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                                          CHINA

                                                                 Li River

                                             - a stunningly, beautiful river and mountain scenery -

                                                               - and ancient traditional villages -

Page added:  2022-01-05

The area around the Li River is spectacular, and the area is easily accessible which has made Guilin and Yangshuo a paradise for tourists.

That automatically makes it a nightmare for travelers like myself and my dear wife - Kit Yu!

However,- if you do NOT take the compulsory Li River cruise, with its screaming loudspeakers and far too loud music, but take a quiet hike along the river, then you have struck gold!

You can walk for days along the river banks surrounded by uniquely shaped mountains, and as an extra bonus, you will pass through several traditional farm villages where time seems to have stopped for long time ago.

There are several places where small local ferries can take you across the river to the opposite bank.

The only thing that spoils the harmony is when the tourist boats starts their trips and spoils the view and the tranquil atmosphere with their noise and the turmoil they create.

It really can be too much, and at one point I could see 22 tourist boats on the river at the same time.

The good thing is, that it looks as if they all go at the same time, and only make two trips a day. In between you have the river and the scenery to yourself, and can fully enjoy the river, the mountains and not at least the villages, which the tourists do no see.

In the following I will show some of the impressions Kit Yu and I got from a 20 km. long hike along the Li river! Please enjoy - - - :-)

Here is the starting point for a truly spectacular hike.

Note the endless row of tourist buses and the fleet of tourist boats on the opposite river bank.

Do not waste your time and money on those tourist traps, - they are terrible expensive -, but instead take the local ferry you can see on this picture.

It will take you across the river for a few cents. Then walk and simply follow the footpaths along the river - - -

Actually I did not know about the system of footpaths along the river, but Kit Yu had heard about it - and we decided to check it out - - -

We were very deterrent about the mess of buses and great number of tourists, that all wanted a river cruise - and made the ferry station a nightmare of noise and people - - -

But Kit Yu was absolutely right!  Along the river there really was a system of ancient footpaths, that the locals most likely had used for centuries - maybe even for a thousand years?

And when a trail suddenly stopped due to dense jungle or maybe a steep cliff, - there would be a ferry man to take you across to the other side, where the trail would continue - - -

So the awfull boat trip was replaced by an exiting hike along this most beautiful river - - -

We did not know where the trail would take us, - how far did it go, - and how to get back to sivilization again - - -

But that's what be both loved - adventure and exitement - - - and a hike at one of the most scenic places on planet Earth - - -

And we were NOT disappointed - - -

These old, traditional villages along the Li river are absolutely great to explore - actually they are like an extra bonus for the Li  River hike - But think about the tourists in the tour boats, - they see nothing!  They really miss a lot - - -

We did - however - NOT have the river to ourselves - - -

Take note of the tourist boats, - one entering the photo from the right - and one can be seen far away in the background - - -

And you can hear them - - -

Screeming and yelling loudspeakers explaining the tourists what it is they see, - and when not giving information - they send out very loud music - and it's a nightmare when several boats are close together - - -

But soon it becomes very quiet - - - The yelling and screeming tourist boats disappear - all go back again  - and the spectacular nature can be fully enjoyed - like in a Paradise.

I think that the water level in the river simply got too low, so that they could not go any further - - - And thank you for that!

Please continue to LI RIVER-2