Current Time in Yangshuo, China

Yangshuo lies in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, on the banks of the Li River about sixty five kilometres downstream from Guilin. It stands in the middle of one of the most famous landscapes on earth, a forest of limestone karst peaks that rise almost vertically from flat green paddy fields, their outlines softened by mist. The subtropical climate is warm and humid, with heavy rain from spring to midsummer and mild winters.

The county has a population of around three hundred thousand, with a much smaller number in the town itself. Its economy is overwhelmingly built on tourism, which has transformed a quiet farming county into one of China's most visited destinations, supported by fruit growing, particularly kumquats and pomelos, of which the district is a leading producer.

Settlement here goes back well over a thousand years, and the county was formally established in the Sui dynasty. For most of its history it was an agricultural backwater whose beauty was known chiefly to poets and painters, since the karst peaks of the Li River have been a defining subject of Chinese landscape art for centuries. The scenery near Xingping, within the county, is so emblematic that it appears on the back of the twenty yuan banknote, and visitors regularly hold up the note to compare it with the view.

The classic way to arrive is by boat from Guilin, drifting for several hours past bamboo groves, water buffalo, fishermen and an endless procession of peaks. Once in Yangshuo, the town's West Street is the oldest thoroughfare, a paved lane of shops, cafes and bars that became a meeting point for international travellers in the 1980s and remains busy today. Bamboo rafts float down the gentler Yulong River past ancient stone bridges, and bicycles and scooters are the ideal way to explore the countryside, following lanes between orange orchards to villages with Ming and Qing dynasty houses. Moon Hill, a peak pierced by a great natural arch, is reached by a stone stairway with wide views from the top.

Yangshuo has also become the rock climbing capital of Asia, with hundreds of bolted routes on the limestone cliffs drawing climbers from all over the world, and the surrounding caves, hot springs and mud baths add to the range of activities. In the evening, an open air spectacle staged on the river itself, with the peaks as a backdrop and hundreds of local performers on bamboo rafts, was created by one of China's leading film directors and has been running for many years.

The Zhuang, Yao and other minority communities of Guangxi contribute to local culture, and the food is memorable, especially beer fish cooked with peppers and tomato and the rice noodles for which the region is known. A high speed railway station and expressway have brought Guilin within half an hour and Guangzhou within a few hours.

Yangshuo is popular because it offers one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world in a relaxed and welcoming setting.