4 May, Guilin to Yangshuo
Mi Lou Hostel 180CNY

Surrounded by karst peaks and bordered by the Li River, memorable Yangshuo is situated south of Guilin in northeast Guangxi province. We travelled here by local bus, passing through more of the stunning scenery we had been treated to from the train yesterday. Tourist numbers in Yangshuo are so high, the domestic tourists far outnumbering the foreign, that West Street and the streets that lead from it offer everything from McDonald’s to American steak to homemade pasta to the ubiquitous and much-loved rice noodles; from honey to silk lanterns; mangoes to postcards; fishy pedicures to edible caramelised sugar dragons. A lovely place to stroll and relax.

We have seen very little in the way of English TV in our two months in China, especially compared to Vietnam where even budget hotels offer satellite TV with a range of news and other programmes. Prior to our stay in Yangshuo, only two of the hotels at which we have stayed had English-language news on the telly; at both this was CCTV News. Wikipedia: “CCTV News, formerly known as CCTV-9 or CCTV International is a 24-hour English news channel, of China Central Television (CCTV), based in Beijing. The channel grew out of CCTV International, which was launched on 15 September 2000. CCTV News coverage includes newscasts, in-depth reports, and commentary programs, as well as feature presentations. Its Free-to-air satellite signal can be received by more than 85 million viewers, in over 100 countries and regions ... It caters to a global English-speaking audience, including overseas Chinese and English speakers in China ... Despite its revamp and recent launching of CCTV America, critics have voiced concerns over the level of self-censorship exercised by the channel especially on sensitive domestic issues in China...” The Mi Lou Hostel was the first of our hotels to provide both CCTV News and two English-language movie channels.