Southwest China pt. 1

We took a 31 hour train ride from Beijing to the transit hub of Guilin and hopped on a bus for 90 minutes to the very pretty yet touristy town of Yangshuo on the Li river famous for the cormorant fishermen. Choosing to escape the crowds we got on a bus towards Baisha and got off at the Dragon Bridge and spent a very enjoyable day walking back along the farming trails following the Yulong river and through small Chinese villages back to Yangshuo eventually hitch hiking on some type of weird motorized contraption that was heading our way. A Highly recommended day trip in southwest China.

Southwest China pt. 2

We left Yangshuo back to Guilin and took a two hour bus to Longsheng where we found an excellent lunch. From there we prepared to head up to the Dragon's backbone rice Terraces. We hopped on a vehicle going that direction and ended up in Dazhai. This turned out to be a good thing, no tourists and at the top of the fields which put us in the perfect position for the early morning sunrise over the fields, absolutely beautiful. Hiking through the small Yao minority villages of the area on small trails through the rice fields was amazing.

Southwest China pt. 3

We stopped in Sanjiang and found a bus towards Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge, one of the largest, most beautiful and best preserved bridges of it's kind in the region. The bridge and buildings here are reputedly built with NO NAILS. There are plenty of hiking options to small nearby villages and we found a market happening a few hour walk away in a town called Lin Xi.

Southwest China pt. 4

We continued our travels further into China's rugged southwest and went into the Provence of Guizhou. Zhaoxing is another Dong minority village and it is absolutely fabulous! Cobble stone streets, farmers working the fields and a pretty wild bar scene, read: drunk Chinese puking on the streets at midnight. We tried oil tea, wonderful, and hiked up to a smaller village Jitiang with some really cool Drum towers and not a tourist in sight.

Southwest China pt.5

On the border of Burma and Laos sits an area full of different ethnic minority groups including the Dai, Hani, Lisu and Yao as well as hill tribes of Aini, Jinuo, Bulang, Lahu and Wa. We took an overnight sleeper bus from Kunming to Jinghong, an experience in itself, and trekked through the region towards the town of Menghun where we heard there was a very colorful market that attracts hill-tribes once a week. Highly recommended.