For four days in late October, the limestone towers of Yangshuo in China's Guangxi region doubled as a classroom. Around 270 climbers gathered for the 2026 Arc'teryx Climb Academy, the largest edition of the event the area has seen, with 37 clinics spread across more than a dozen crags.
The Climb Academy is a travelling mountain school that has been running since 2007, with past editions in Squamish, Chamonix and Mammoth Lakes. It alternates between climbing and skiing programmes, but the formula stays the same: world-class guides and pro athletes teach everything from absolute beginner skills to advanced techniques in a tightly structured format. The 2026 Yangshuo menu included first-time trad clinics, bolting workshops, big wall masterclasses and even rescue and evacuation courses built around China's distinctive terrain.
What sets it apart from a typical climbing festival is the balance. Mornings and afternoons are all hands-on instruction on genuinely elite rock, while evenings bring films, talks, music and socials. Participants leave with new skills and, apparently, a lot of new climbing partners.
Yangshuo itself deserves top billing. International climbers have been coming since the late 1980s, and the area now counts nearly 2,000 routes across 74 crags on world-class limestone, all set among those surreal karst spires. It's not a scene created by the event either — Chinese mountaineer and Arc'teryx athlete Peng Zhou, who teaches there every year, clipped his first 5.12 and 5.14 in Yangshuo. Athlete Quentin Roberts, running his third big wall clinic in a row, says he has to keep raising his game because local climbers' skills and ambitions grow so fast between visits.
That's the real story for travellers: this is cultural exchange, not a foreign import dropped onto a passive local scene. Instructors share a round-table banquet before the event kicks off, and visiting climbers learn as much from their Chinese hosts as the other way around. Roberts puts it simply — sharing a rope and trusting a partner cuts across language and culture.
Why should a non-climber care? Because Yangshuo has long since outgrown its niche. The karst scenery that draws the climbers also draws kayakers, cavers, cyclists and boat tours along the Li River, and the town has a well-worn backpacker infrastructure to match. An event of this scale signals that the area's outdoor scene is maturing fast, with better local guiding, more routes and a community that visibly welcomes outsiders. If you've been looking for an active holiday in Asia that isn't a trekking cliché, Guangxi is having a moment.
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