Bicycle Tour of Yulong River Scenic Area

Jess and I woke up a little late after our late night of shenanigans, but after a restorative breakfast (featuring a large American style spread plus glorious coffee) we were ready to try to find the swimming hole the Americans reccommended to us the day before. We rented bikes from our hostel (10 yuan) and got a local area map. We had been shown where the place was on a different map so I figured out where we needed to go and off we went. We headed southwest out of town about 5km and turned north on a one lane paved road that followed the Yulong River. The river winds through rice parties and villages, with mini Yijiang style dramatic scenery. We saw rice patties, peasants farming, water buffalo and the like. It was gorgeous. The bike ride took us about an hour and a half and we were getting pretty sweaty. The map was ok but not exact and we got mildly lost at one point when we discovered the paved road takes you most of the way but actually leads to a bamboo rafting launch point that had a lot of touts.

Retrekking to a dirt road led us to another paved road that was the right one and also went back to Yangshou! We decided to try that one on our return.

The directions told us to turn left at the sign for the Outside Inn and head through the rice patties to the river. We passed several cute little Western-owned guesthouses that looked really pleasant. The directions were good and we found the sign, turned left and bikes through the fields past a farmer leading her water buffalo. The swimming hole was idyllic, with a nice, clear river, a ruined archway and a small outcropping of rock on the other side.

There was one other person there, an American who owned some stone factories in China and was touring around. He chatted with us and gave us some great tips for what to do in Chengdu. The water was perfect, cool and refreshing! We could see many kinds of fish in the river, kinds I have never seen before. The bottom was a bit mucky with some plants, but there were large, flat rocks to stand on. We could see farmers working the fields beside us and a man across the river letting his buffalo graze. It was ridiculously scenic and we took many pictures.

The bike back was much quicker, only 45 minutes. We took the other road back and it was more direct. We've just finished eating a snack and will catch the bus back to Guilin and then to the airport. We're very sad to leave, this place is pretty magical.