By TIM GINGRICH
Too many tourists’ luggage conceals a repressed desire to get off the beaten path.
But in southwest China’s Yangshuo village, you can trade your suitcase for a backpack in an adventure that is more accessible than you might imagine.
Yangshuo is famous for karst peaks, sharp mountains that seem to shoot straight up from the ground and drew European and American mountain climbers a decade ago.
Recent high-profile visits to the surrounding region, such as President Clinton’s trip in 1998, have spurred development of the local tourism industry, making the Yangshuo backwaters more accessible for travelers like myself who lack a lot of expensive gear and survival training.
The ancient streets of Yangshuo now have buses, hotels and English menus that make adventure easy but risk becoming completely commercialized in the future.
If you have a backpack and a week off work, Yangshuo still offers unparalleled landscapes, pockets of ancient Chinese civilization and an adventure that is both accessible and authentic — for a limited time only.
Where East and West intersect
The nearest airport is in Guilin, but resist any temptation to stay in the tourist-saturated town. Instead, take the airport shuttle to the Guilin bus station, then follow fellow backpack-toting foreigners to the Yangshuo bus.
Yangshuo lies less than one hour outside Guilin, and the signature topography starts slicing up the landscape shortly after crossing the city limits.
Foreigners will fall in love with Yangshuo’s antiquated appearance at first sight; the Chinese will marvel at the sight of so many foreigners. Urban Chinese tourists eager to reconnect with the past see the concentration of European and American travelers as an added perk in this ancient village, so expect to have your picture taken.
It is obvious why the heart of Yangshuo is West Street. Along both sides of the winding stone-paved pedestrian avenue stand white-washed walls of oriental architecture punctuated by rows of lacquered wooden overhangs, windows and balconies. Below, a bustling souvenir market and restaurant scene spill out of each front door.
Built one on top of another, the buildings on West Street house multistory hotels that are cozy and cultural. Most of the so-called “hostels” actually offer private rooms and bathrooms for around $10 USD a night.
Little West Street Hostel sits at the head of the historical section of West Street. Visitors can find the entrance on the first lane past the last modern retail store, Giordano. The tidy, family-owned accommodation has eight rooms with double and queen-size beds, private baths and air conditioning. Ask for a fifth-floor bedroom with balcony views of the mountains above and street below.
From the Red Star Café to the Marco Polo Bar, West Street is famous for East-West fusion cuisine. Backpackers can prepare for a big day with a hearty sausage-and-eggs breakfast at Lisa’s Guesthouse and end the evening with something you can dig your chopsticks into at Meiyou Café.
But backpackers beware: if you think West Street’s accommodations and dining are authentic then do not take the souvenir shops too seriously. These days even old China hands are hard pressed to find a trinket of true Chinese culture. Store loads of ostensibly genuine Mao gear is amusing but hardly worth the bewilderment of your capitalist friends back home. Best buys? Search West Street’s T-shirt shops for your choice of print-screened Chinese slogans such as “Wo shi shuaige” (I’m a handsome guy) and “Laowai lai le” (The foreigner is here). Haggling is welcome — insist on half price.
By bicycle, boat and bare feet
When in Rome… that’s right, do as the Chinese do. There is still no better way to roam the Chinese countryside than on bicycle. But do not go alone.
Before setting out, find out if your hotel has a tour guide. The normal cost is a mere $5 USD for the entire day. As your living, breathing road map, these lifelong Yangshuo residents will keep you from getting lost on your off-the-beaten-path adventure and handle the details along the way.
With the help of our tour guide, my traveling companion and I rented a two-seat bicycle. Riding in tandem enables in-route conversation and lets you to take turns resting on the pedals.
Make the Yulong River your first stop. Here you will trade your bicycle for a bamboo raft. These hand-built boats seat two on a pontoon of tightly bound bamboo just a few feet wide. It is normal for water to seep in an out of the cracks, so ditch the hiking boots.
For the next hour, swim alongside, soak up the sun or turn around to watch your skipper, standing on the stern, steer the craft with a bamboo rod that reaches to the river floor.
The Yulong River snakes through Yangshuo’s range of karst peaks. Ask your boatman to point out the nicknames locals have assigned to each formation. My personal favorites are Frog Jumping Over the River and Beautiful Pregnant Woman Mountains.
The most unforgettable experience that the river offers is a taste of the local economy. Floating stores anchored to the shore sell snacks, soft drinks and a gamut of very fresh seafood.
Occasionally, your bamboo slew will glide over waterfalls that are no less thrilling for being one-foot-tall. These breakers, formed by stones submerged just below the surface, ensure a downstream current and provide a narrow crossing for farmers and their cows. Keep your eyes open for one of the water-walking inhabitants.
When we disembarked, the tour guide had already ferried our bicycle downstream. Get your guide to take you the long way home. Cycling off the paved streets is not easy, and you may have to push the bicycle on some uphill stretches. But riding through a farming village along the edge of a rice patty is about as close to getting off the beaten path as it gets.
Mountain climbing to the moon
No journey to Yangshuo would be complete without climbing a mountain. By far the most famous is Moon Hill. The lush, limestone landmark stands out from its surroundings because of a conspicuous, lunar-shaped cavity in the center.
If you do not like having to pay an entrance fee then at least you can appreciate the more than 1,200 man-made steps that pave your 45-minute trek to the top. At the head of the path, heavy foliage and a steep incline conceal Moon Hill’s trademark hole. But successive switchbacks will eventually land you right inside this monster’s wide-open mouth.
Do not be surprised if a drop of water strikes your forehead as you are gazing up at the underbelly of Moon Hill’s upper crest. The hollow “moon” in Moon Hill is actually all that remains of an ancient, water-filled cave that eroded the mountain from the inside out.
I captured the best photos after proceeding straight through the hole approximately 50 meters. From this vantage point you can peer downward through Moon Hill onto Yangshuo’s rivers and rice patties or spin around and try to count the hills on horizon.
This is also where I almost burned to death. Moon Hill’s otherworldly terrain is treacherously vulnerable to the scorching sun. Thankfully, a legion of little old ladies with outstanding stamina traverse the mountainside all day long selling bottled water to dehydrated foreigners. They could name their price.
Fun with foreigners
Getting off the beaten path is not just about ancient villages, bamboo rafts and out-of-this-world rock formations. The best part of backpacking is encountering co-adventures along the way.
The bulk of Yangshuo’s foreign backpackers are young Europeans; Americans come in a close second. My first trans-Atlantic encounter of the trip was meeting a couple of British university students on the bus. We later rendezvous at Moon Hill and crossed paths once again while exploring West Street.
The downside is that with all Yangshuo has to see and do, there is not enough time to meet everyone. For this reason, backpackers observe an unwritten code of the road. This easy-going travel ethic calls on pilgrims in pursuit of that off-the-beaten-path experience to embrace the moment and whoever is around. From a backpacker’s point of view, you never know when or where you could run into them again.
Trade stories, share travel tips and exchange e-mail addresses and you will never be caught off the beaten path alone.
Gotoofareast readers: This is my first restaurant review – more or less an attempt to blend my love for writing with my passion for patronizing the coolest eateries in town. You can find Eden Bistro’s map and menu on the restaurant’s website, 
