This is the landscape China puts on its money — literally: the peaks behind Xingping village are printed on the ¥20 note. A thousand green karst towers rise from rice paddies and a slow jade river, and for a thousand years poets have insisted it's the most beautiful place in the country. They're not wrong. Here's how to see it properly in two to three days.
In this guide
1. The river: cruise vs raft
- The classic Li River cruise — 4–5 hours, Guilin → Yangshuo, the complete gallery of peaks with lunch on board. Book a seat on the top deck and stand for the Xingping bend.
- The Xingping raft — a 60–90 minute motorized "bamboo" raft on the river's most photographed stretch. Lower to the water, cheaper, faster — the efficient choice if the cruise's half-day doesn't fit.
- Photographer's move: sleep in Xingping and shoot the ¥20 viewpoint at dawn, cormorant fishermen at dusk.
- Don't double-book — cruise or raft is enough river for one trip; spend the saved hours cycling.
2. Yangshuo — the countryside days
- Cycle the Yulong River valley — flat paddy-field lanes between the peaks; the single best half-day in the region. E-bikes make it effortless.
- Moon Hill — a 30-minute climb to the arch for the valley panorama.
- Yulong bamboo rafts — the punted (genuinely bamboo) rafts drift the smaller river; gentler and quieter than the Li.
- Impression Sanjie Liu — the night show staged on the river with 12 peaks as the set and 600 local performers. Touristy and genuinely spectacular.
- West Street — Yangshuo's pedestrian old town: noisy, neon, fun for one evening; sleep a few streets away.
3. The Longji rice terraces
- What: 700-year-old terraces stacked to the ridgelines ("the Dragon's Backbone"), 2.5 hours north of Guilin — a different world from the river valley.
- When they perform: mirror-flooded in May–June, deep green July–August, gold in late September–October.
- How: do it as a long day trip from Guilin, or — better — one night in a wooden Yao-village guesthouse for sunrise over the terraces.
4. A 3-day itinerary that flows
| Day | Plan |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Arrive Guilin → Li River cruise (or transfer + Xingping raft) → check in Yangshuo → West Street evening |
| Day 2 | Yulong valley by e-bike → Moon Hill → river swim or raft → Impression Sanjie Liu night show |
| Day 3 | Longji terraces day trip (or slow morning + tea fields) → evening train onward |
This is stop three on the classic 14-day route — it slots between Xi'an/Chengdu and Shanghai. See how in the itineraries guide, or jump straight to our 4-day Guilin & Yangshuo journey (from US$990).
5. Getting there & good to know
- Trains: bullet trains reach Guilin from Guangzhou/Shenzhen (~2.5–3h) and connect onward across the network — see the rail guide. Yangshuo has its own station 30 minutes from town.
- To Shanghai after: fly (~2h) rather than rail — the one leg on the classic route where a flight wins.
- Weather honesty: mist and drizzle are part of the deal April–June — and the reason the peaks look like ink paintings. Pack the rain shell (packing list).
- Crowds: the cruise dock and West Street get busy; the Yulong valley and Xingping at dawn stay calm even in peak months (when to go).
River seats, rafts and the show — booked before you land. Tell us your dates and we'll thread Guilin into your route with the right boat on the right morning. Free to plan. Design my trip →