UKC

Hi there,
Has anyone climbed around Yangshuo in China?
I will be out there visiting my daughter and we may get a day or two's climbing in.
Any recommendations for which crags to visit? I'm a pretty low grade climber so I'd be looking for 6a max and probably mostly want 4's and 5's.
What is the likelihood of hiring rope/quickdraws out there? If they come with a guide so be it, though we wouldn't really need one. Just don't want to hump climbing stuff around on a 2 week trip when only planning to climb for a day or two.
Any tips gratefully received
David

In reply to DundeeDave:

I was in Yangshuo earlier this month. For lower grade crags I would guess swiss cheese, wine bottle, baby frog or the egg would be good places to try. I have only climbed at swiss cheese and the egg out of those but I met people who had been to the others and enjoyed climbing there. You can easily hire bicycles to get to most/all of the crags. Or get a bus/taxi
There is a local guidebook which is available for sale in town for ¥120 which is about £12. This has got directions to all the crags and route topos in.
There are a couple of climbing shops in town, Spiderman and Black Rock, who probably hire out gear as they also do guiding. There are then various guiding services such as insight who may also hire gear.

In reply to DundeeDave:

Cheers for that Matt.

In reply to DundeeDave:

Was there about 3.5 years ago. Best to check what the local access arrangements are when you get there as there were issues with some of the crags during the time I was there (random locals turning up and claiming they owned the land and you had to leave - probably not strictly true but irritating). China climb were helpful and I suspect will hire gear. The egg was a nice venue with no issues when I was there - you'll need to cycle or hire a taxi to get there though.

In reply to DundeeDave:

Yeah Matt has pretty much nailed it. I left Yangshuo in August after living out there for about 18 months. Get yourself to the Rusty Bolt, it's the local climbers watering hole.
China Climb doesn't exist anymore it became Insight Adventures,they are the best guiding company in town (I'm biased) but they don't hire gear. But Spiderman or Black Rock should be able to help you out. When I was there Chicken Cave and Low Mountain were having some access issues. So just ask around.

Bike hire should be about 15RMB a day and you don't need to pay a deposit and you can bike to every crag, even the Egg is only 40 minutes on a bike.

Get yourself to the claypot place for cheap and hearty eats! and the local beer is only 40p a bottle.