Describe the trip:

James: This is one of the trips that actually inspired us to write a blog. Last year we were heading back to Hong Kong to visit friends, and thought that we should all take a group trip to somewhere nearby. We decided to go to Yangshuo for the iconic mountains rising out of blue mist, the chance to float down the Li River on bamboo rafts, and drink some beers off the grid. All of which, we got. Unfortunately, what we also got was some firsthand insight into the chaos of a rural Chinese public hospital. The thing about travel is that you’re never really on an adventure until you’re a little bit uncomfortable. Parts of this trip were a lot uncomfortable.
Sam: We were making our first trip back to Asia since our move to New York the year before. To make up for lost time with out friends, James suggested making a quick group trip over the Easter weekend. Inspired by paintings of Chinese mountain ranges, James proposed Yangshuo - a proposal we'd come to regret. Most of my trips to China in the past have been work-related; this would be the first time I stepped foot into the mainland willingly; well somewhat willing. More often than not, I have returned from trips to China feeling sick, and this trip was no exception. Nonetheless, Yangshuo is absolutely scenic, people are friendly and the food is tasty. Go there if you're looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of urban life - wifi will be spotty, you will see livestock, and it will be easier to ride down a river in a raft than to get car service.

What was your favorite moment?

James: Strange though it might sound, one of my favorite moments was arriving at the hotel. I’d flown 16 hours from New York to Hong Kong, then immediately got on a train for another 10-hour journey up to Yangshuo. It started off well; we all had seats on the train and even spent some time in the bar car. Things started to slide downhill when we changed trains at Guangzhou. Instead of getting cabs across the city, we chose to use their subway system. Inevitably, traveling with a big group who had just spent a several hours enjoying a few cold ones on the train, there was, of course, no option but for us to get lost. This led to us sprinting through Guangzhou East station to get to the bullet train before it departed. The much-more-modern bullet train itself was comfortable; unfortunately for us we didn’t get seats so the next few hours were spent stood between cars. But that isn’t what made me so happy to arrive at the hotel. We arrived at Guilin station at nighttime; what came next was a 45-minute van journey, in complete darkness, at break-neck speeds, on winding country roads. I’m sure there was an unwritten rule of the road, but I have no idea what it was. The driver (and every other driver on the road) would pull out into oncoming traffic, switch their lights to high-beam and play chicken with the oncoming traffic. Busses, cars, bikes, trucks, cement lorries; nobody wanted to miss out on the fun. It was 45-minutes of dead silence with everyone’s eyes glued to each oncoming deathtrap. I’ve never been so happy to get out of a car. 
Sam: I'm not a strong biker but I somehow found myself cycling down the windy and narrow hills of Yangshuo. As such, I wanted James to stay close to me - like literally right behind me incase something happened. At some point a chicken with a family of chicks stepped out on the path in front of me, so I slammed on the breaks. James who was right behind me and only had a front brake, swerved to the right to dodge me, but somersaulted forward with his bike. Luckily, he wasn't physically hurt, just humiliated by the local villager laughing his ass off.

What was most unforgettable?

James: After a night of eating and drinking (mostly drinking) on the rooftop of the small townhouse hotel, in the early hours of the morning something other than a hangover kicked in. Big time. Within a few hours three of us were on our way to the local emergency room with salmonella poisoning of epic proportions. Now, I've had this before; I've even been in hospital with it before, but this was something else altogether. At the hospital we were greeted with screaming people, stray dogs eating vomit from the floor, and a motorbike parked in the diagnosis area. By time we were treated on a human conveyer belt of un-gloved IV-drip nurses, we weren’t in good shape at all. Maybe it was the chaotic surroundings, maybe the severe dehydration that rendered me numb from feet to hips, maybe a combination of both, but Sam wasn’t allowed in the treatment area and I remember locking eyes with her through a doorway and being convinced it would be the last time I saw her. Heavy stuff.  
Sam: Poor judgement from the group led us to eat chicken that was improperly handled, leaving us with salmonella poisoning by the second day of the trip. The first case started at 3:00am, and by 6:00am James became the second case; likely because of his non-Asian, sensitive stomach and the sheer amount he eats. The whole group brought the first three patients into the local hospital where we were instructed to buy clothing hangers to hold up the medication as it fed through an IV drip and into their arms. With only two of us speaking Mandarin and no apparent working system in the hospital, we spent at least three hours at the hospital. We saw a motorbike drive in and park in the lobby of the hospital, a baby puking by the pharmacy and a dog licking it up from the floor. In groups of three, more and more of us ended up in the hospital. By nighttime, we had a system down and there were only a few of us left. It finally hit me right around bedtime. The world around me was spinning, I was puking bile and I felt as if all energy was drained from me. (Un)fortunately, I wasn't the only victim the bug took around that time. Once again, we made our way to the hospital, but the doctor insisted that another girl in the group and I were simultaneously pregnant and not ill. After a series of blood tests, he "confirmed" that we indeed had salmonella poisoning. We went through the slow process of getting medication; what we didn't account for is that 1) I'm afraid of needles and blood, 2) I have extremely low blood pressure, and with the combination of having not eaten all day and being sick, I fainted in the middle of the nurse's office. I woke up to James feeding my unconscious body a Snickers bar in a random nook of the hospital. It took me a few months to fully recover.

One thing you would do differently?

James: I doubt I would eat the tepid chicken cooked by a 107-year-old farm woman. She did her best, bless her. Yangshuo is a phenomenal place; this story shouldn’t put you off, it should just make you aware. I would also have gone for longer, we were there for three days, but I think you could use more time to explore the area.
Sam: We took the intercity train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou; ran cross-town to transfer onto the high-speed train into Guilin North; before hopping into a van for an hour to get to the hotel. Needless to say, it was an arduous trip to get to Yangshuo, especially since we cut it quite close between the two trains in Guangzhou. Optimize your time and fly in, and stay for at least four days so that there's time to explore.

How was the food?

James: I’m sure there was good food – but I don’t remember what it was. And I’m not going to dredge my memory to find out.
Sam: Besides our meal-of-death, we ate only at the hotel, which was easily some of the best food I've had in China. There was an extensive local menu to choose from, and the dishes had just enough spice and wok flavor. I don't remember what we ate exactly, but I recall having soup noodles for breakfast.

Best advice you would give to someone?

James: Get a bike and explore the place. On the first day we all got bikes, and after accidentally dislocating my thumb and ghetto-rigging a splint with a bamboo stick and some electrical tape, we set out to explore the area. While we were out on the bikes we got to see the much-more-rural side of an already rural area. We ended up cycling through semi-ruined villages, mandarin plantations (which smell incredible, by the way), eating in a faming village (though you know how that turned out), and riding home in the sunset which kicked off an intense orange hue due to the haze. Some of the group managed to get out to a night market and a tea plantation while the rest of us were recovering, and that looked awesome, too. Overall Yangshuo is a great place. Just make good life choices when it comes to what you're eating. 
Sam: If anybody pulls a frozen chicken breast, or any other meat for that matter, out of his backpack, don't eat it. If you find yourself in a place you're too afraid to look around because you don't want to know the unsanitary conditions, it's probably not a place you want to be eating in. In which case, politely decline and skip the meal. Pack yourself a few Cliff bars, fruits and snacks, and eat at the hotel.  

THE CLIFF NOTES

Do:

Fly to Guilin even if it's from nearby. Flying from Hong Kong would have been cheap and the time saved would have been more valuable than the money saved on the train. Also, get a visa early! I went back and forth to the Chinese embassy in New York several times before I actually got my visa.  

Don’t:

Let any old women in farming villages cook any form of meat for you. Yes, it might look appealing after hours of cycling, but it's an illusion. The whole set up is something I think is worth supporting – we went cycling, then stopped at a traditional farming village, an old woman showed us how she lives, and in return she cooked you food for a small amount of money that sustains her. It’s worth seeing; just make sure you request it to be a vegetarian meal. There are almost no moments in life that I would recommend going vegetarian. So, trust me on this. 

See:

Rent a bike and just go for a ride, there’s plenty to see in the area. One of the guys from our hotel came out with us and took us away from the tourists and into the countryside. If you’re confident cycling off-road, it’s definitely worth a go.

Bamboo rafting on the river was a fun experience. You’re going to want to ride upstream for about 45-minutes to get away from swarms of tourists.

Some of the group felt well enough to go to the stepped tea plantations nearby and the pictures look amazing… So I guess I haven’t told you anything that Google couldn’t here. 

Sleep:

Yangshuo Mountain Nest. This boutique is an old townhouse converted into a small hotel with about 8 rooms, so it’s pretty intimate. You know the staff by name by time you leave. The food as I remember it, was pretty good, the service was great, the rooms were new, and it’s way outside the main town so you can, as always, avoid the tourists.

Eat

Anything I say here would be jaded by the memory of the food in reverse. I do, however, remember the food at the hotel being pretty decent. And all meals are served on the roof, which overlooks the valley below. 

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