The ancient township of Xingping sits by the most beautiful part of Li River. Xingping old town dates back to the third century and was the most important town beside the Li River for more than 1700 years. Its now a market town and on any day of the month which ends in 3, 6 or 9 you will find locals from all the surrounding villages buying and selling their produce.
Getting here from Yangshuo is easy, their are many public buses or enjoy a bike ride which allows you to stop at mud brick villages of local farmers and and if your lucky catch them working in the rice paddies with their water buffalo.
Its possible to do a river cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, and get off early in Xingping. The boats depart Guilin once daily, first thing in the morning and arrive in Yangshuo around noon. If you'd rather not be part of the convoy of noisey cruise boats (big enough to hold anything from 60 to 120 people) then a private local boat trip from Yangdi to Xingping is probably more your style. The scenery from Yangdi to Xingping along the Li River is the best of the best, and therefore higly recommended for hiking and biking, as well as the great boat trips!
The Chinese say that here "the peaks rise like many needles, while the rivers are like ribbons". The Karst peaks, bamboo and their reflections in the river have been inspiration for centurys of painters and poets alike. Xingping is also the location for the picture on the back the Chinese 20 Yuan note. You can actually go to the exact spot from where the photo was taken. |
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