Hello from Yangshuo!

We've moved on a bit since Shanghai and seen some very different things, so has been a really interesting few days. Our last day in Shanghai was spent wandering around the artsy French Concession area of town, before going to watch the acrobatics in the evening. For this we saw 10 people riding 1 bicycle, contortionists, hoop jumping and 5 motorcyclists in a 15ft steel ball. Some of it sounds weird but the things they can do are really stunning! Had us peeking through our fingers and saying "No, they can't do that!" a lot. Really enjoyed Shanghai as a vibrant, characterful and modern city with nice people. Best major city so far we think.

Then we took a flight to Guilin and got a bus transfer to a tiny village called Ping'an, fairly near to where we are now. This place is about 800m up a mountain, in the cloud belt while we were there, and has extreme rice terraces all around. The buildings are perched on the steep slopes and it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. The river is far, far below and the community inhabits its own world of peace. Unfortunately it's getting quite touristy (without which we wouldn't have been there I guess) so there are English-speaking locals and lots of guesthouses selling Western food. But we had a couple of days there to clear our heads, read books and wander around for some brilliant views. A really special part of our journey.

Then we've come to the 'backpacker haven' of Yangshuo, set in a landscape of limestone 'karsts', free-standing pinnacles dotted in their hundreds over the landscape, all a couple of hundred metres high. It's a small town with a lot of hotels, bars, cafes, restaurants and shops - apparently what backpackers are after. Everything's severely westernised and that's not really what we came to China for, so it's a bit strange. Having said that, the atmosphere is nice and lively, with lots of artsy things around. We sat down by the Li River yesterday (shown in the photo but that's a bit a Guilin, though the scenery matches here!) and watched the world go by. Today we've been on a long bike ride through the karsts, fields and little nearby villages, and also made it to Moon Hill, basically an arch made by the karsts, and we climbed to the top for a great viewpoint. The Chinglish signs proudly state that the arch looks like a 'full moom' so we'll be chuckling over that one for a while.

So here we are. Tomorrow Isey's doing a cooking class and I'm doing some calligraphy, then we'll have our last couple of days on the tour before heading over to southwest China for our own exploring. Still having a great time and eating up all the new and different sights and experiences.

Thinking of you all and hope you're well. TTFN!

Dave and Isey x