Updated: 2007-05-31 10:11

Hidden Baisha Valley

The entire area is a delight to explore by mountain bike. The Baisha Valley, for example, was so stunning that almost every minute required a stop to photograph another breathtaking scene. Tracks led through a working landscape of rice fields, fishponds and villages where the houses were built of dried adobe (mud earth) bricks. Vegetable plots sat close to the homes where small pigs often wallowed in mud holes.

The route, after winding through a network of adjoining valleys eventually followed the main river. To provide essential irrigation water for the fields, the wide stream was dammed and canals carried fast flowing water to the fields. Arched stone bridges, possibly hundreds of years old, provided access to the rich fields on the other side.

By River to Surrounding Countryside

Riverboats, which can carry bicycles, radiate out from Yangshuo to many small towns where time seems almost to have stood still. From them it is a pleasant cycle ride back to town, the journey usually taking much longer than the distance suggests, due to the requirements of photography.

One small, fascinating town is Fuli - about forty minutes downriver. Landing at steps leading up from the river, the town was entered through an old arched gateway. Turning round, it almost seemed like a frame for the picture of the river and distant peaks - scenes that have inspired artists for generations.

Another great journey is the struggle upriver against the current. Beneath walls of peaks, bamboo and heavily foliaged trees sway in the breeze as buffaloes graze just above the water's edge. Bamboo rafts lie on the grass at shallow bays where the river bends have become home to small settlements. Life seems all around. Boats are lined up alongside the banks, tied to simple bamboo poles stuck in the mud. Often just planks of wood from the muddy shore lead up to the boats. Cargoes of rice or vegetables are being loaded for the trip to larger river towns. Everything including bicycles seems brought on board by peasants wearing circular straw hats.

One journey to be repeated several times is from the pleasant upriver village of Xingping. Cafés and restaurants near the landing stage make a visit there a pleasant experience, but the real interest lies along the road back to Yangshuo.

On Xingping's main street rice is frequently spread out to dry. Peasants will then scoop up the grains and store them in sacks for shipment to market.

Along the valley beyond the settlement rice is intensively cultivated in the lower fields. Beyond, groves of sugarcane lead to the steeper slopes reserved for grazing or left under trees and scrub bushes.

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