Yangshuo – China (Part III)

After every long day the sun slowly sinks over the horizon and night take over the land. Only slivers of light that are reflected off the moon still find their way to the dark side of the planet. While some travelers quickly make their way to eateries, eager to fill their bellies and turn in, others are only just waking up to discover and enjoy what the other side has to offer. And no matter where you on this planet, be it town or country, there is always something going on after dark. I slipped through bars on and around the main roads of Yangshuo as night approached, stopping here and there for cold beers and pub grub. I was really amazed at the variety of food available. Every bar served pizza, wings, and burgers. And others specialized in Mediterranean, Italian, and American cuisine. I hit up quite a few joints and even samples some Spanish TAPAS before I found some down home Chinese food.

I was already feeling nice and loose when I came across this sign on one of the by ways. It definitely called out to me so I went checking in to see what this bar had to offer.

The décor was nothing out of the ordinary from any other bar or pub you would expect to see at a tropical holiday destination. But I will say that The M.C Bar (I can’t remember the exact name) had an extremely well stocked bar with an awesome variety of liquor for a place that is supposed to be so far secluded from general society. It was located right across the street from the Lizard Lounge and although it was still pretty early in the evening they had a good spirited crowd in there enjoying a few cold ones. On the TV they were also playing the surf classic documentary ‘Riding Giants’. Nearly every bar I went to in Brazil had one of these videos on.

I kicked back at the bar and had a few words with one of the owners, a Caucasian dude names B. I should add now that rock climbing is massive in Yangshuo and it is one of the world’s top destinations right now for rock climbers. B told me he had been out there for more than 6 years now and he was relating stories about how much the place has changed in that time. He also gave me a couple of stories about how the scene is after dark with the local bar owners. I noticed some Canadian flags around the bar and having a few friends in GZ who are bar owners and Canadians too I asked them if he knew them. It turns out we have a good friend in common and we had actually met once before. From there as you can imagine, the scene got comfortable and the drinks started to flow quite freely. B turned out to be a fucking champ.

I kept hopping bars and later on in the night ended up back at the Lizard Lounge where B invited me to party up with the local crew. All I can say is that small town crew really know how to throw down. These fella’s had a bar with their own rock climbing wall in it. As patrons got drunker and their confidence grew they would eventually muster up the guts to take a shot at the wall. Fortunately there was also a thick mattress at the base for the less nimble climbers.

The crew is also known for throwing some awesome parties and although not many of the visitors to Yangzhou actually find the Lizard Lounge, the ones that do go home with some pretty crazy stories. The guys who are mostly from Australia, Canada, America, UK, and even China are all great sports with solid personalities that the visiting ladies find quite entertaining. On one of the nights they actually had a ‘Red Neck’ party which was quite entertaining, even though I was the only brown boy there. I made some awesome friends there though. I think the scene went on till around 4am, behind closed doors. From what I heard later on not many of the other bars in Yangshuo do that. The beer was cold, and all the booze reasonably priced, and I am sure you will admit the ladies were also quite pleasant to look at. What more does a bother need?

After the drop a couple of us went out to the streets and found a BBQ food vendor. They make the most awesome BBQ food in China and it is spicy as hell. They got everything from lamb, to oysters, to vegetables cooking on that grill. I tell you that stuff did not get along in the best of ways with the tequila, Jack Daniels, and beer I had swilling around my belly, but it sounded! God Damn!

Mahalo to all the folks who made this adventure as awesome as it turned out to be. Do I need to get people to sign releases before I post their faces up here? Fuck it. We were drunk, and that that excuse stands as firm as a concrete pillar in any court of law. Thanks being said, I am still drink now.