Right before I headed to Kunming from Yangshuo, a pleasant late November day, my partners and I visited a crag called Banyan Tree to have some fun on a couple of 5.10’s. Just like going to most of the crags in Yangshuo, we passed some farmland and hiked up a small trail behind farmers’ houses. At first, we had the crag all to ourselves; soon enough, a few kids showed up to have some fun, too, because it was a day off from school. They threw rocks, climbed trees, fought with sticks, like kids everywhere else. I noticed that during their play, they never forgot to monitor Mark’s progress, who was top roping a 5.10b. Before Mark topped out, all the kids but one were summoned by their big brother. One kid didn’t leave even though he lost his playmates. He stood right next to us waiting for something more to happen.

After Mark finished the route, I started leading, one after another. Every time when I looked down to find my foot placement, I noticed that the kid was watching me - not only was he observing, but he was definitely learning. He did not want to miss any of my single movements; he jotted down all the information in his mind. “These kids should have a chance to climb; after all, all these climbs are in their backyard,” I wondered, “I wish I had some proper gear for him.”

That evening, I visited my local friend Ton Ton at her bar Bar98, and I bumped into Bob Keaty, who is the founder and the director of Yangshuo Access Initiative (YAI). Naturally I asked him whether somebody is considering a service project to teach local kids how to climb. Bob responded, “I have been wanting to teach local farmers about climbing. They ask me what climbing is all the time. I plan to persuade Chinese guiding services to engage in the project.” I knew Bob speaks fluent Mandarin, but not until that evening, did I realize “fluent” was an understatement. Bob went to school in Taiwan, married a Taiwanese woman, and has been working in Shanghai for years. The only thing to make Bob not Chinese is his appearance. Interestingly, the combination of a western look and a thorough understanding of Chinese culture won him friendship from many local farmers easily, which makes him a perfect representative of YAI. From him, I learned about many access issues in Yangshuo originating from conflicting interests among guiding services, independent climbers, and local farmers. One of the bigger news he told me was that in May, White Mountain was forced to close up once. (Currently, White Mountain is closed again.)

White Mountain? The previous time I visited White Mountain was last fall. It was a sunny day, and there was no shade to hide in underneath the wide and steep south-facing crag. Before the symptoms of heat exhaustion could show up, local farmers came for our rescue with a bunch of juicy oranges. “You guys must be thirsty,” they said. When we offered them some compensation, they shook their hands swiftly and repeated more than a couple times, “these oranges are for free.” They chatted with us about how busy the crag was a week ago when the first Yangshuo climbing festival took place, and tried to share with us some potential crags which were not yet on the guidebook. Who would have thought just a few months later, White Mountain was closed.

What can I do? I have been pondering on this question ever since I learned more about the access issues in Yangshuo. First thing is of course to express gratitude. Technically, farmers do not own any of the crags; however, to access the crags, we climbers often have to walk through their farms, or inches away from their houses. I always thanked local farmers for letting us walk on their farms and climb in such a close proximity, and they always shied away from my appreciation and responded with “not a big deal,” “not necessary to mention the thank word,” or “you can come here anytime, no problem.” I could feel that they appreciated our appreciation, and then many of them would watch us climb for a while and some of them would ask us questions, such as “How do you get up there? The climbs look so steep.” “Is climbing that fun?” I once offered a farmer a top rope; not surprisingly he turned the offer down even with our persistent encouragement. However, I believe that many farmers would give it a try if there was a more organized event.

Secondly, I can think about their needs and be mindful about our impact. Tourism should bring revenue to locals. Initially farmers did not mind climbers and they even opened their arms to welcome new visitors. Farmers are poor but they are usually nice and hospitable. Yangshuo is getting more popular and more recognized as a world-class climbing destination every single day, as a result, numerous climbers have rolled in and out. Farmers who live close to the crags possibly haven’t felt that they have benefited from the booming visit because climbers often come for the climb and leave right after the climb, and they find their accommodation in town, dine in town, and shop in town. Instead, farmers often have to deal with the drawbacks of fast-growing tourism, such as inconsiderate climbers leave waste and trash behind and walking through farmers’ clean cement yard with their muddy shoes just to cut a quick way out. Bob suggested a few options. He often reserves a rural-style stir-fry dinner from a farmer near the crag he will be climbing and enjoys a hearty dinner after an exhausting day. Buying drinks or snacks from them also helps. The 69-year-old lady who carries drinks up the steps to Moonhill happily told me, “Oh, they got tired and buy drinks from me. Oh, those climbers love beers.” YAI also has proposed assistance to farmers who are interested in providing lodging to climbers.

Other approaches to soothe the tension of access issues require a group effort, such as conducting a service project to clean up the crags, teaching farmers and their kids how to climb etc. I recommend every climber joins Yangshuo Access Initiative. Every little bit helps and good will goes a long way.

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