Guilin Travel Guide: Li River and Yangshuo
Updated
Four hours on a boat, 60 km of limestone hills either side, and at Xingping the exact view printed on the back of the 20-yuan note. You have seen Guilin before you arrive. The trick is to see it anyway.
A short story about Guilin in Mandarin, with English alongside. The beginner version needs no Chinese. Jump to the storyA short history of Guilin
Three hundred million years ago this was a shallow sea. Its floor became limestone, and slightly acid rain has been dissolving it ever since. What dissolved became plains and caves; what didn’t became the hills. Geologists call it karst.
“Guilin’s scenery is the finest under heaven” was written in 1201 by an official at a banquet for eleven exam graduates. The line was carved into a cliff, covered by dripping limestone, and cleaned off again in 1983.
The Li River
漓江 Lí Jiāng
The Li runs 83 km from Guilin south to Yangshuo: hills on both banks, water buffalo in the shallows, bamboo, now and then a fisherman with cormorants. Cruise boats board outside the city and cover about 60 km in four hours, ending in Yangshuo. The best part, Yangdi to Xingping, is also done by motorised “bamboo” raft.
At Xingping everyone holds a 20-yuan note up against the hills on its back. Do it too. In mist the hills fade in layers, like the paintings.
How to visit the Li River
- 1
Book with your passport
Tickets are in your name. Trip.com sells the cruise and the Yangdi raft in English with a foreign card; the official WeChat office is Chinese-only; hotels book too. Book a few days ahead, more at holidays. The passport is checked at the pier.
- 2
Check your pier
Three-star boats leave from Mopanshan, four-star boats (better lunch) from Zhujiang. The piers are 6.5 km apart, both outside the city. Morning departures get better light.
- 3
Be on deck for the middle hour
Nine Horses Fresco Hill and the 20-yuan view come in the second half. Be outside for them.
- 4
Stay in Yangshuo
The boats end in Yangshuo. Sleep there instead of taking the bus back, and spend the next day on the Yulong River.
In a dry winter the big boats sometimes run a shorter route. The rafts run all year.
Things to do in Guilin beyond the river
Yangshuo is at the end of the cruise, Elephant Trunk Hill in Guilin itself, Longji a day to the north.
Yangshuo and the Yulong River 阳朔 · 遇龙河
Yángshuò · Yùlóng Hé
A small town with hills in every street and bars along West Street. Rent a bike and ride the Yulong River, a quieter tributary where rafts are poled by hand. At night the Impression Sanjie Liu show puts hundreds of performers on the river, the hills lit behind them.
Elephant Trunk Hill 象鼻山
Xiàngbí Shān
Guilin’s symbol: a hill in the river in the centre of town, with an arch where the trunk dips into the water. Walk round it, then along the central lakes to the Sun and Moon Pagodas, lit at night.
The Longji Rice Terraces 龙脊梯田
Lóngjǐ Tītián
Two to three hours north by bus, terraces built over centuries by the Zhuang and Yao climb whole mountainsides. Flooded in spring, green in summer, gold before the autumn harvest. Walk from Ping’an or Dazhai, and stay a night for the dawn.
What to eat in Guilin
Guilin rice noodles 桂林米粉
Guìlín mǐfěn
Round rice noodles with braised meat, pickled beans, peanuts and chilli, eaten dry first, then with broth. The city’s breakfast.
Beer fish 啤酒鱼
píjiǔ yú
Yangshuo’s dish: river fish fried, then braised in local beer with tomato and peppers.
Oil tea 油茶
yóuchá
Tea leaves fried with ginger and garlic, pounded and boiled, topped with puffed rice and peanuts. Bitter at first; locals drink it by the bowl.
Plan your trip to Guilin
Best time to visit Guilin
- JanMixed
- FebMixed
- MarMixed
- AprBest
- MayBest
- JunMixed
- JulMixed
- AugMixed
- SepGood
- OctGood
- NovMixed
- DecMixed
Spring brings the mist the paintings are after. Summer is hot and wet, but the river is full and the fields green. Avoid Golden Week (1–7 October) and Chinese New Year, when every boat is booked.
Getting to Guilin
- Liangjiang Airport by car40 min
- Guangzhou South by train3 h
- Chengdu by train6 h
Liangjiang airport is 28 km south-west of the centre: 40 minutes by taxi, 50 on the airport bus, which also runs straight to Yangshuo.
Guilin has three stations, Guilin in the centre and Guilin North and West on the edges, so check your ticket. “Yangshuo” station is near Xingping, an hour by shuttle bus from Yangshuo town. The bus from central Guilin to Yangshuo takes about 90 minutes.
Getting around Guilin
There is no metro. Walk the centre and use Didi, which has English and takes foreign cards. In Yangshuo, rent a bike.
Pay with Alipay or WeChat Pay on a foreign card; carry cash for noodle shops. Piers and big sights have English signs. Noodle shops don’t, so point at 米粉.
Where to stay in Guilin
In Guilin, the centre near the lakes, a walk from Elephant Trunk Hill. In Yangshuo, West Street is loud until late; guesthouses on the Yulong River are quieter. Xingping suits an early start on the river.
Guilin in three days
- Day 1. Rice noodles, Elephant Trunk Hill, the lit pagodas after dark.
- Day 2. The Li River cruise to Yangshuo, on deck past Xingping. Beer fish for dinner.
- Day 3. A bike and a hand-poled raft on the Yulong River. Add a night at Longji if you can.
Questions about visiting Guilin
Should you stay in Guilin or Yangshuo?
At least one night in each. Guilin has the airport, stations and piers. Yangshuo has the countryside, and most people like it more.
How long is the Li River cruise?
About four hours. The boats board outside the city and cover about 60 km of the 83 km from Guilin to Yangshuo.
Boat or raft?
The boat for the whole river and a ride to Yangshuo. The raft for the best hour up close: an hour’s bus from Guilin to the Yangdi turn-off, a taxi to the pier, then down to Xingping.
Where is the 20-yuan note view?
Just outside Xingping, about 20 minutes’ walk from the pier across the old bridge. The cruise boats and Yangdi rafts pass it.
Is the Longji terrace trip worth it?
Yes, with a fourth day. It is two to three hours each way, so sleep in Ping’an or Dazhai. Go in May or June for flooded terraces, late September for gold.
Chinese you’ll see in Guilin
On the piers, the bus signs and the noodle shops.
- 桂林Guìlín
- Guilin, "osmanthus forest"
- 漓江Lí Jiāng
- the Li River
- 阳朔Yángshuò
- Yangshuo
- 兴坪Xīngpíng
- Xingping, the 20-yuan-note town
- 西街Xī Jiē
- West Street, in Yangshuo
- 码头mǎtóu
- pier
- 游船yóuchuán
- cruise boat
- 竹筏zhúfá
- bamboo raft
- 梯田tītián
- rice terraces
- 米粉mǐfěn
- rice noodles
Want more? Browse Chinese vocabulary by level.
Hear Guilin in Mandarin
The boat from Guilin to Yangshuo, and how you see a place for the first time when it was on the money before you were born.
The story is Guilin: What the Water Didn't Finish Eating. Every level has a transcript, pinyin and English.
