China of the Mind

Visiting Yangshuo was like going to China for the first time. With its mythical landscape, dreamlike karst peaks and soft flowing Li Jiang river, it has served as inspiration for Chinese poets and painters for centuries. Situated in Guangxi Province, which borders Vietnam, it offers an altogether different experience from China's crowded, crazy metropolises. In Yangshuo you see a gentler way of life, a truer, timeless China...and it quietly blows you away.

Me going "Wow."

Bruce having his own "wow" moment.

I'm not just being a goofy tourist in a funny hat, the sun is hot out on the water.

Wait I've seen this before...

...on the $20 RMB note! Pretty cool.

You know the drippy lines you see on traditional Chinese landscape paintings, this is where it comes from, weathered limestone peaks.

Rice stalks dry in the sun.

Yangshuo village itself has quaint charms. If you want to disappear from your life, this is the place to go. You can live pretty well on $10 a day and no one will ever find you!

The crazy birdman, one of many eccentric personalities we came across.

Yangshuo has become a mecca for backpackers, with its laidback lifestyle, cheap guesthouses and cafes. More music in the streets than I've seen anywhere in the Middle Kingdom.

Nightlife along West Street (named for its string of Western style restaurants).

Great Wall Red is yum, dry with a woodsy bouquet. Why did I want to go back to civilization again? I think I'm staying. Look, I've already found a job...who's with me?