We saw some amazing views in Yangshuo.
But nothing could have prepared us for this.
My name is Ryan and I'm currently backpacking full time with my girlfriend; Emma.
In this series, we are exploring China
One of the most beautiful, diverse and misunderstood countries in the world.
On day 8, we left beautiful Yangshuo
and headed an hour north to Xingping
A former fishing village that is so beautiful that it even features on the 20 Yuan bank note.
Xingping is a popular day trip from Yangshuo, but I wanted to know if it was actually a better,
more beautiful place to visit?
I want this video to be as useful as possible, so
if there's an aspect of Xingping that you need to know about
head down to the description and skip to the part of the video that interests you the most
So, let's start by comparing the towns
During the day, the streets of Xingping's ancient town are packed with tourists
But, by the late afternoon, it's much quieter
with mainly locals
A pretty stark contrast to nights in Yangshuo
You notice straight away that Xingping is a lot quieter than Yangshuo
I mean, one of them is a big, busy, built for purpose tourist town.
While the other is a quiet fishing village that just
happens to get lots of visitors during the day. So as a result, Xingping feels that slightly
more authentic.
Unfortunately, much of our time in Xingping was plagued by bad weather.
But there was one thing we were determined to do. Xingping claims to have the best views
in the area, some say even the best in the whole of China - from the mighty, Laozhai
mountain. It's a 300 meter climb up to the summit with over 1000 stone steps leading
up there, which sounds easy enough but after it's been raining, we may have underestimated
how dangerous it would be. We're just starting the walk up Laozhai Hill now and it's just
started to rain so hopefully it doesn't ruin the view too much or make the climb a bit
difficult. But we'll see, fingers crossed. All the steps are very jagged and uneven and
on top of that you have this layer of wet mud which makes it very hard to keep your grip
It's quite slippery, so gonna take it slow.
We essentially had to crawl at points
and then you have to deal with the 2 way traffic as well, so it was a slow climb.
Now it kind of turns into a ladder, so cameras going off now.
The ladder you just saw brings you out at a pagoda which has some quite nice views of the town.
But do not be fooled, because this is not the viewpoint we were looking for.
At the top of the ladder on the right you'll see the pagoda,
but to the left theres a path of sorts which leads up towards a pile of rocks.
And that's where the real viewpoint is.
But I've got to stress that this is not an official viewpoint, it is definitely dangerous, especially after its been raining.
So please make sure you wear the right footwear, take all the precautions you can and please just
take your time.
Laozhai is by far the best thing to do in Xingping,
but there are some other things to see.
You can walk from the ancient town over to the 20 Yuan spot
and from there you can walk, cycle or catch a ride around the beautiful countryside.
When Bill Clinton visited in 1999, he asked to see the real China and this is where they
took him. As we explored the area, I could see why.
So is Xingping better than Yangshuo?
Overall, I don't think so. It has the best views by far, but it really lends itself to
a day trip because theres just not that much to see. Whereas in Yangshuo, you can cycle
around all day and still have places left to visit. But it is definitely worth making
the effort to come here for the day and who knows? You might just see the real China.
Next time on the One Shot Adventures China Series. We head to the city of Kunming, an
unexpected surprise. Thank you so much for watching this film, if you liked it make sure
you give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel and the next episode of the China
Series will be up next week!