Sun days Beach days

Who knew Hong Kong had so many amazing beaches? I sure didn't!  With summer arriving much earlier than it ever would in Canada, most of our Sundays have been spent by the water. A few weeks ago we went to Repulse Bay, it wasn't hot enough to spend the whole day in the water but the sunset was amazing! A week or so after we headed to Cheung Chau, which I thought wasn't the most beautiful but getting to take the ferry out of Hong Kong and feeling like you were miles away from the city was lovely. My favourite so far has been Shek O.  It's usually quite busy but I enjoy that atmosphere with all the city goers escaping to nature even if it's just for the weekend.  Hong Kong is full of surprises and with every weekend that passes and every new thing we do, I fall more and more in love with this place.

Repulse Bay

Eileen, Chris, Max, Me

Sunset at Repulse Bay

Cheung Chau

Danielle, Me, Bea

Shek O 

Duncan at Shek O

Many more Sundays to come and many more beaches to discover!

Zài jiàn (Goodbye) Yangshuo

On the last day we had planned a hike in the mountains however bad weather prevented us from doing it, so instead we decided to explore more of the town. When I was in China in November I got to try amazing tea, so I wanted to get more to bring back to Hong Kong and to send home. After a bit of shopping we spotted a temple on top of one of the hills and decided to try to find a way up. We walked through a beautiful park before spotting stairs.  The walk up was lovely as we were surrounded by trees, hills, and every so often views of the town below. It was absolutely stunning at the top! Even now I look at the pictures and still can't believe I was actually there. Although we didn't get to do the original hike this totally made up for it.

I spot a way up...

Come on, let's goooo!

Hello Yangshuo

China once again you were amazing, the landscape, the people, the food, I can't get enough of you! Final words about Yangshuo: GO, there, now.

Xingping

On the second day we awoke unsure if yesterday had just been a dream,  but we're pinched into reality as we headed to another town in the region called Xingping.  The drive was about an hour and provided more beautiful scenery.  Xingping has the famous imagine seen on the 20 Yuan Chinese currency.  There we wandered the streets, took in the scenery and then hopped on a boat and cruised along the Li River.  I really loved Xingping, it was less touristy than Yangshuo which made it feel slightly more authentic.

In the evening we headed back to Yangshuo to see a show called Impressions Sanjie Lui. It's a light show featuring locals and professionals put on by the man who directed the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  I couldn't take photos but it was incredible!! You never know with these shows but I would recommend it to everyone!!

Yangshuo

With Easter just around the corner everyone began making travel plans. I had originally thought I wouldn't be able to join anyone however that all changed when a simple Google search for weekend trips from Hong Kong led me to Yangshuo...

I had never heard of this place but the reviews were extremely positive and the flight prices convinced me. We flew out of Shenzhen, which is the first mainland China city from Hong Kong. The journey through the border was less than pleasant with public holiday chaos, but from there everything was a breeze. After what seemed like the shortest flight ever we arrived in Guilin, which is just an hour and a bit from Yangshuo. This whole region is full of hills and mountains, arriving at night all we could see were outlines of this impressive landscape. Our imagination wandered and we couldn't wait to wake up the next day to see it all!

And so we woke up excited and ready to explore. The picture above is the first thing we saw. Speechless, I think is the best way to describe how we felt.  The reviews and pictures had not lied one bit, if anything they didn't do it justice. We went to town to grab some breakfast before renting bikes to explore!

I pretty much rode the whole way with my mouth open in amazement. You know how sometimes you travel far to go see something impressive and then you see it, appreciate it, take a picture and that's it? Well not Yangshuo, it's a 360 experience, everywhere you look is another set of hills, rivers, and fields. 

First stop were the Silver Caves, which gave us a better idea of what was inside all these impressive hills. They lit up the caves with all sorts of colors. Next we went to another cave which had a mud bath and hot springs. I've never been to a mud bath and at first I hated the sensation of it. It felt like being in thick chocolate, minus the delicious chocolate, but then I loved it!! 

Please note these pictures in no way do justice to the beauty of this place, no words can describe it. I will do my best but the only thing I can truly say is GO THERE!