Bountiful Guangxi
Rice Paddies of the Yulong Valley
26.11.2025
25 °C
This is a land of abundance, where lush sub-tropical trees seem to overflow with life, their branches bowed under bananas, mandarins, persimmons, pomelos, kumquats, mangoes and passion fruit. This papaya tree was groaning under the weight of its sweet offspring…
While these strawberries promise to be perfect for Christmas and New Year…
And everywhere stretches the rice, shimmering in the soft breeze…
On our previous visits, many farmers had stopped tending rice and other crops altogether, tempted by the ease and promise of tourism. Some demonstrated the art of traditional fishing using tethered cormorants, while others ferried visitors on bamboo rafts, but many simply leased their land to developers and built themselves new homes. Yet some of the old-timers still remain in their ancient houses...
Some old homes are now cooking or painting schools, while many of these 300-year-old village houses have been transformed into hotel rooms by thoughtful hoteliers like Curry…
These form part of the Giggling Tree hotel, where guests can enjoy a stay that is at once traditional in spirit while utterly comfortable.
The previously abandoned fields now flourish once more as the government struggles to control development. The paddies glow with renewed life, and every harvest finds its way to nearby hotels and restaurants. While white rice appears at almost every meal, some farmers now plant several colourful varieties to create living mosaics that enchant visitors and draw them to local restaurants and coffee shops…
With late November warmth still lingering in the mid-twenties, winter passes lightly here. In March and April, the rains return to flood the paddies and lotus fields, and the river swells to float hundreds of bamboo rafts for another bustling tourist season. Floating downstream feels like drifting in a dream, while returning upstream demands great effort by the punters. Yet the waterfalls and rapids that once seemed impassable are now quietly conquered on electrically driven conveyor belts…
The Yangshuo area has been discovered both across China and abroad, and it is now on countless must-see lists. So much has changed since our earlier visits that we sometimes fear Yangshuo may be loved a little too much. The quiet country roads where we once wandered hand in hand, or pedaled lazily with our Chinese family, now hum softly with hundreds of sleek electric cars and thousands of electric motorbikes and scooters…
Foreigners are not allowed to drive in China, so we rented a very inconspicuous motorbike and sidecar hoping to blend with the locals and keep our adventures quiet…
There are few police in the countryside, but we were careful to stick to country roads, peaceful lanes, and the riverside cycle paths that follow the sweeping curves of the Yulong...
Finally, as Joyce recalled: Yes, our hosts are the same relatives and friends we ‘taught’ on our last visit, and we can hardly believe that was eight years ago.
What a charming place! I had no idea such places existed in China - only having been to Shanghai. What a perfect substitute you found.
by Joyce Babula