A real bamboo rafting experience on the Yulong River

It was time for a truly authentic bamboo raft experience on the Yulong River, which is a tributary of the Li River in  Yangshuo. These rafts are smaller and only take two people plus a helmsman who guides  you down the river using a long bamboo pole. It was sold as a romantic tour with no engines or big ferry boats to disturb you but in China the biggest challenge is simply the number of people so it’s rare to ever have something all to yourself. That having being said it was beautiful and there was some excitement as you go over these 3-4 foot weirs on rafts that certainly haven’t been designed with that in mind. Our guide actually fell off the raft twice going over said weirs. The first time I felt sorry for him but after the second time I concluded that he just wasn’t very good.

all the rafts at the Chaoyang Dock starting point

beautiful calm water and scenery HDR

approaching the first weir

getting closer

going over the weir

and splash! (this was the point I realised having my camera out wasn't such a good idea)

one of the many floating restaurants you pass

some of the other boats having water fights with lots of screaming

looking back at other rafts going over a weir

The money shot - we are oblivious, our guide in the water & the people behind in shock

our guide fell off on this one too

bamboo forests on a narrower section of the river

getting a little crowded

Despite the crowds, restaurants and souvenir photo stations after every weir (which actually got a priceless shot of our guide falling off) it was a nice way to spend 2 hours with some more beautiful views of the Karst peaks beside the river and a little excitement going over the weirs.

We had actually hired mountain bikes to get to the Chaoyang Dock and they arrange for your bikes to be driven to the end of the cruise. They weren’t the most comfortable though, or perhaps I hadn’t been on a bike for a long time, so after riding back into town for lunch we decided to chill out that afternoon and enjoyed some Scrabble games on the deck at the hostel while sipping on some delicious honey-banana milkshakes.

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You’re never too old to do Tai Chi

The 6th of June in China this year was Dragon Boat Festival and we went to Shanghai for the holiday. I say Dragon Boat Festival but before you get your hopes up I must tell you we didn’t see any boats, never-mind Dragon Boats nor did we partake in any cultural festivities of any kind. Like most public holidays around the world, in my opinion, most people don’t care why or what they are about just that they don’t have to go to work. That was the case for us anyway so with a 3 day weekend we headed to Shanghai to stay with a friend that I had worked with at EF but who has now moved on to an editorial position with the Shanghai Daily Newspaper. Their apartment is in a nice area just a 15 minute walk from West Nanjing Road metro station and on Friday night we were greeted with this view from their balcony.

6 second exposure of the Yan'an Elevated Road in Shanghai

It might not be environmentally friendly but I must admit that the neon lighting along the elevated roads and overpasses makes for a pretty scene. Just after arriving we took a walk to see the centre of this 4 level highway overpass which is a pillar clad in a metal fresco. There is also a circular elevated pedestrian walkway over the intersection where I took this panoramic image from.

The Yan'an & Chongqing Road Multilevel Interchange, Shanghai panorama

We woke on Saturday morning to drizzly rain so after a quick coffee and pastry down the road we headed for the Shanghai museum, something neither of us had done yet and given the inclement weather why not?  The museum is located in People’s Square and on our way there we chanced across

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