Worth getting out of bed for...

Viewpoint

Pull on your roaming boots and hike yourself up for a 30-minute trek up Green Lotus Peak, named in honour of its resemblance to a giant lotus emerging from the water. You can soak up panoramic views of the Li River and the historic city. A camera is essential, or, if you have time, a canvas. If the hiking aspect is a turn-off, the pagoda on the hill in at Yangshuo Park offers splendid views of the surrounding town.

Arts and culture

The nighttime performance of Impression Liu Sanjie is a reason to visit Yangshuo by itself. Directed by renowned Chinese auteur Zhang Yimo, (the man behind Hero and House of Flying Daggers) and starring more than 600 local fishermen and community members, the riverside performance is an operatic spectacle of colourful choreography, stunning framed by 12 mist-shrouded crags. Smith tip: ask your hotel for the cheaper tickets for a more panoramic view of the show and the surrounding karsts.

Something for nothing

One of Yangshuo’s most spectacular sights, Moon Hill derives its name from a natural moon-shaped hole in the middle of the karst peak. It looks spectacular from a distance, but get up close to arch by taking the 600-marble stairs leading directly to the cave.

Shopping

Over a thousand years old, West Street is still Yangshuo’s most vibrant shopping stretch, chock-a-block with souvenir shops, quaint cafes, restaurants, and bars. Touristy trinkets abound, and hawkers regularly play fast and loose with the term ‘antique’. Be prepared to haggle down to at least half-price on any knick-knacks you’re keen pick up. Jeomon (63 West Street; +86 773 889 2000) is a small boutique selling well-crafted chopsticks made from almost every variety of wood imaginable. Vanishing Tribes (www.vanishingtribes.com) offers a huge selection of ethnic apparel and craftworks from the Guangxi region’s indigenous tribespeople.

Daytripper

The city of Guilin is just over hour’s drive from Yangshuo and although it’s a little les picturesque than its neighbour, it’s still packed with pretty parks and scenic spots. Elephant Trunk Hill is one of the city’s signature sights – a riverside rocky outcrop eroded into the shape of an elephant drinking from the Li. There’s a pagoda on the top where you can sit back and admire the panorama. For a stepping stone into local cuisine, head to Binjiang Lu for tons of cafés, restaurants and bars. Five kilometres northwest of Guilin, the Reed Flute Cave is known for its spectacular rock formations illuminated by coloured lights.

Perfect picnic

Pick up some snacks from the market and stroll down to Yangshuo Park, a pond-lined portrait of the city’s daily life – kids scampering around playgrounds, elderly men absorbed in lengthy chess games, and people picnicking on the lawns.

Activities

Australian Pam Dimond offers English-speaking Chinese cookery lessons at the Yangshuo Cooking School (www.yangshuocookingschool.com), a mud-brick farmhouse in the riverside village of Chao Long. Classes include a trip to Yangshuo’s daily market, hands-on preparation of five local dishes, including the famed ‘beer fish’, and end in a courtyard feast. The menu of dishes to be alternates daily, which works perfectly if you decide to go back the following day for a recap. Yangshuo’s scenery is even more impressive from above – take a hot-air balloon flight over the rice fields, farming scenes, and mountain landscape. If the earth holds more appeal than the sky, get in touch with China Climb (www.chinaclimb.com) and arrange a rock-hopping jaunt up the Li Valley's karst cliffs – caving and kayaking can also be arranged.