A Dense Population

Stories of steep limestone rock faces attracted me to Yangshuo. A town internationally know for its outstanding rock climbing. Every month sponsored climbers from Black Diamond, Arc'Teryx, and other big name companies travel to this small town in southwestern china and tackle the 5.14's...some of the hardest climbing in the world. I on the other hand can't even get off the ground when attempting a 5.12, but rock climbing is so much more than becoming a great climber. I mostly use climbing as an excuse to travel and explore the world.

After 13 hours on a plane, 2 hours on the metro, 12 hours on train and finally another 2 hours on bus I finally arrived to Yangshuo on Dec 7th. The first thing I noticed when I arrived in china is the people and how many there were of them. The streets in China are at a constant level of frenzy. Pushing into the metro train and cutting in line (anywhere) is the norm. I had a small taste of this at the Chinese Embassy in Los Angelas, where a women literally pushed me to be the next in line for the teller. A friend of mine said he was in line to go to the urinal and watched five men cut infront of him. He ended up holding it. The country is the same size as America, but the population exceeds America's by 1 billion. China contributes 20 percent of the world's population, while America supplies only 4.5 percent. Although the hustle and bustle is intense, it is, however, not considered rude behavior...and hence my first lesson in chinese culture.

A Dense Population

Yangshuo, China