Yangshou is popular for its beautiful mountains, rivers, caves, and temples. We decided to take full advantage of our free day from the tour and booked it to the closest bike shop. We rented sweet mountain bikes for $3 a day and rode along the main road to our destinations. Traffic is ridiculous everywhere in China so we just rode on the far right side of the road, trying to avoid the cars coming up behind us, as well as in front of us because they don't like to drive on just one side of the road.
Our first stop was a giant Banyan tree that has been there since 581 AD. Very old, like everything else that's good in China :) We walked around and talked to a lot of people who came up to take pictures with us. We even took some random photos on a bamboo raft with one girl. After the tree we rode even further to Moon Hill. This hill is famous in China because in the limestone hill is a circular arch near the top, resembling a moon. We locked up our bikes and started up the path of over 800 stairs. About thirty sweaty minutes later we reached the top of the mountain, walking directly through the archway. One of David's lifeguard friends told him that once you think you reach the top, keep going. So we saw a small footpath to the left that said, "no entry." So of course David wanted to try it :) We started making our way through dense brush and sticky mud. The winding footpath lead us up the the arch, to the very top of the mountain. The view of the surrounding villages, rivers, and rice terraces below us was stunning. Breaking the rules was definitely worth it. :)
That night we attended the world-famous (by world I mean China) Light Impression show. It was a lot better than it sounds. It was created by the same person who directed the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. The performance utilized the natural surroundings to create a spectacular outdoor theatre which is the largest of its kind. The Li River itself is the stage and twelve mountains are the backdrop. He used lighting of the mountains combined with song and dance performances. One of my favorite parts was when the river was flooded red and fishermen on bamboo rafts suddenly appear throughout the river with torches. A few people commented on how it was scary to watch over 600 Chinese act in unison with one another (referring to the to the communist government, and how there wasn't one star performer- all were equal, etc). It didn't bother us at all though, to each his own! Plus if we say anything about the government we could get arrested. :)
Zai-jian!
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