Yangshuo West Street

Yangshuo West Street

Yangshuo West Street is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

Located in the center of Yangshuo County, Guangxi, Yangshuo West Street stretches 517 meters in length and 8 meters in width, paved with marble and shaped in a winding S-curve. The buildings along the street feature an antique charm with strong local characteristics. The street is a hub for various travel souvenirs and snacks. Its exotic nightlife, rich in local customs, is especially captivating.

Also nicknamed “Foreigners’ Street,” Yangshuo West Street boasts a history of over 1,400 years. Though it still retains the architectural scale of a quaint southern village, it exudes an international cultural atmosphere.

Most bars, restaurants, internet cafes, craft and calligraphy shops here feature an East-meets-West decor with signs in foreign languages. Staff at these establishments, local residents, and even elderly fruit vendors on the street can all speak fluent English, adding an exotic flair to the street. In every corner of West Street, you’ll often see groups of tourists of different ethnicities sitting together drinking beer, sipping coffee, and chatting merrily. There are also mixed-race children playing on the street with their Chinese mothers and Western European fathers, unfettered by China’s family planning policies.

The eastern end of West Street is an important dock on the Li River — the Li River Pier, where travelers disembark after cruising the Li River.

In the early 1980s, foreign backpackers, referred to by locals as “backpacker foreigners,” began arriving in Yangshuo. Their stays ranged from just a few days to as long as a year or more, typically lasting three to five weeks. The longest-staying visitor was Mr. Mike from the Netherlands, who came to Yangshuo in 1991 and remained here to write, only leaving to renew his visa. American Mr. Jamie visited eight times over five years, while fellow American Mr. Terry and his family of four stayed for ten weeks. They rented homes from locals, bought groceries, cooked their own meals, learned to cook Chinese food and study Chinese, and even took back complete sets of Chinese cookware and tableware upon returning home, saying they wanted to keep cooking Chinese food. American Mr. Radar said that Yangshuo has beautiful scenery, fresh air, a blend of urban and rural charm, friendly and simple people, low prices, and many locals who speak English, making “foreigners” like them feel right at home. Mr. Radar himself ended up staying for half a year.

In recent years, the number of “backpacker foreigners” visiting Yangshuo has rapidly increased, reaching as many as 60,000 annually. Most are students, scholars, or working-class travelers, hailing mainly from developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The influx of tourists has spurred the growth of Yangshuo’s tourism services and handicraft industry. Especially on West Street and Binjiang Road, dozens of hotels, cafés, and Western restaurants modeled after Western styles have sprung up, along with nearly a thousand shops and stalls selling travel-themed handicrafts. West Street has become the main hub for Western independent travelers staying in Yangshuo. In fact, there are often more foreigners than locals on the street, which is how it earned the name “Foreigners’ Street.” To do business with foreigners, one must communicate in foreign languages, so learning languages has become a popular trend among locals. It is estimated that thousands of businesspeople in Yangshuo can speak foreign languages. The county’s two tourism vocational schools and various privately-run language schools are very popular, and even some residents, elderly folks, and farmers learn foreign languages through various means. With more backpackers staying longer, romance has also blossomed. Over the past few years, dozens of foreign backpackers have married local youths. For a small county town, this level of cross-cultural romance is rare in Guangxi. When night falls, the Foreigners’ Street comes alive with people gathered at Western restaurants, cafés, and small tables lining the streets—some in groups, others in pairs or alone—enjoying a quiet moment over beer and casual conversation.

Foreigners’ Street

On West Street, at any given moment, you’ll see foreigners of all nationalities, skin colors, and languages walking side by side—some holding hands, others with backpacks—freely and cheerfully. They drink beer at bars, search for information at internet cafes, chat warmly on the streets, and bargain for Chinese goods at small shops. The layouts of bars, restaurants, and hotels are almost all unique, each exuding a distinct foreign vibe. Many foreigners come here to “study,” learning Chinese from locals; some come for leisure, staying for ten days, half a month, or even half a year; others come to “work,” helping out at businesses while learning to cook Chinese food. Hundreds of thousands of foreigners come and go each year, sightseeing, working, and studying on West Street—a phenomenon unmatched anywhere else in China. That’s why people call this one-of-a-kind street in China the “Foreigners’ Street.”

As a convergence point of Eastern and Western cultures, Yangshuo West Street is where traditional Eastern culture meets modern Western civilization, blending and interacting in perfect harmony. It serves as an ideal place for Chinese people to learn foreign languages and for foreigners to learn Chinese. There are dozens of foreign language schools, training centers, speaking camps, and computer classes here. The bars and restaurants lining the street offer not just food and drinks but also serve as hubs where Chinese and foreigners teach each other, exchange information, and explore both cultures. Just knowing how to say “Hello,” “Good morning,” “Good night,” or common Chinese polite phrases will quickly help you find friends. It’s no wonder Yangshuo is known as the “No. 1 English Town in China” and the “Global English Corner”—the title is well-deserved.

Address:

Yangshuo County, Guilin City

Opening Hours:

Open all day

Admission:

Free entry.

No admission fee.