1. To Moon HillThere’s nothing to stop you simply picking a distant hill and heading out there cycling along the muddy paths between villages takes you through some wonderful scenery - but for a specific target it’s hard to beat the twenty-kilo-meter return trip out to Moon Hill. This lies on the highway southwest of town as it twists between the sudden peaks - some of these are negotiable for a fair height before becoming too sheer to climb. A rifle range about 3km from Yangshuo welcomes you to “shoot a gun in this beautiful place it makes you in madness happy”, but far more interesting are the Black Buddha New Water Caves, a series of underground caves discovered only in 1991., accessed down a 500-meter easterly track just short of Moon Hill - highlights include an underground river, fossils and bats. Another 3km along the same track are the equally imposing Black Dragon Caves, where you take a boat, then have to wade and stagger through the largest 
regional caverns yet discovered to a fifteen-meter subterranean waterfall and swimming holes inhabited by blind fish. Only open in summer, either system costs about RMB45 for an hour’s tour or RMB65 for a three- or four-hour flashlight exploration; come prepared to get sonked, cold, and middy.
Moon Hill itself (RMB6, plus RMB1 to park your bike) requires forty migrates of effort to ascend a stone staircase rising through bamboo and brambles to the summit. A beautiful sight, the hill is named after a crescent-shaped hole that pierces the peak. Views from the top take in the whole of the Li River valley spread out before you, fields cut into uneven chequers by rice and vegetable plots.
2. Climbing Yangshuo’s Peaks
Yangshuo is one of Asia’s fastest-growing rock-climbing centers, with an estimated 70,000 pinnacles of up to 200m in height in the area. However, there are only about fifty established climbing routes, many of them under 30m in length though one around the arch at Moon Hill is rated as the toughest in all China - and, as most are within easy day-trips of Yangshuo, you won’t need to plan any mighty expeditions (though camping out on site is fun).
The main climbing season lasts from October through to February, as the rest of the year can be uncomfortably hot or wet. Advance information can be found at
www. chinaoutdoors.com/activities/climbing/yangshuo.html.
Once in Yangshuo, visit the cafes along Xian Qian Jie to make contacts; in particular, the Lizard Lounge can provide climbing guides who are useful for locating established routes and suggesting where you might find new challenges. Outdoors and climbing equipment (mostly clothing) is sold at China Climb, 22 Xi Jie, who also sometimes arrange climbing expeditions (www. ChinaClimb.com); and you can rent camping gear, including tents, from SZ Red fox on Xian Qian Jie for RMB10 a day plus RMB100 deposit.
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