Day 1 in Yangshuo 阳朔

 The peaks and forests in Yangshuo 阳朔 are typical representatives of tropical karst landforms. They are praised by the great traveler Xu Xiake of the Ming Dynasty as "the world of green lotus and jade bamboo shoots" because of their characteristics of rising from the flat ground, great momentum and peculiar shapes.

Both the Tang Dynasty monk Jianzhen and the modern painting master Xu Beihong praised the scenery of Yangshuo. This also confirms the saying that "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world, and Yangshuo can be called the best in Guilin. The peaks reflect the mountains and float on the water. Without water and mountains, it is not as good as God." “桂林山水甲天下，阳朔堪称甲桂林，群峰倒影山浮水，无水无山不如神”.

My 2nd bus from Guilin-Yangshuo was involved in an accident, so all passengers including me were picked up by another bus. A bus assented car bumped a motorcycle into our bus.

I checked in a hostel on the West Street 西街that is an old street paved with bluestone slabs, and has experienced more than 1,400 years of vicissitudes. The houses have blue bricks and blue tiles, high eaves, hollow doors and windows with carvings, are elegant and exquisite. Antique calligraphy and painting shops, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, Internet cafes and craft shops are lined up on both sides of the street. In this remote small town in western China, this five or six hundred meter long street attracts many foreign tourists. Whenever night falls, Yangshuo Bar Street comes alive. The food here is over-priced, so I ordered takeout then strolled on the Street after dinner.