by Kelvin Khor

After staying low working hard for few months, I developed an itch on my butt that I needed to get off from my office chair. Not having many leaves on hand, I decided to go for a short trip; revisiting YangShuo. And went further a bit to DaZhai of LongSheng, a place famous for dragon backbone terraced rice fields that contouring the mountain. Both of these places were located in GuangXi province.

As usual before any trip, I thought hard what gears to bring (but usually missed one I left behind). Anticipating a lot of walking and hiking, I planned for light traveling. I hated to carry too many things around when squeezing through packed public transportation. So, these were what I brought:

1. Canon D60
2. Canon 17-40L F4
3. Tamron SP 24-135 F3.5-5.6
4. Tripper portable storage (with 40G hard disk)
5. Some accessories

I put my camera attaching to this trip’s ‘standard lens’ 17-40L inside a top-loader bag, remaining stuff (plus clothing) in Lowepro SnF backpack, and tripod in its bag. A three-piece ‘luggage’ which I wished I could reduce to two.

Day 1 (23 Apr.’04 Shenzhen to YangShuo)
Our flight touched down at Guiling airport slightly before 10pm. Public bus was not available at this hour. So we were forced to take an over charged taxi. By the time we reached West Street of YangShuo, it was almost mid night.



Finding a cheap hostel was easy in West Street (it got its name because a lot of Western travelers like to stay here). Local residents mostly ran them with restaurant, mainly served western food at ground floor, and rooms on second or third floor. Typical rate was RMB50-60 for a standard room with hot shower and air conditioning. Free internet was available in restaurant. I found one YHA hostel too.

Booking ahead is strongly recommended during week of May 1st and Oct 1st, China Labor and National Day holiday, respectively. Take my advice; you do not want to travel in China during this period. Have you seen 1.3 billions people going for holiday at the same time LOL ? OK, I am joking, but all tourist spots are super crowded and all accommodations are fully booked during these holiday seasons. So, forget about good photography trip.

Day 2 (24 Apr.’04 Lijiang River, YangShuo)
The mountains along Lijiang River are well known for their karst landform shape. There is an accessible hiking path along the river, about 10KM long or more. You need to spend a day here. Hiring a local guide is advisable for first time travelers and foreigners. English speaking tour guides can be found in West Street. They are licensed.



Time was precious; we went hiking anyway, despite of raining heavily that morning (I left my tripod behind worrying to wet it. Mistake!). I missed some shots because I hesitated to pull out my camera from its safe and dry bag. Walking alone Lijiang River was like walking on a different part of world. The rain stopped near noon, and I finally could relief my shuttle-itching finger. Cloud was thick and low, no sun. But people said this was the real beauty of Lijiang. I missed my tripod. :(



We had lunch at a local farmer house. The kids welcomed us and happily became my free models. They laugh when seeing themselves in LCD.



Walking through a village brought back some memory. I could only imagine these sceneries while I was very young, reading from schoolbook how China villages would typically look like. And now it was presented in front of me naked. However, I hated those electric cables running and satellite disks installed everywhere. The modern world had made its mark into this place. No surprise, China is the faster growing country in Asia.



Day 3 (25 Apr.’04 YuLong River, YangShuo)
Hiring a mountain bike (bicycle) is cheap in West Street, and there are plentiful. Rental fee is RMB20 for a day per bike. But watch out for poorly maintained bike. Again, hiring a local guide is recommended. They bring you places that you will not know without them. Self-exploring is fine, but I find the tourist map is not resourceful and helpful. Take you time and enjoy the views. I sure you will love it as much as I did. Be aware that taking picture of buffalos or kids could cost you one RMB. The unpaved roads are not easy on your buttock. You might need a good message after a day on the saddle. :P



Day 4 (26 Apr.’04 YangShuo to DaZhai )
Bus departs from West Street to DaZhai at 7:30am. You can purchase round trip ticket from agent at West Street, cost RMB80. Seats are limited so book at least a day in advance. The trip took about 3 hours up to the foot of mountain. RMB30 entrance fee is charged per person going into this region. This mountain based few small villages, called Zhai. The folks here are mainly minority group from Hong Yao ethnic. We chose to stay at the highest accommodation on the mountain (about 1100m), called Panorama Hostel for pure better view, which also located beside scenery no.1. There were three main sceneries here, named no.1, no.2 and no.3. All of them were dragon backbone terraced rice fields. My first real experience seeing them, and I was impressed. They were created in Ming Dynasty dated 400 years ago. And villagers still use them today to cultivate rice. There is no other way to get around here except using your feets. You have to be reasonably physically fit to carry heavy gears up the mountain. Another option is hiring a porter. Don’t be surprise if a middle age Yao woman shows up. Most youngsters have moved to city where pay jobs can be found.



The rice fields produce unique look at different season. In May, with all rice fields are filled with water, you can see color reflected from water surface changes from sunrise to sunset. In September when crops are fully-grown, they turn the mountain to golden brown. When it snows in Dec/Jan, you can enjoy a gigantic layered cake filled with pure white icing. Unfortunately, our timing was wrong. The rice fields were mainly dry. Call ahead if you do not want to repeat our mistake.



That night, we enjoyed a wonderful meal cooked from homegrown chicken and vegetables. :)

Day 5 (27 Apr.’04 DaZhai to Shenzhen)
Woke up at 5am to shoot sunrise. But the light was not impressive at all that morning. I was disappointed. After a quick breakfast, we hit the road again to catch our flight back to Shenzhen at Guiling’s airport. A trip that took 4 to 5 hours from top of mountain to airport. While waiting for us, our guides (Yao women) worked on their unique traditional hand-stitched cloth.



On the way down the mountain, we passed by scenery no.2. It was hazy that morning with hast sun.



I observed more interesting small villages along the way. Time was running out, I could only snap a few shots without tripod. I only wished I had more time, a lot more time.



I have seen many photography opportunities at both YangShuo and DaZhai. And I truly enjoy this trip despite that time was short and I did not get many keepers. I will come back to you. For more pictures, click YangShuo or LongSheng

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