Top things to do in Yangshuo: hills, thrills and chilling

Over the past five years, as any local cab driver will tell you, Yangshuo has been transformed. Once a hippie haven nestled between the jade-coloured karst peaks of Guangxi, it's now a neon hotspot, jammed with more Chinese tourists than Western backpackers. With great popularity has come great transport links: last year a high-speed train to Guilin launched from Shenzhen North, cutting a 13-hour overnight journey to a 3½-hour ride. Just beyond the town, the surreal scenery remains some of the most serene and unspoiled in China, but Yangshuo's river rapids, mountains and nightlife also make this an action-packed spot. Here's the best of adrenaline and zen in Yangshuo.

ADRENALINE

Rock climbing

Since American free climber Todd Skinner came to Yangshuo in the 1990s and developed the area, the rock climbing scene has exploded: today there are more than 800 climbs mapped out on its mountains, for all difficulty levels. Check in to the Climbers Inn at 21 Guihua Road to meet other enthusiasts, and head to 21 Chengbei Road to hire your equipment and join a tour with Ginger at  Karst Climber, which was founded in  2000; beginners can start on the Swiss Cheese  Crag, or try the brilliantly named Tortoise Climbing up the Hill, while more advanced climbers should scale White Mountain or The Great Arch Area.

Zip-lining + abseiling

Slightly less taxing, but no less thrilling, ways to explore the  mountains are abseiling and zip-lining. North Face-sponsored climber Anui, who left a career in the military to help build the adventure scene in Yangshuo, takes hikers up Treasure Cave mountain, where they can fly over a canyon created by two limestone karsts (400 yuan, HK$485). Alternatively, climb the 800 steps up Moon Hill (400 yuan), famed locally for the semi-circular hole in the middle of the mountain, and abseil 100 metres down from its peak.  blackrockclimbing.net

Longjing drifting