Time means nothing for leisure seekers from almost every corner of the world traveling to this enchanting town, approximately 50 kilometers from Guilin, a world-renowned scenic resort in southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

It is almost midnight. Noushin Riazi is still nibbling her roasted corn cob beside a snack stall in Xijie Street, which boasts numerous pubs, bars, restaurants and handicraft shops with signboards in numerous foreign languages you can imagine.

"This is a lovely place. Everyone here looks so at ease and relaxed," said Riazi from San Francisco in the United States.

Like many other foreign tourists, Riazi heard of Xijie by word of mouth from friends who have been here.

Nestled on the bamboo-clad bank of the limpid Lijiang River, Yangshuo lies at the heart of the karst limestone region of greater Guilin. The 1,400-year-old town is hemmed in by steep rock formations rising from green paddies and grape orchards. Its imposing scenery has inspired an old Chinese saying - Guilin has the most beautiful landscape on earth whereas the cream of its beauty can be seen in Yangshuo.

But Yangshuo has earned its worldwide reputation in recent years as a paradise for leisure seekers where east and west not only meet but also are mingled.

Strolling down Xijie which is barely 1,000 meters long, new arrivals are often amazed by the blend of old and new - brick lofts with black-tile roofs and white-washed walls house sidewalk pubs and neat and colorful handicraft shops. Rows of restaurants under the soft Candle light serve pizza, spaghetti and tasty steak and other delicious Western snacks.

People chat in different languages, leaning back leisurely in wooden chairs, though the conversation sometimes sounds barely intelligible since everyone speaks a second language - Chinese, English, French or Japanese.

During the day, the street is crowded by enthusiastic tourists who take pleasure boats from the city of Guilin for sightseeing down the lazily-winding Lijiang River and stop over at Yangshuo. At night, the town of Yangshuo belongs to those who stay overnight, or even longer.

"Some backpackers could live here even for months," says waitress Beth Qin at the Tin Tin Bar and Restaurant, which also offers lodgings.

"They do everything for enjoyment and relaxation - cycling, kayaking or hiking during the day, and partying late at night. Or you can just sit here and look around with a beer, thinking of nothing. Nobody will come to bother you," says Qin, a local lively girl who prefers to be called Beth.

Wayne Bateman from England says that will go rock-climbing with his friends the other day, while trying very hard to learn from Beth how to say "pay the bill" in Chinese, "mai dan".

"This wonderland is simply fabulous," added Wayne's friend, Tamara Wood from Australia. Though she had learned something about Yangshuo from guidebooks and friends in Hong Kong before coming, she says the combination of diversified styles here was still "beyond her exceptions."

It took about 10 years for Yangshuo town to evolve from a serene backwater town into a widely-recommended scenic spot, according to Ming Yan, a local resident.

Only one department store and one art handicraft shop could be found for tourists at the time Yangshuo first opened to foreigners some three decades ago, Ming recalls. But now more than 10,000 residents in the town are involved in tourism-related business and trades.

"I think tourists, especially those from the West nations, prefer Yangshuo's typical Chinese characteristics and pastoral atmosphere," says Ming, who has led the work of city planning and development for a couple of years and insists on retaining the original flavor of the ancient town.

Overall, Ming says Yangshuo is a beneficiary from the rapid growth of the tourism industry in China, whose 89 million tourist arrivals and 17.8 billion US dollars of foreign currency earning make it one of the leading tourism destinations in the world.

Researchers are optimistic about the future of China's tourism industry thanks to the country's good safety record.

"The image of China as a safe, sacred land has been enhanced after a chain of terror incidents occurred in other parts of the world," Prof. Bao Jigang, from Sun Yat-sen University's Center for Tourism Planning and Research, said during the just-ended Bo'ao Forum for Asia - Tourism Conference, which discussed cooperation to prosper Asia's tourism industry.

"I feel real at ease traveling in China. People everywhere are nice, helpful and hospitable," says Riazi, who very much want to see more of China, including outlying Tibet on the roof of the world, after her Yangshuo stay.

The night lingers on, and so does the gentle and very appeasing music, chatting and occasional laughters in Xijie.

(People's Daily November 22, 2002)