up for any pain and I stopped a lot to take loads of photos. But definitely going to start riding more bicycle at home so that next time I do a cycling tour I will not be in so much pain. For lunch we stopped at a local house and had the most amazing pumpkin and taro root with loads of other local dishes. Lunch was fabulous and just the boost we needed for the bicycle ride back to town.
Getting back onto the bike after lunch I realized that I could hardly sit on the bike my bum hurt so much. It was quite a balancing act to make it back but it was such an amazing experience.
The ideal place for a rest stop…..So tranquil and beautiful out here
