Rock Climbing in Yangshuo China
When visiting the world’s greatest Karst formations in Yangzhou, you can’t possibly consider not going rock climbing for an afternoon.
The area surrounding Yangzhou is a climber’s paradise and die hards from around the world come to this region to conquer its routes for months on end.
With hundreds of sport climbing routes and more being set every day, it is a world-class destination for climbing. The limestone cliffs make for ideal conditions and the many mountains offer varied routes for all levels.
Karst Formations of Yangshuo are ideal for Climbing
We haven’t climbed hard for a few years, so we opted for a guided day at the crag. For 250 Yuan, we signed up for a fun day at Insight Adventures (Formerly China Climb) Our group of four had two guides, Mick and Marcello from the US and El Salvador. We were told we would have three guides, but we got two.
Marcello and Mick were likeable guides, but it was clear that Mick had spent far too long teaching children how to rock climb as I felt that we were being talked to like we were 10 years old.
When we signed up the day earlier, we told them that we have a lot of rock climbing experience and we wanted to make sure that it would be a day of just fun climbing for all levels.
They assured us that we would be satisfied.
They were wrong.
Mick, who seemed to take over the day, went through a useless lesson. We didn’t need a lesson because they tied our ropes, put on our harnesses, belayed us and did our safety checks. So why did they give us a lesson on how to belay, how to tie knots and how to tie ourselves in when they did it all for us anyway? We never belayed, we never tied a knot and we never touched the rope.
Mick and Marcello, our Overly Thorough Guides
They were there to take care of us, that is what we paid for and what we came out here to do. If we wanted a climbing lesson we would have signed up for one but we are on a strict schedule so we signed up for an afternoon of climbing. Besides, we told him that we used to climb and yet he kept talking to us like we didn’t know anything.
He wasted valuable time going through information that we didn’t need.
Instead of getting down to business and getting on the rock face, he went through the ABC’s of climbing. Something I found very annoying.
Here is an excerpt of how he talked to us.
- “A for Anchor”
- “B is for Buckles”
- “C is for Closed, or Cool or Climber”
- “H is for high 5″
And then he gave us all “High Tens”
Finally getting a climb in
We did a measly 4 climbs as they took forever to set the routes. They couldn’t have chosen a more boring set of routes either. Our first two climbs were very short and easy and we had already wasted a good hour and a half.
We waited for them to come and open the storage locker that is a 5 minute drive away from Insight Adventures and by the time we had all our gear that was supposed to be put together and ready for us by the time we arrived at one, almost an hour had gone by.
With them taking another 10 minutes to drive out to the crag and 20 minutes to set an easy route. We barely had any time to climb.
They set two routes at a time.
Our second set of routes (climbs number 3 and 4), were much better and longer, but by that time our day was coming to an end. Just as we were catching our momentum, we ended.
Making the best of Climbs 3 and 4
They could have easily squeezed in two more climbs, but hey, it was the American Thanksgiving Holiday and they had to get back to the shop to celebrate.
So we rock climbed in China 4 little routes and spent too much money for what we got.
Climbs 3 and 4 Were More Interensting
I wouldn’t recommend climbing with Insight Adventures (Formerly China Climb – the sign that they still have on the door) for an afternoon climb. Maybe they are fine for people that are experienced climbers leading their own routes, (I assume the hard core climbers like them since they were all hanging out in the office) but for a day climb, they are not a good choice.
It was one of the most unfulfilling days climbing I have ever had. I realize that it is probably better for people that bring their own gear and can climb independently, but for a person that has some experience and just wants to go out and have some fun being pulled up the wall for a few fun climbs, try somewhere else. They just didn’t seem to care or have the time for part timers like us. I guess if we are going to go back to Yangshuo to climb we are going to have to get back into serious climbing and sharpen our skills again.
Then again, we enjoy travelling and taking on new adventures and challenges. We’ll leave that to the guys and gals that like to live at the crag.
Note: This trip was sponsored by Intrepid Travel. We use local guides when for our excursions and are free to book our own trips independently. This climbing trip in Yangshou was booked on our own and Insight Adventures is not affiliated with Intrepid Travel.
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Wow, what an awesome adventure!!!
.-= Andi´s last blog ..Cuba Day 8 Part 1 =-.
I had to call Jack over and showed him the cliffs and we can’t wait to check them out ourselves next year. It’s probably very unlikely, but do you know if they rent out ropes?
It’s too bad you didn’t have a good experience with the guides. I bet it’s really frustrating to have awesome cliffs in front of you but they just kept on talking, and talking… The “ABC’s” of climbing — C for Cool, or Climber — that’s hilarious.
.-= Jill – Jack and Jill Travel The World´s last blog ..Bras and Tampons For Tricky Border Crossings — Weekly Travel Tip =-.
I hope that someone from Insight Adventures reads this and responds – I would love to know why they don’t take into account their customer’s experience level before wasting time like that…..it’s wrong to assume that everyone is a beginner.
.-= Trisha Miller´s last blog ..How I Get My Travel Stories =-.
So true, especially when we told them when we signed up the day before that we used to climb a lot, and we told them again when we met the guides. It seems like they only know the robotic way that they were taught to teach and they stick to it. We specifically asked about the other two as well and said that we wanted to make sure that we would have our own guide because we have climbing experience and didn’t want to waste our time. They told us we would have three guides and that we would have our own to set routes so that we could get a lot of climbs in. And speaking with the other two people with us, they weren’t pleased with the amount of climbs either. They climbed great and could have done way more as well.
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Hi Dave and Deb, your adventures look amazing, hope you are having a lot of fun.
I work at Insight Adventures and wanted to drop you a line and let you know that firstly, we found your blog and secondly that we are taking immediate action in response to the issues you highlighted. We are deeply sorry for not providing the experience that you requested, both guides are known for the safety, experience and quality of teaching, both also just coming off 2 months of solid student groups. That being said we place our standards so high that feedback like this is crucial for our development and we will continue to do our best at upholding this standard everytime.
Lastly, if you do have additional feedback please contact us at feedback@insight-adventures.com
I would hope that in the future some of our clients may visit and let you know the usual experience.
Thanks Wade. It was probably the two months with the student groups that turned us off the most. We were all adults. Good luck in the future and we really appreciate you stopping by to address the situation. We don’t give many negative reviews on our blog, so something was definitely amiss, but now that you are aware, we are sure that you will do your best for the day trippers that stop by. Cheers.
I would also be cringing at the waste of time and effort when I already knew everything being spoken. Too bad they stuck to the books, without listening to you guys. Anyways, Yangshuo looks like an incredible place, even without the rock climbing!
.-= Migrationology´s last blog ..Getting Married in Egypt =-.
It is an amazing place. It’s true, they should have listened to us.
Looks like a nice place to rock climb, but I find it best to always stay away from guide if possible. I find Independent travel is better overall even though it might be more challenging.
Where might you be visiting when you arrive in India, maybe we could meet someplace. I might be renting a flat in Varanasi for January.
.-= Shawn´s last blog ..Home-Stay in India and Organized Tours =-.
Hi Shawn, we will definitely keep in touch and try to meet up in India. Yes, it would have been better to go on our own, but we haven’t lead routes in a few years so we would have been putting ourselves in a bit of peril. We will have to get back into it to sharpen our skills again and avoid guides. But then again, we have done a few climbs over the years since we gave up regular climbing and have had awesome experiences.
Thats cool.. but i hope never trying it.. lol
1. 250 RMB (less than 40USD) for 2 guides for half a day is too much money? Are you kidding me? I didn’t realize you two are from a rural village of a developing country and make a dollar a day.
2. At least safety standards were practiced, unlike some of the other local guiding companies (whose quickdraws have broken from taking a fall because they are so old and whose guides have dropped clients on abseiling because they are inexperienced guides).
3. If you really have “climbed a lot” in the past, then surely you could have communicated like adults do with the guides. I wonder what makes them think you have never climbed? Mick and Marcelo both, having known them for a year, are both very reasonable people to say the least.
4. These people you are badmouthing about, those “who live at the crag?” travel and work around the world to climb and develop new areas for climb, so “part timers” like yourself would even have the opportunity to pay much less than 200USD to have the climbing experience with a guide. These two particularly have climbed and developed through the Americas (North and South), Europe, Asia and Australia. So as you now understand, dedicated climbers don’t just “live at the crag?“ they live at many crags.
5. You don’t need to be in “serious climbing” and “sharpen [your] skills” to have a good time climbing in YS. The 8 months I spent there, I climbed with many part-timers and introduced climbing to many new people who had a great time. They happened to be very open-minded and down-to-earth people.
6. It seems that this paid-for “new adventures and challenges” (what I’d rather call pampered spoon-fed tourism) you so rave about have turned you into complete douche bags. It’s not very often that traveling closes down one’s mind rather than opens it up. By the way, when was the last time you learned enough of a new language and culture? Both Mick and Marcelo’s Chinese are impressive. And I’d say they know quite a bit about my culture.
Hi Fan Yang, good points about the quickdraws breaking. Very good to know about that, can you name the other companies that have had that happen?
We definitely weren’t badmouthing people that live at the crag, we meant that as people that are experienced climbers and admire them. We feel that they are the type that are more suited to this company. Not the day trippers like us.
That is great the Mick and Marcelo have great language skills, they have stayed in a place long enough to learn Chinese and that is very admirable. We are travellers and keep on the move. We chose not to stay in one place and enjoy experiencing new and different cultures regularly but applaud people that stay long enough to learn a new language. Good for them. I think that having just come off working with children at camps, they were stuck in the mentality of talking to kids. It was the ABC’s of climbing and the high 5′s that were off putting.
We just finished climbing with a company in Thailand that sat down with us to aks what we were looking for in our day. They actually talked to us about what we wanted out of the climb before even going to the walls. That is what I think Insight Adventures should start doing.
You must have been a great guide to introduce people to climbing. Our day wasn’t as good as it might have been with you I guess. I am sure that they are great climbers and nice guys but we stand by the fact that our day of climbing was not fulfilling.
Sorry to hear you had such a rotten experience in such a great climbing locale. As a frequent visitor to Yangshuo, I was….stirred(?) by Fan Yang’s comments and wanted to reply, even if I am a bit late.
Fan Yang is a prime example of the lack of civility that an online identity can provide one with. Self gratifying outbursts, rather than self-restraint, seem to be an all too common characteristic in today’s world.
Fan Yang’s comments, while a bit abrupt,caused me to reflect on my many experiences with these so called “full timers”. Dirtbaggers, a more common name that they themselves gladly adorn, might be under the impression that they are contributing to society- they’ll tell you all about their “work” with this or that “NGO”, the many routes that they put up, but the reality is they hop back and forth from Tonsai, to Yangshuo, to Ha Long Bay, maybe a trek or two in Nepal, and then home to Mom and Dad’s basement couch and bank account, all the while contributing nothing to society and most likely fleeing something. Get them together and you will observe the most bizarre method of communication (if it can be called that). One of them will start off talking about their latest “proj” until another interrupts with how they flashed some new route with endless “slopers, crimpers, runouts, dirty holds, bad jugs, and monos”, until he gets talked over by someone else complaining how their mind doesn’t need rest days but their body just has to have it. This person will then get shut up by the “local” climber (usually anyone who has stayed in the area for 1 month or more and feels quite a bit of ownership for the place) who tells them all he is going to bolt some new secret area tomorrow and that his cousin’s wife’s brother in law knows someone at Black Diamond and he thinking he might get sponsored.
While Fan Yang is right that 250 RMB is not an exorbitant asking price for guiding (and is the industry standard in Yangshuo), anyone travelling the world is usually on a budget. Of course, if you are hanging out in YS and “living the dream” by day at the Egg and every night at Bar 98 then there isn’t much call for budgeting.
Unfortunately for Insight Adventures, this type of review is all too common for them. While the closure of ChinaClimb and emergence of Insight was supposed to lift them above their past mistakes, they seem to continue to fall into their old ways. A classic case of getting too big for their britches, they would do well to hire guides that aren’t just interested in an easy pay check while they climb (the dirtbaggers mentioned above), but individuals with proper training and education who are committed to developing the outdoor industry in China, not just pushing harder climbs.
Wow, that looks like a fun place to climb! Sorry you were not happy with the tour guides.
You know what, it is an amazing place to climb, one of the best in the world. I think that the companies need to employ local people over backpackers from other countries. When we climb in Thailand, all the guides are local and that is empowering to the people. It would have made all the difference I am sure.
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