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The Glossary
Hundreds of limestone hills dot the countryside of Yangshou, making it a favorite subject in many Chinese paintings and poems as well as an ideal arena for martial arts and outdoor sports. Hot-air ballooning, bamboo-raft cruising, river ferrying, cycling, caving, trekking, and learning kung fu are just some of the to-do's in this expat community that imbibes Guilin's karst scenery but not the big city feel.
Much of Yangshou's charm revolves around its karst landscape. As such, the town has its own active community of rock climbers from which travelers may find a partner in braving some of the town's more than 300 climbing routes offering different levels of difficulty. Among the most popular tracks are Karst Café, Spiderman, Terratribes, Chinaclimb, Blackrock, and Xclimber.
River cruising or hiking from Yangdi to Xingping also tops the bill of the most popular activities to try in Yangshou as this makes it easy for hikers to track down the café-dotted trail going to the Li River. The water in the river is warm enough for swimming, but for bamboo rafting, the better bet is the adjacent Yulong River for its turbulent current.
Yulong River Valley, along with its caves, rivals the Yangdi-Xingping area in terms of beauty. A cycling journey from the Yulong's riverside tracks takes bikers to a series of stone bridges such as Fuli Qiao and Yulong Qiao, as well as to farming villages with friendly locals and dramatic mountain and bamboo forest backdrops.
South of the town is Moon Hill, a hill with a big hole shaped like a moon. When the real moon appears in the skies, it signals the best time to watch fishermen catch cormorant fish using primitive fishing techniques.
Many people who come to Yangshou are so preoccupied with the karst landscape that they forget the town proper, which actually equally boasts of many activities like experiencing foot reflexology, bargain-hunting , sipping 15-year-old teas in teahouses, volunteering to teach English, arranging a hot-air balloon trip, and attending classes to learn Chinese cooking, Chinese painting, Mandarin, calligraphy, and fan painting.
Tai Chi classes are also being taught at People's Park, kung fu classes are offered at West Street, while Budizhen teaches qigong and yoga. Come summer, the cultural presentation Impression Liu Sanjie is a must-see for its impressive light show and hundreds of actors wearing traditional Yao, Miao, and Zhuang costumes.
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