Jun 17, 2015

Yangshuo classic trip to Yulong river

Dawn on Yulong river and Yulong Qiao
Yulong river and Yulong Bridge
The Yulong river trekking area have made the Yangshuo reputation. The trek crosses the easy and plaisant limestone karst landscapes. The trek starts in Yulong village and Dragon Bridge. This hike allows you to be closer to local's rural life.


You can do the treck with bicycle on the whole route or do it on foot and access with buses. The following description is one made on foot. 

ROUTE MAP
Yangshuo  > Baisha > Yulong Village > Xinzhai village > Xiangui Bridge > Jiuxian village > Xiatang  >  Chaoyang > Lingshang > Yangshuo  

Walking time
5 hours
Difficulty:
Very easy
Equipment:
There are drinks and food on the trail
Getting there:
Go to Baisha village with bus. From Yangshuo North bus station take any bus to Guilin, Yangdi or Jingbao and ask the driver to let you get off at Baisha


1 - From Baisha to Yulong Bridge

Get the intersection after Baisha (road G321/road 099) and walk 1.6 km. When the road do a turn on the right, you can see a little road going straight. take it. Yulong village is 800 m further. In the village, at the river, you can see the Yulong bridge 400 years old, also named Dragon Bridge.
(The Baisha to Yulong is not so interesting. You can ask a mototaxi for this trek's part.)


Access to Yulong from Baisha near Yangshuo
Access to Yulong from Baisha near Yangshuo

2 - From Yulong bridge to Jiuxian village

From Yulong bridge to Jiuxian = 4.5 km.  All the hike is on the west side of the river (left bank). Go down along the river starting with a small path along Yulong river.  Try to stay very close to the river. 1.7 km further, you arrive near the third dam. After that, prefer to follow the carriage road for visiting small villages.





Farmers trail near Yulong river.
Just outside the Yulong village, head the little paths along the Yulong river.
The road goes to Xinzhai village. Close after Xinzhai, one can see ruins of Guiyi, an ancient town in a square structure. 400 m after Guiyi, the road crosses a small river, tributary of Yulong river with a very old bridge. This is the Xiangui Bridge, the oldest we can see in the Guangxi country. The road leads to Jiuxian village (means the old county) which is 1400 years old, built in AD 621. Jiuxian is a official traditional village since 2012. 


3 - From Jiuxian village to Lingshang

Further, we arrive at Xinglong village and Xiatang village. It's possible to take a bus here if you are too tired. The best plan is to continue on foot a little more in the Yulong valley. 

The next village is Chaoyang. 100 m after this village a crossroads. On the left, we go directly to Yangshuo. We have to take on the right because we want go around the mountains and join the valley behind. Here you can see anawesome landscape. To do this, we join the Lingshang little village 500 m further. After it, we take on the left on the next crossroads. This road leads to Yangshuo with awesome landscape of rice paddy and farm fields.


Valley after Lingshang village
After Lingshang, valley is awesome

4 - Alternatives:

If you prefer to continue walking more along the Yulong river to meet Gongnong bridge, so on the last crossroads turn on right and join Aishanmen village. Then follow the road until the Gongnong bridge.

An other alternative is to join Chaoyang Marina 朝阳码头 Just after Aishanmen village and take a bamboo raft for get down the river.


In red color, the path.


5 - Usefull chinese words for asking the way

  • Yangshuo North bus station 汽车北站
  • Baisha              白沙
  • Yulong village   遇龙村
  • Xinzhai village  新寨
  • Jiuxian             旧县
  • Xinglong          兴隆寨 
  • Xiatang           夏棠寨
  • Chaoyang        朝龙
  • Aishanmen      矮山门
  • Gongnong bridge 工农桥


No comments:

Post a Comment