For many international teachers, the December break is a welcome pause in the middle of the school year. Some use the time to travel home and reconnect with family, while others choose to explore new areas. With fewer crowds, the Christmas break is one of the best times to travel and explore China. Jessica Lovick-Earle, a teacher at BASIS Bilingual Kindergarten Nanshan, spent the holiday traveling with her husband and their two young children in Dali, Ji Zu Shan, and Yangshuo.
Dali: Ancient Town and Lake Adventures
We began our break with a week in Dali, flying into Yunnan and staying in Dali ancient town. We spent the days before Christmas shopping and touring around Er Hai Lake, eating delicious local fish, Yunnan mushroom dishes, and lots of hotpot to keep us warm! We had a beautiful room overlooking the mountain and the roofs of the ancient town.
Bike tour around Er Hai Lake
Exploring Dali Old Town
Dali Highlights:
- Took a cable car up a mountain
- Explored a cave tucked into the hillside
- Biked along Er Hai Lake
- Went horseback riding through fields
- Took a rowboat trip around West Er Hai Lake
- Explored Dali Ancient Town
View from our balcony in Dali
View of Er Hai Lake
Ji Zu Shan: Christmas in a Mountain Village
After four nights in Dali, we drove two hours into the mountains to a place called Ji Zu Shan or Chicken Foot Mountain. We stayed here over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, enjoying a feast of Chinese food for our Christmas dinner and spending our time exploring the small village at the foot of the mountain.
Opening presents on Christmas morning in Ji Zu Shan
Yangshuo: Scenic Mountains, Caves, and River Rafting
On Boxing Day, we boarded a ten-hour train to Yangshuo, Guanxi. There, we enjoyed renting electric scooters and winding down the beautiful mountain roads, taking boat trips along the Li River, and exploring caves. It was so much fun! Yangshuo was utterly beautiful, and it was nice to relax in one place for 7 nights before heading back on the train to Shenzhen.
Riding electric scooters around Yangshuo
Floating down the Li River
Yangshuo Highlights:
- Took a four-star ferry along the Li River
- Adventured through the mountains on electric scooters
- Floated on a bamboo raft past the scene featured on the 20 RMB note
- Explored a cave with a café waiting at the end
- Watched New Year’s Eve fireworks outside our hotel
- And, most importantly, relaxed
Looking Back
While it wasn’t our first time spending Christmas in China, or our first time traveling in China, it was our first time traveling in China over Christmas. Now that our children are 3 and 5, they are very much up for adventuring, and as long as we factor in our 3-year-old’s nap, we are beginning to see how endless the possibilities are for traveling in China!
View of the scene on the 20 RMB note
We had such fun, shopping for Xmas gifts for each other, exploring the touristy sights with no queues, and eating delicious local food in the places we visited. There were a lot of beautiful landscapes, and it was an extremely affordable holiday and was actually quite fun to spend Christmas with a bit of a chill in the air, after the lovely tropical weather of Shenzhen. While we did miss the convenience, comfort, and community in Shenzhen, it felt amazing to spread our wings and spend some time away from skyscrapers and city life!
Jessica Lovick-Earle
ECE Teacher
BASIS Bilingual Kindergarten Nanshan
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