West Street (aka Foreigner Street) at night is filled with hype and vibrancy but its true beauty surfaces only when the sun is up and brightens up the surroundings!
The scheduled timing to meet up with our guide was at 9am and my dad was an early riser; which means i would be awaken by him and could not get back to my dreams. The result therefore was that we had an insanely early breakfast with plenty of time to explore West Street, on our own! p.s. the hill in the background is Green Lotus peak!
Compared to the artificial lights, the crowd and the glitz (coming from the clubs / bars) the night before, daytime was in stark contrast; basking in an aura of history and heritage.
Dad was more excited in the natural scenery, as usual.
With towering hills, river and structures that aren't the kind we commonly see in land scarce Singapore, i can feel his exhilaration! My dad is honestly more a kampong boy and i strongly believe he can survive on an island.
The quiet main street without much activity as expected on an early morning.
Let's continue to let my dad indulge in his numerous poses for my camera. Oh my god, the last one looked a bit wrong; i could photoshop him in traditional garb and long hair to make him feel less out of place. Haha.
It was 8am then and starting from the above photos, it would be from almost 5pm on the same day! I totally love the "shopping stop" package from Chan Brothers as there were so much time left for us t explore on our own!
This wasn't West Street although it was close by; we entered from another road as dad and i went on a short yet thrilling exploration that tested once again my height for height!
One of the streams meandering in between the alleys and lanes. I wonder if there would be flooding should there be a sudden downpour.
The Yakun store i mentioned before in the posting here. Strangely, the store wasn't list as their overseas branch on the website even though the dishes served were Singapore style!
We were nearing West Street by now.
Shops were by then open for business and the general atmosphere was more the traditional ancient street rather than the watering hole feel. My bet is that artificial lighting and modern music could have drawn our attention away.
I am much happier in daytime as photos turned out to be so much better!
Street hawker hauling their products from one end to another; this scene can be commonly seen in Bangkok too but the street would be a whole lot narrower.
Dad again. :P With Alex who wasn't keen to be featured in this blog anymore, i have to find an alternative and dad is always game for a photo!
As we had quite a tiring day, it's time to rest our feet and cool our throat! This cafe (芒果帮) has quite a few outlets in Yangshuo and sells mainly Mango-based drinks.
I am not terribly fond of mango as a drink; however, it has second floor seating where i can take elevated photos of the street.
Here it is!
This would have been a good street view photograph; on a positive note, it reflected the true nature of the actual scene i encountered at that moment and stood as a testament that the street had a local presence!
Oh ya, my mango drink - not exceptionally delicious although it served its purpose as thirst quencher and also as an excuse for me to spend some time within the cafe.
As i mentioned earlier, there were quite a few outlets for the cafe but if you are as interested as me in immersing yourself on an elevated platform along the main street, you may find the outlet right opposite the shorty's pastry (矮子馅饼) shop.
A group of international students. At that age, i am likely to be on my earphones and looking for interesting snacks to fill my forever-hungry stomach.
Ginger cat without a care for the footsteps surrounding it.
Items sold in the shops along the main street; I could have already taken their photos in West Street (night) so please do excuse me as there were too many photos in my memory card. Just treat them as night view and day view then.
We continued our journey to the T-junction signalling the end of West Street - the night before, the entire place was dark and we didn't venture any further. Upon reaching here, there was a sense of familiarity.
Where have we seen this before?
I was the first one to exclaim, in Mandarin of course, to my dad "kaoz, we were here earlier in the morning"! This was the other entrance for Green Lotus Peak!
Sama sama scenery, sama sama pavilion! You may check out the post here!
An archway access leading to the riverside!
I have no idea on the stone's significance; there wasn't any information about it on the pedestal as well. Guess it could just be a slightly bigger rock that people can use as a photo taking object.
The view in front of us which i have already taken numerous times in the morning. The key difference was that this was a "lower" view that wasn't as breathtaking.
You can take pictures with the cormorants here too! As advised previously, you have ample opportunities to do so in Yangshuo although pricing might differ.
Rate here was RMB 3 per person; one RMB more than the ones offered along the President's Cruise along Li River. No point in saving that one RMB which converts to no more than 30 Singapore cents.
Inundating you with more scenery pictures; see if you can spot the water buffalo (i think) grazing in one of the photos even though the rage is all about spotting panda in a sea of snowmen (i fail in that and has to cheat to get my answers).
This man took the hard way to catch fishes; going underwater with a spear!
Dad taking a shot with the Chinese characters for Yangshuo town.
Access going back to West Street; ancient stone wall with a pavilion right on top. There's an office at the side where you can purchase tickets to enter Green Lotus Peak.
On the shopping street leading to West Street as we had to meet up with the rest of our tour mates for dinner at the hotel. Thankfully, our hotel was within a short walking distance from West Street.
Dad showing his happy sign.
A rainbow flag outside a cafe - likely LGBT friendly. Surprisingly, the tolerance for LGBT was higher in supposedly more conservative China compared to cosmopolitan Singapore. I just saw on my facebook feed an appalling experience encountered by a LGBT friend who was snubbed by a pharmacist in Singapore. Ridiculous!
Bad Panda cafe in an alley - i think the Great Kon would probably check it out.
Rock candy that was all the fad in Singapore a few years ago! I still remember them as popular items as wedding souvenirs and in goodie bags!
The Gong-tng lookalike - hammered crispies (木锤酥)! I think the lady was standing too closely; imagine if the tool hit her in the face. Sometimes, tourists like us must exercise some common sense in the midst of our curiosity (i am guilty of that in a number of occasions).
Engraving a photo on stone - speechless!
Legend of West Street - he would gel in perfectly if not for his shoes. Check out his melodious tunes which add a Chinese classical vibe in the buzz.
Mom would have loved going through the clothes racks; maybe because of age, her wardrobe consists mainly of brightly coloured tops!
Star World Wax Museum!
Dad had his picture taken with the comical Mr Bean which looked extremely life like except for the haunting green eyes.
Ending my tour of West Street with another wax model; an important figure in the era where terrorism is taking root and security is of high priority. A dozing policeman; if not for the queue poles in front of him, i would think it's a real person!
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Location
Yangshuo Town, Guilin City,
Guangxi Province, China
For the itinerary of the tour package (guaranteed no shopping stops) to Guilin via Chan Brothers, please check out the link here.
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