West Street

Yangshuo, with a history of 1400 year, is 65 Kms southeast of Guilin city. West Street (Xi Jie) is situated in Yangshuo, the most beautiful town along Li River.   Since opened up to outside in 1978, the unique "Foreigners Street" - West Street has received countless foreigners from all over the workd and it was reputed as "Earth Village in China". Today, the 2000-m-long street is over 300 cafes, restaurants, hotels art crafts and tourist stores, foreign language clubs, internet centers and Kufu schools. It's an ideal place to eat, live travel, do shopping enterain and study. Also it has a good environment for communication and is regarded as a paradise for tourists.     West Street is 517 meters (1,696 feet) long and 8 meters (26 feet) wide, meandering in an 'S' along its length. Being completely paved with marble it is a typical example of a southern China street. It is greatly admired by foreigners for its simple style and courtyard-like setting. There is a saying about West Street that 'half is village while the other half is stores'.

   Because, at times, foreigners outnumber Chinese, West Street is also called 'foreigners' street'. Don't be surprised if you hear English words spoken by elderly Chinese women, for West Street is called 'the global village'. Besides the local accent of Yangshuo, English has become the language for daily use. West Street is modern and fashionable, nearly every store has bilingual shop signs, and more than 20 stores have been opened by foreigners who have settled here. 
 

Chinese visiting West Street may think they are in a foreign country, while foreigners come here to search for the ancient civilization of China. However, whether you are Chinese or a foreigner, West Street is a terrific place to take a rest, both physical and psychological. West Street will drive all of your pressures and burdens away, and give you a calmer view of life. It shows different faces at different times: calm and peaceful in the morning, while trendy and modern in the evening. Traveling to West Street is an experience to be with the landscape, with the people, with the soul, and with yourself.

  Visiting West Street, you will be surrounded by an array of traditional folk and amazing international elements. Various folk- custom stores, craftworks shops, painting and calligraphy stores, backpack shops, cafes, and Chinese Kung Fu academies jostle for attention. You may see a multitude of items, from embroidered silk cloth, wax-painted weaving, to tiny shoes worn by women before the liberation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In addition, elsewhere on the street you may find bars and cafes, some run by foreigners, decorated with bamboo rafts, fish baskets, wax-painted tablecloths, and so on.
West Street does not only satisfy you visually. You will be tempted by foods from all over the world: ciba (a kind of Chinese rice cake) and rice noodle of Yangshuo, authentic Italian coffee, banana cake, Western style food, etc. So now, choose a cafe, ask for a cup of coffee and let the pretty scenery and dulcet music take you to a fantastic world

                                                                                            Guilin +Yangshuo+Longsheng 3 Days Tour