August 15th, 2011 | by admin | published in things to do & see
Branded a fool over his decision some 13 years ago to create a large scale art park amongst the ethereal landscape of Guilin, Rhy Chang Tsao’s pet project, affectionately named “Fools Paradise”, now boasts more than 200 magnificently sculptured artworks that dot manicured grounds like rare species of flowers.
Whilst it may be somewhat difficult to [...]
December 22nd, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road
The overnight train service running daily between Nanning and Hanoi is very comfortable in Chinese soft sleeper carriages however don’t look forward to getting too much sleep.
Departure from Nanning is currently at 6.45 pm, with arrival in Pingxiang a little after 10pm for Chinese border control formalities which took around 90 minutes. Once this is [...]
December 17th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, things to do & see
I love lush green landscapes however the gorgeous colours of Fall or Autumn which take over the landscape with reds, oranges and yellows are a spectacular sight.
Whilst out cycling, I realized that it is unfortunately something that doesn’t happen with any real effect around Yangshuo. Most of the plant species are either evergreen or [...]
November 14th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 4 – Butterfly Valley to Pingan (48 klms)
The hotel in Butterfly Valley is in a surprisingly beautiful location, next to a Yao minority village some 4 kilometres off the main highway in a gorge filled with luscious foliage and a gushing mountain stream.
For me, today was the big day. Would I make it up [...]
November 13th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 3 – Guilin to Butterfly Valley (82 klms)
An easy ride this morning out of Guilin, we make our way through some wonderful little villages and classic rural China countryside under chilly but glorious blue skies and sunshine. The karst scenery ended not far out of Guilin and for a short time as we cycled [...]
November 12th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
After yesterdays cold and wet weather we find things have deteriorated even further with a top forecast of only 8 degrees today. We decide to postpone our Guilin departure till tomorrow (Friday) and return to Yangshuo to pick up warmer clothes.
This turned out to be a fantastic decision, not only for the respite from [...]
November 11th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 2 – Xingping to Guilin (72 kilometres)
Just the slightest feeling of fatigue and a case of raging saddle soreness were dominating my mind for the first 20 minutes on the bike this morning. This all dissipated quite quickly as we emerged into a valley and cycled directly towards a row of mountains and karsts [...]
November 10th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
This time of year in Yangshuo is usually a fantastic mixture of warm, dry days that are perfect for cycling. So I decided to head off for a few days on a cycling research trip with one of the Directors over at Bike Asia . For the most part the route we followed was one of [...]
November 2nd, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, other stuff
The cycle of rice has passed through its final phase with the 2nd harvest taking place throughout the countryside.
These times of intense activity witnessed during planting and harvesting make exploring the countryside just that little bit more interesting and alive.
Dry warm weather with fields of burnt gold contrasting superbly against the karsts and clear, [...]
October 27th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, things to do & see
The melding of bold, modern art with an ethereal landscape is what Yuzi Paradise is all about. Featuring an eclectic array of more than 200 artworks from some of the world’s most well known sculptors the park is literally a treasure chest laid open amongst beautiful karst landscape.
It is also the location of HOMA (Hotel [...]
