If you are planning a trip to China, consider adding Yangshuo in Guangxi Province to your list of amazing destinations. In our last article we showed the awesome night life and rural beauty of this small town hidden in the mountains. But Yangshuo is famous for another reason: The World-Class rock climbing sites located in and around the town! Yangshuo is the face of climbing destinations in China and the sport is really taking off! Indoor bouldering and climbing clubs are opening, now there are over 100 nationwide.

Climbers have been coming to Yangshuo for generations and it’s not hard to see why! The entire region is marked by hundreds of peaky and stunning karst mountains that jut straight into the sky. The most famous is known as Moon Hill, located just south-east of the town center, easily within biking range. We booked a climbing tour here with Wei Hua Rock Climbing and it was one of the best experiences of our trip to China!

• Half Day Rock Climbing Tour
• Wei Hua Tour Guide
• Photo Gallery
• History of Climbers in Yangshuo
• Rock Climbing Locations

 

Half Day Rock Climbing Tour

For our rock climbing tour, Ben and I booked Wei Hua Rock Climbing and ended up at an easy, beginner level climbing site called “Swiss Cheese”. Luckily, it was the perfect day for climbing in Yangshuo! Sunny and dry, at least in the morning…

The weather in the area can vary, from cloudy and humid to sunny and dry. Because of the stunning karst mountains that stretch into the horizon, storms and rainfall can appear almost out of nowhere! And climbing in the rain is a big No No.

We walked in to our site early in the morning, but already some other groups were out for the day’s activity! It was amazing to see many groups of Chinese tourists, western tourists and westerners living full-time in China, all enjoying these amazing climbs! Everyone was so kind. We all got together between climbs and chitchatted, many of the Chinese tourists even spoken decent English, and another group was on holiday from Hong Kong where I had visited just recently.

Swiss Cheese has a lot of routes, so there was always something open to rope int once you had the energy… and the routes vary from easy to medium so you can work your way up to more challenging climbs.

On my last run, I almost got stuck in a small cave way up in the mountain but not quite at the top. My arms were nearly gone, stiff with lactic acid. I yelled down “Man, I’m spent, I’m done, headner”. But my guide refused to let me give up, he told me rest a little in the cave and try again. I squeeze out into this little hole and broke free of the cave. From there, it was an easy ascend to the top! I wouldn’t have made it without their encouragement!

Now, the only other problem I encountered was the terrible combination of traveler’s bowls and being strapped into a harness. Turns out, there are few bathrooms around the climbing sites, so be ready for a little outdoor breeze… Also check out our “How does everyone poop in Asia” article because you may be interested in picking up a ‘Shewee‘ for occasions just like this one.

 

Wei Hua Rock Climbing Tour

Wei Hua was our tour company for our half day climb to the Swiss Cheese routes. We found them thanks to a recommendation from the larger tour operator ‘Insight Adventures’, who are the largest and most expensive tour operators in Yangshuo.

Wei Hua fit our backpacker budget and ran smaller tour groups. They picked us up in a van in the morning at our hostel, and brought us along with two other travelers to the climbing site. It was a short walk through some rice fields to the climbing site, but they carried most of the ropes and gear.

Overall, I was very pleased with the tour, the instructions in English, and the encouragement they gave, that I needed to conquer some of the more challenging (for me) routes.

 

Wei Hua Contact Info

• Location: 60 Shen Shan Lu in Yangshuo.
• Email: info@yangshuorockclimbing.net
• Phone: +86 152 9583 4806

If I can make one recommendation, go to the shop of whichever tour operator you choose and try out the footwear. Ben and I were both beginners, so we each had to try on a few sizes.

I’m 188 cms tall and wear a 11.5 US or 44 Euro shoe. Even though you wear a size or two smaller for climbing, my feet were bigger than both Ben’s and the guides. Awkwardly, I found it harder to scrunch my toes into the smaller shoe sizes. My toes just don’t bend easily and after 5 or 6 runs, It was very painful. The other Dutch traveler in our group was well over 190 cms and couldn’t climb after a few runs because his toes were also painfully pinched. He wore a size 46. So if you have abnormally large feet, you may also find it difficult to find a your ideal shoe size.

Even the guides would flick off their shoes when they were belaying down. For seasoned climbers, foot pain must be an issue but they learn to live with it. Where as I grew up wearing ice skates that were always several sizes smaller, but never climbing shoes which was something entirely new and uncomfortable.

 

Photo Gallery

 

The History of Asia’s #1 Rock Climbing Destination

As a history lover, the first thing I wanted to know is when and where did rock climbing start in Yangshuo, or even in China? After some time researching, I’m no further ahead than the information provided by my tour guide: The first climbing routes in Yangshuo were traditional climbs (no bolts to connect to) set up by Swiss and other European climbers. That’s not really a full story right? I’m left to wonder.

Today, there are over 300 climbing routes in and around Yangshuo. It’s China’s Yosemite Park in many ways. Tourism centered around climbing has made the small town a notable destination in the niche sport, even in a country where, according to climber Matt Segal, “You can just kind of like point your finger on a map of China and find a good rock”. yea, he’s totally right!

The courses range in difficulty enough to challenge both beginners and pro climbers. Today, most of the routes are bolted rather than traditional. It’s both safer and cheaper, but has a larger impact on the environment and geology than traditional climbs. Check out this amazing footage of Moon Hill!

Thanks to the Olympics, and all the buzz around popular tourist towns like Yangshuo, rock climbing is really taking off within the country. The provincial capital of Nanning  in Guangxi now has world-class indoor training centers. Another great resource to check out is China Climbing Documentary Project on YouTube.

Other towns in neighboring areas are starting to emerge as new and challenging climbing destinations. American Matt Segal and his climbing partner Canadian Will Stanhope visited Liming, a nowhere village in Yunnan, to put his own creative genius to the test making new routes in the nearby sandstone cliffs.

We may not know the exact details of how climbing began in Yangshuo, but it’s here to stay! Climbing in China is still in its infancy, but it won’t be long before we see a lot world-class climbers coming from the far east!

 

Rock Climbing Locations in Yangshuo

We highlighted some of the more well-known rock climbing routes in Yangshuo. Our group only did Swiss Cheese but there are many more amazing climbs located just a short way outside of the town. We encourage you to check out the following sources for more rock climbing info.

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Rock Climbing Sites & Guides

• TheCrag.com – A collaborative rock climbing and bouldering
• SuperTopo – Guide to climbing areas, books, photos and routes
• 27Crags.com – Rock climbing maps, routes and subscription platform
• Climbing.com – Magazine for everything climbers need!
• Mountain Project – Climbing guides, events, forums & more