Rock Climbing in Yangshuo, China

Here I am again, telling people about another of my amazing vacations. I'm sorry to say that as usual, I didn't see the main touristy sites. I didn't see the Great Wall. I didn't go to Beijing, and I didn't go to Shanghai. I had three weeks...and I went rock climbing....and it was awesome.

I went to Yangshuo, which is very close to the larger town of Guilin in the Southeast of China. The landscape is absolutely incredible. The thousands upon thousands of limestone karst formations aren't just in one small place, but everywhere for miles and miles. It really is a rock climber's paradise, especially nowadays since it's a bit of a virgin paradise. People have only been rock climbing here for less than 15 years, and only a handful of the karsts have established routes. The majority are sport climbs, with bolts and anchors, but there's the odd multipitch here and there for the trad climbers.

The town of Yangshuo is a quickly growing tourist town filled with chinese tourists and nagging salesmen. It probably has the most number of English speakers of any small town in China. The streets are filled with coffee shops and cafes serving Chinese and Western food. You can get off the main drag and find cheaper and more delicious food in the local markets.

Like I said I went to Yangshuo for rock climbing and I did some climbing most every day. On days that I didn't climb, I still went out to the crags to take some pictures. I found the joys of sitting at the top of the climb for 2 hours while my legs fell asleep, taking millions of pictures, then spending hours deleting all of them but the one or two good ones. I met some absolutely amazing people of all different backgrounds and nationalities. We all got along together very well and all of the friends I met were able to help me grow in many ways.

Before I left, I spent three days in Jeju camping at the beach

Yangshuo is a busy town, full of Chinese and International tourists

You take a short walk through the smaller villages to get to the crags

Matt showed us how to prepare for the climbs

The climbing was sometimes in interesting places

The views were amazing

The climbs were fun and technical

Sometimes VERY technical

I spent a lot of time at the Karst Cafe

This is our chef at the local night market

Sometimes we might eat near the crags

You can take a rest while you're climbing!

Go for a swim in the river

Have a drink in the bar

Relax by the riverside

We usually chartered a mini-bus to go to the crags

This picture is NOT taken from the front seat.....

There's still 4 more people that you can't see in this picture

You can also go to the crags by bike

But the roads are a bit...unpredictable

Its always fun climbing

It's especially fun in the moon!

Put your feet back on!

Music at the crag is always a nice treat

He's almost got it!

I met some great friends

Where will I go next?