2024 China Trip [Day 3-5]: 3D2N Guilin

Dear Yangshou, thanks for the wonderful and sweet memory but unfortunately after spending 2 days and 1 night, it's time for us to bid goodbye to this little old county with a rich history spanning more than 1,400 years to the Sui Dynasty. Our next destination is heading to Guilin. Of course you can catch train or bus from Yangshou to Guilin but my husband decided to hire private transfer for the convenience of our little baby boy. You know, he's our VVIP currently. 

OUR ACCOMMODATION IN GUILIN
Because all the accommodations were fully booked by my husband and also, due to the name of our accommodation is in Chinese, hence I don't any info about this. But what I know is that our stay is sits on the banks of the Li River. It's situated right next to Sheraton Guilin Hotel but strangely enough, you won't able to find this on the Google map. Bear in mind, Google map is helpless when in China.  

#1: Our accommodation in Guilin. Again, husband booked the room with bathtub 

#2: Ensuite bathroom 

#3: I love the design of their rooms. Each room comes with different interior design. Awesome! 

#4: My friend's room 

#5: Bar and teahouse on the 8th floor 

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT HAODILAO 
The first thing we did in Guilin was to celebrate our little sonshine's birthday at Haodilao - that's the main reason why we booked our trip to China. Can't believe my little one is growing up so fast. Can the time slow down a bit cause I want to hold you in my arms a little longer? 

#6: Baby's birthday celebration at Haodilao Guilin 

THINGS WE DO & SEE IN GUILIN

1) Elephant Trunk Hill 
One of Guilin's top attractions on the Li River, Elephant Trunk Hill is a rock resembles a giant elephant drinking water from the river. This landmark is located 10 minutes walk from where we stayed. By the way, it's free of entry. Because of that, this place is so crowded with tourists both from local and overseas. 

#7: Elephant Trunk Hill, a rock resembles an elephant drinking water from the river

#8: Love Island

2) Sun and Moon Pagodas 

The most iconic landmark of Guilin, Sun and Moon Pagodas are twin pagodas built in Shanhu Lake in the center of Guilin. They are also known as Gold and Silver Pagodas due to their colour beautifully illuminated during the night time. There are many spots around the lake where you can take stunning photos with the Sun and Moon Pagodas.  

#9: Most iconic landmark of Guilin

#10: Photos with the twin pagodas from different spots 

#11: Strongly recommend to visit Sun and Moon Pagodas at night when the lights are turn on

3) Zhengyang Pedestrian Street 

As one of the most renowned commercial and leisurely streets in Guilin, Zhengyang Pedestrian Street is bristle with all kinds of shops ranging from local snacks, drinks, souvenirs, clothing shops to entertainments. 

#12: Zhengyang Pedestrian Street

#13: It's more happening at night than during the daytime

#14: When you want to give your shop name feel like "atas" but then, how to pronounce leh? 

THINGS WE EAT IN GUILIN

#15: Every morning we had our breakfast here. Not just near our stay, they are affordable and yummylicious too.

#16: Our dinner just underneath our stay 

#17: Mixue and Luckin Coffee - China's homegrown brands. Must try when you are visiting China 

2024 China Trip [Day 2&3]: 2D1N in Yangshou

 Continue from XingPing post...

After spending nearly 4 hours in XingPing Ancient Town, we took minibus to Yangshou which takes about 40 minutes ride. However when almost approaching Yangshou, we requested the bus driver to stop somewhere near our guesthouse instead of drop-off at Yangshou Bus Station. And from there, we walked over to our guesthouse but we didn't know it turned out to be more than 20 minutes of walking.  

OUR ACCOMMODATION IN YANGSHOU

Sorry to say that I unable to share the name of the guesthouse we stayed because firstly, my husband was the one in charge of doing all the booking for our accommodations and secondly, all of the accommodations that he booked are only written in Chinese name, no English name. And I can't even read Chinese at all. 

But one thing I requested him was to book our accommodation close to those shopping street so that I can go down and do shopping at anytime I want. 

#1: Our accommodation in Yangshou

#2: My husband even booked a room comes with bathtub for our lil boy to enjoy it. 

#3: 

#4:

#5: Rooftop view from the 7th floor 

WEST STREET OF YANGSHOU 

Our accommodation is ideally situated in the West Street, the oldest street in Yangshou which has history spanning more than 1400 years. Locally known as Xijie in Chinese, this street is filled with countless of guesthouses, restaurants, snack shops, souvenir stores and more. You can even find well-known fast food restaurant chains like KFC and McDonald's here too. There's even a three-storey Starbucks too with a classic design of a Chinese garden pavilion. 

And guess what, this town has instantly become one of my favourite towns in China. Too bad that we're only spending 2 days 1 night here in Yangshou because I'm seriously in love with this town.

#6: Yangshou West Street Scenic Spot

#7: West Street of Yangshou, the oldest street in town 

#8: Countless of shops selling snacks, souvenirs, restaurants and more

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#11: Three-storey Starbucks with a classic design of a Chinese garden pavilion

#12: Our dinner 

#13: Guilin Rice Noodle and dumplings 

2024 China Trip [Day 2]: From Shenzhen to Xingping Ancient Town

DAY 2: 16 OCTOBER 2024

On the second day of our trip, we decided to proceed with our plan to XingPing. Just when I thought we'll be taking train from the railway station which is not far from our hotel in Shenzhen, my husband told me that we'll be heading to another Shenzen Railway station which is situated on the north side. Dear China, you are enormous! And confusing at the same time. I never thought that Shenzhen will have two railway stations within the city. 

#1: Departing from Shenzhen North Railway Station to Yangshou Railway Station

#2: Baby Daniel's first bullet train experience

#3: Scenery along the high-speed train heading to Yangshou

#4: Strangely enough, Yangshou Railway Station is located in XingPing and not in Yangshou itself. Right after we arrived Yangshou Railway Station, we took shuttle bus to XingPing Ancient Town. It takes about 20 minutes bus ride. 

The shuttle bus departs from Yangshou Railway Station stops exactly next to XingPing Ancient Street. XingPing is relatively a small town that you can easily walk to most of the main attractions. But because we brought baby along with us, we had to narrow down the main attractions in XingPing and only selected those that are child-friendly. So those activities required to hike, instantly we skip! Maybe next time. 

PLACES WE VISITED & FOOD WE ATE IN XINGPING 

1) XingPing Ancient Street

Exploring old town or ancient street is always my favourite thing to do when it comes to visit a city. So when I found out that XingPing has ancient street, immediately I put this in my must-visit list. Although the historic street of XingPing wasn't that big, but I enjoyed strolling through the stone-paved street as it gave me that slow, steady and laid-back vibe. Apart from the traditional houses, we also came across wide variety of shops such as cafes, restaurant, souvenir shops and even those renting traditional costumes. I got myself few pieces of stunning postcards from one of the shops there. 

2) 20 Yuan Banknote Viewpoint 

One of the main reasons that draw visitors to come over to XingPing is due to the iconic view of the breathtaking karst mountains and serene Li River which has been depicted on the back of the 20 Yuan RMB banknote. Not far away from XingPing Ancient Street, you can walk over to find the spot that sit on the respective banknote. Though we found out that there are few different spots that you get the viewpoint, we just simply find a location that is almost similar to the one on the banknote. 

3) Yangshuo Beer Fish

It's approaching noon time and that's mean it's time for lunch! Basically, we don't have any list of which restaurant must-go but then, what we know is that we must try their local Yangshou specialty dish which is Yangshou Beer Fish  (Pijiu Yu 啤酒鱼). Luckily for me, and my husband too that the taste of the beer wasn't that strong because both of us don't drink at all. Besides this specialty dish, we even ordered bamboo chicken and bamboo sticky rice too. 

By the way, do you know how we pick a restaurant to dine-in? My friend said if there is at least 5 person eating at a certain restaurant, it shows that food there must be nice. Hahaha... 

After spending nearly 4 hours in XingPing, we then proceed to Yangshou by taking the bus. Although we had to forgo our stay in XingPing due to the flight delay, we glad that we made it to this ancient town eventhough for just few hours. At least, we got to see what we want to see and eat the local specialty dish too. 

XingPing Bus Station 

2024 China Trip [Day 1]: KK - Hong Kong - Shenzhen

Our trip to China was out of the blue when I told my husband, "Let's go oversea for our baby's 1st birthday". Little did we know that AirAsia was having promo when we scouted a round-trip to Hong Kong for roughly around RM400 per pax. As usual for travel addict like us, without thinking any longer, immediately we clicked book and there it goes our trip to China. 

Wondering why we chosen to travel around China instead of focusing on Hong Kong when we had a confirmed tickets to Hong Kong? All is about budget as we found Hong Kong is kinda pricey for us to travel around. And since because I have never been to Guilin, so we decided to grab this chance to travel there.  

DAY 1: 15 OCTOBER 2024 

Oh well! Things don't always go as planned. Our trip kicked-off with unexpected flight delay by none other than AirAsia. Not 1 or 2 hours, but turned out our flight was delayed for freaking long 3 hours and this cause us unable to catch the trains to XingPing, a town sits between Guilin and Yangshou on the Li River.  

#1: Because of the flight delay, we landed in Hong Kong International Airport 3 hours later than the original flight time.  

#2: Compulsory to fill in arrival card when visiting Hong Kong  

Due to the delay, we made a quick decision to overnight in Shenzhen before continue with our original plan on the following day. And this means that we have no choice but to burn our first night stay we booked in XingPing, an ancient town situated in the northeast of Yangshou County.

From Hong Kong International Airport, we took Airport Bus (A43 towards Luen Wo Hui Bus Terminal) and align at Sheung Sui stop. From there, we catch MRT from Sheung Sui Station to Lo Wu, which is the Hong Kong border before entering Shenzhen. 

#4: So, this is the hotel we booked last minute. Nay, just kidding!

#5: Vienna Hotel (Shenzhen Luohu Port Railway Station) - This is the hotel we booked last minute 

My husband booked this hotel from Ctrip but you can search from Trip.com

#6: Shopping and food just few steps away from our hotel.

#7: Crab lover anyone?

#8: Obviously using Google translate. Hahaha....

#9: Shenzhen Railway Station 

Basically on the first night, right after we checked-in into the hotel and dropped our luggage, we're casually wandering around the street nearby our hotel. Simply settled our dinner at a restaurant served Hong Kong cuisine before we call it a day. 

Do you think we'll be able to make it to XingPing? Stay tune on the upcoming post...