Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Xingping & Around
Xingping
, the location of the photo on the back of ¥20 banknotes, is more
than 1000 years old and houses a number of historic residences.
The HI-affiliated
This Old Place
( Lao Difang; 870 2887;
www.topxingping.com
; 5 Rongtan Lu; dm ¥30-40, s ¥60, d ¥80-190;
)
is an excellent place to stay, with a cosy, large lounge area, helpful English-
speaking staff and great wood-fired pizza. Stay in the new wing or ask for the
balcony room 305 in the old wing.
You can hike the mountain behind Xingping, past pomelo and orange
groves, to the sleepy old
Fish Village
( Yucun).
A bus from Yangshuo to Xingping takes an hour (¥7, every 15 minutes).
Fuli
Also very popular, and much closer to Yangshuo (about 9km east), is the his-
toric village of Fuli with its stone houses and cobbled lanes. It takes about an
hour to get here by bike. There are also regular buses from Yangshuo to a
drop-off point within walking distance of Fuli (¥3, 15 minutes).
Yulong River
The scenery along this smaller, quieter river, about 6km southwest of
Yangshuo, is breathtaking. There are a number of great swimming spots and
countless exploring possibilities. Just rent a bike and get out here.
One option is to aim for
Dragon Bridge
( Yulong Qiao), about 10km up-
stream. This 600-year-old stone arched bridge is among Guangxi's largest and
comes with higgledy-piggledy steps and sides that lean inwards with age. Al-
ternatively, take a bus to Jinbao and ask to get off at the bridge (¥5, 35
minutes), just after Baisha .
Zhenyuan
0855 / POP 60,000
