Wada Hostel in Yangshuo

There are two Wada Hostels in Yangshuo, one away from the town center and another right in it. The central one is about a 10-minute walk from West Street. It’s smaller than Wada Hostel Guilin and set inside a valley, but still good value for the price. The rooms are basic but clean enough, and all the staff speak English well and are helpful. They even had someone carry our luggage to the second floor. The lobby is small, though there’s luggage storage in another room, and they warmed up our food in their microwave.

I stayed one night in September 2019. It was a great price, with English-speaking staff, good food, and bikes available to hire. The pedestrian street is very close. The rooms are a little small but clean, with no windows and no lift. It’s down a narrow alley and can’t be seen from the main road. I had to call, and someone came out to meet me there so I could find the place.

After a month of traveling around China, this was my favorite hostel. It beat some of the hotels I’d stayed at in bigger cities. The staff speak English really well and are friendly, and the menu has plenty of Western-style food if you’re tired of noodles and rice.

I enjoyed being surrounded by nature, and you can rent bikes there. The Wada hostel out in the countryside felt different from the one on West Street. I liked the rooms on West Street more, though the food out in the countryside wasn't bad. I met a local guy named Chris, who has lived in Yangshou for many years with his wife and kid. We had a great conversation for about an hour about Yangshou’s history and how things have improved for Westerners over the years.