Whilst Guilin was a beautiful city it was nonetheless a city and not the countryside that we (especially Craig) craved. Over the last month we'd been to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, to name but a few of the megacities we had visited and some time outside of a large metropolis was felt necessary. We had heard from fellow travellers that Yangshou was a small town, in the countryside with much more beautiful natural features than Guilin. Our own research indicated that it was a tourist town, 2 hours bus journey from Guilin which was described as simply stunning. Our minds were made up and we decided to cut our losses in Guilin, make the short bus journey to Yangshou and spend the Chinese Spring Festival there.

As soon as we arrived in Yangshou we knew that we'd made the right decision. The town is undeniable tourist-orientated, both towards western and Chinese tourists, but it has a charm about it which more than compensates for what could be viewed as superficiality. The size of Yangshou, really only a handful of main streets lined with souvenir shops, bars, cafes and restaurants, also means that it has the feel of a large village rather than a town. The delightfully shallow and peaceful River Li runs right through the town and supports many of the hawkers who perversely shatter the tranquillity by constantly shouting "bamboo" at passers-by in an effort to cajole them into taking a bamboo raft trip.

We arrived on the Eve of Spring Festival, but our evening was quiet as we were very happy to be in a room with heating (the first time in a month of sub-zero temperatures), have a delicious meal and enjoy some great service all of which meant that by and large the inevitably fireworks display passed us by. In any event the afternoon had been deathly quiet as the Chinese were all at home with their families as is traditional.

On New Year's day itself the weather, which had been so bitterly cold for so long, finally broke (no wonder it is called Spring Festival) and we were treated to a day of warm sunshine. Eager not to waste this opportunity we hired a couple of mountain bikes and headed off in search of Dragon Bridge which spans the Yulong River which is a nearby river even more picturesque than the Li River, believe it or not. The directions in our guidebook were slightly misleading so we failed to find the bridge, although this didn't spoil things as (other than sore bottoms from the dirt roads and hard bicycle seats) we had an excellent bike ride anyway. On our return to town we watched a Chinese dragon dance through the streets collecting lucky envelopes from the roofs of local businesses.

Our last day in Yangshou saw us climb Moon Hill, (which is a karst in the centre of town which was easy to climb and which housed a Buddhist monastery at one point), succumb to the cries of "bamboo" and take a bamboo raft trip down the Li River and then visit the farmers market (with a gruesome animal section) as a precursor to our taking a Chinese cookery course. Yes, a Chinese cookery course! We made pork dumplings, green beans in chilli sauce and sweet and sour pork, surprising ourselves with our cookery skills. When we get back and hold dinner parties we might treat you to a Chinese feast!