There are many things to do in Yangshuo, for someone who has never been to Yangshuo, it is a hustle to choose the right places to visit and the favorite things to do. As a local and been working in tourism for many years, I'm going to list the top 3 things to do in Yangshuo, hopefully this article helps you plan your visits before your arrival.
1, Rock Climbing
I'm too old, I'm too skinny, I'm too fat, I'm too...I know, I know, a lot of you guys are saying I'm not fit for rock climbing, but hey it is not what you think it is, rock climbing with ROPE is one of the safest sports in the world, now it has been made for the official Olympic games, it is not an extreme sport unless you want to try it FREE SOLO without rope, I believe there's too much misunderstanding about rock climbing, on the contrary, it's super fun and it has a wide range of difficulties that different types of people can give it a go no matter how "unfit" you are, plus it gives you an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone to become stronger mentally. In a matter of fact, most people I guided with zero climbing experience would say: I'm not sure if I can do that...and after a half day climbing session, they said with joy on their face: It's easy than I thought it would be.
Of course, an experience climbing guide is very important. Don't worry about the gear and rope, we offer them all and secure safety to 100%, here is what we will do in a session: Take you to one of the beginners' crag, and brief on the gear and everything, then we set up the rope on one easy route, and we will see how your reaction on the simple route, if it's too easy, you will finish it and we will set up a harder one for you to go next, if you find out it's quite difficult, we will let you go on the easy route again until you get familiar with it, to be honest, almost everyone we guided finished the easy route.
Yangshuo is the number one place for rock climbing, I believe it's no hard to see, we have thousands of climbing routes in Yanghsuo scattered in various crags (professional term for Rock Climbing Site). And most of them situate in rural area off the beaten path, good spots for pictures and hiking and breathing fresh air and enjoying countryside view, believe me, give it a go and let us show you some ropes when you are bored in Yangshuo, it will give you a different experience.
2, Bamboo Rafting
We have 2 main rivers in Yangshuo, there's a lot of things are going on the rivers for tourists with various options such a the boat type, touring timing, touring distances, I would have problems to choose something that hits my spot from all these mind hustling tours, well then, if you have one, just one river tour to do in Yangshuo, please make it the Yulong River Bamboo Rafting, the section from Jinlong Bridge to Jiuxian, the most peaceful and beautiful part of the River, lasts about 1.5 hours, 30 minutes drive from Yangshuo downtown, in my opinion, the most valuable river tour to do in Yangshuo, even though it might be a bit pricier than other river tours, believe me, it gets more bang on your bucks for sure.
This is how the tour goes like, you will get a bamboo raft, a boat man who rows the raft for you, each raft takes up to 2 people, young kids less than 1 meter high, elders older than 75 are not allowed aboard, this is not white water rafting, no risks at all, only a few waterbreaks you need to get down, the only thing you need to do is sit back in the seat and enjoy the view from the beautiful Yulong River, they offer big umbrella for blocking sun or rain, no worries about your things getting wet unless you want to. Tour starts at Jinlong Bridge, and it's one-way tour, you will not come back to where you start, and it ends in Jiuxian.
The reason why I list it top 3 is quite simple, it's a must-do.
3, Husband Mountain Sightseeing
Without further ado, the pictures below explain something for me. Breath-taking, isn't it? It's ten times more magnificent once you are there. I was amazed the first time I visited Husband Mountain, well long story short, husband mountain is not in any of the picture because that's the mountain we are standing on, got the name "husband" from the shape of it.
I'v been to many spots in Yangshuo, this one, has always been my favorite, each morning at 5 or 6 pm, large number of professional photographers get ready for the first sun beam to rise, but not everyone gets lucky, so my suggestion is if you are not one of them or you just want to see the landscape and take a few pictures, then there's no need to get up that early to catch the chancy sunrise.
Husband Mountain is about 1 hour drive from Yangshuo downtown, there's no public transport, best way to do it is get a taxi service. Once you get to the car park at the entrance you are already half way to the view point on the top of the mountain, the hike from car park to the top is about 10 minutes, minor physical effort required, as people say, the best view is always after a tough road.
Well, thank you for taking your time to read my nagging on the top 3 things to do in Yangshuo. If you are planning your trip or you are in town, don't miss out on any of these：）