Things to do in Guilin
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Guilin
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall, cooler and drier, Longji gold late September to mid October, but avoid Golden Week 1 to 7 October.
Best for water and flooded terrace mirrors, full rivers and vivid green, with rain, mist and Labour Day crowds.
Deep green and lush but hot, crowded and wet, with thunderstorms and possible raft and cave closures.
Quiet, cold and damp and cheapest, with brown terraces and Impression closed for part of winter.
Shoulder gamble, warming up with early green and cole flower bloom around Longji and fewer crowds.
What's on
- Golden Week 1-7 October
Time against it, piers and viewpoints are gridlocked and prices spike.
- Labour Day 1-5 May
Time against it for the same holiday crowds as Golden Week.
- Longji Drying Clothes Festival 6th day of the 6th lunar month, usually July
Yao villagers air brilliant red traditional clothes and perform.
- Longji Golden Autumn Cultural Festival Sep-Oct
Folk performance and village celebrations in harvest season.
- Spring Plowing Festival May-June
Planting festival activities in Longji around May to June.
- Osmanthus season October
The whole city smells of osmanthus, its flower, in October.
Best things to do in Guilin
Li River Cruise
The headline 83 km cruise past karst towers and the Yellow Cloth Shoal view on the 20 yuan note.
Yulong River Bamboo Rafting
A quiet poled raft drift past rice fields, buffalo and old stone bridges with almost no engine noise.
Impression Sanjie Liu
Zhang Yimou outdoor night show on the Li River with illuminated karst peaks and a cast of hundreds.
Xingping Ancient Town
Older preserved town by the banknote river bend, with Laozhai Hill for the best panoramic photo.
Reed Flute Cave
Large lit karst cavern with named stalactites and pools, and the best rainy day sight in the city.
Elephant Trunk Hill
Guilin emblem rock arch on the Li, best paired with the free evening lake and pagoda walk.
Longji Rice Terraces
Centuries old Zhuang and Yao terraces that turn to flooded mirrors in spring and gold in autumn.
Yangshuo Cooking Class
Market first cooking class making beer fish and stuffed dishes, eaten as lunch after hands on work.
Where to stay in Guilin
Yangshuo countryside and Yulong River
best overall base, 2 to 4 nights
Towers outside your window, bikes at the door, raft piers nearby and silence at night.
Yangshuo town, streets back from West Street
first timers without a driver, nightlife and food access
Close enough to walk to dinner while loudspeakers from West Street stay a murmur.
Xingping
quiet and photography base, 1 to 2 nights
Sunrise on Laozhai Hill and the banknote bend before buses arrive, with fewer restaurants.
Guilin city centre, Two Rivers and Four Lakes area
one transit night
Walkable to lakes, pagodas, Zhengyang street and the best noodle shops, with easy transport.
Ping'an and Dazhai, Longji
one night in terrace season
Wooden village guesthouses with viewpoints at dawn above the day trip crowds.
Think twice about
- Directly on West Street, Yangshuo
Shop loudspeakers and bar music late into the evening and crowded rooms give the worst sleep for the price. Visit at night, sleep elsewhere.
- Immediately around Guilin Railway Station and Guilin South Station
Charmless and tout heavy with unlicensed drivers at the exits, and a daily taxi ride from the sights.
- Pier adjacent riverside farmhouse strips outside Yangshuo and Xingping
Places without clear posted pricing sold via drivers are where overcharging complaints concentrate.
- Remote karst view villas with no village or road access
Some properties leave you 40 minutes from food and rafts on unlit lanes without a private driver.
Best restaurants in Guilin
Laodongjiang Rice Noodles
The local noodle benchmark with fragrant master braising liquid and generous crispy pork.
Youyi Xuan Rice Noodles
Century old shop best known for horse meat rice noodles alongside the standard pork version.
Qingyun Soup Noodles
The soup noodle reference with a light clear aromatic broth, best in the morning when freshest.
Chongshan Rice Noodles
Reliable 30 year local favourite with clean shops, consistent crispy pork and slow simmered broth.
Da Shi Fu Beer Fish
Highest volume beer fish specialist where you confirm species and price per jin before weighing.
Xie Sanjie Beer Fish
Long established beer fish house valued for transparent weighing and pricing before cooking.
Xiaonanguo
Large packed local celebration restaurant for taro pork, oil tea chicken and dishes beyond noodles.
Chuanzhang Beer Fish
Smaller off West Street beer fish restaurant with a mixed local and expat crowd and fair pricing.
Outdoor things to do in Guilin
Yangshuo Rock Climbing
Hundreds of bolted limestone sport routes with guided taster half days through multi pitch days.
Yulong River Valley Cycling
Flat valley cycling past Jiuxian, rice fields and Moon Hill on 15 to 30 km loops between towers.
Longji Terrace Hiking
Village viewpoint walks and the Ping'an to Dazhai traverse, the best walk in the Guilin region.
Li River Kayaking
Guided kayaking on calmer Li River stretches at water level without raft queues or loudspeakers.
Yangdi to Xingping Hike
Bankside walk through villages and pomelo groves with ferry crossings to the banknote peaks.
Hot Air Ballooning Yangshuo
Sunrise balloon flight over Yulong and Ten Mile Gallery towers for silent aerial photography.
Mud Bath Cave
Guided wilder caving with helmets, lights, swimming sections and a mud bath outside the show caves.
Guilin Merryland Golf Club
36 hole resort course north of Guilin, best paired with a Lingqu Canal visit rather than a day trip.
Best hotels in Guilin
Banyan Tree Yangshuo
Riverside villa resort with spa and pool, the most polished full service stay in the county.
Yangshuo Sugar House
Converted 1960s sugar mill design hotel on the Li with a dramatic pool in the old mill frame.
Shangri-La Guilin
Large riverside luxury hotel with gardens and kids facilities, a soft landing for a transit night.
Kayumanis Yangshuo Private Villa & Spa
Small private villa property in the Yulong resort zone at boutique scale with spa service.
Yangshuo Zen Garden Resort
Garden resort on the Yulong with pool and concierge, quiet yet easy to cycle into town.
The Bamboo Leaf Yangshuo
Eco leaning hotel just outside town with pool, good breakfast and bikes, praised for its staff.
Guilin Bravo Hotel
Dependable central four star by the lakes with a big lobby, pool and English speaking staff.
Lijiang Waterfall Hotel
Central landmark hotel famous for its scheduled artificial waterfall over Fir Lake.
Is Guilin expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥250 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥650 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,600 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Li River Cruise: weeks ahead
- Impression Sanjie Liu: a few days ahead
- Longji Rice Terraces: a few days ahead
- Yangshuo Rock Climbing: a few days ahead
- Hot Air Ballooning Yangshuo: weeks ahead
- Book the Li River 4 star cruise, Impression good seats, Longji guesthouses and holiday rail days to weeks ahead.
- Book ballooning and climbing guides ahead in October, and set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you arrive.
- No need to prebook Reed Flute Cave, city hills, noodles or West Street.
Is Guilin safe?
- Rivers rise fast after rain, so obey raft, cave and balloon cancellations and never swim in the Li.
- June to August heat and humidity cause most problems, so start early, carry water and electrolytes and wear a helmet on bikes.
- Stone steps at Longji and Laozhai are slick after rain, so wear proper shoes.
Guilin travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Beer fish is priced per jin, so choose the species, see the weight and agree the total before cooking.
- Drivers steering you to specific restaurants, shops or farmhouses are usually earning commission.
- A too cheap Guilin and Yangshuo in a day tour is a shopping tour with sights attached, and a second show cave is repetition.
Getting around Guilin: public transport and more
- Guilin has three rail stations, Guilin, Guilin North and Guilin West, and Yangshuo station is actually at Xingping.
- Use DiDi with your destination in Chinese characters from your hotel, and use the Li River cruise as the transfer to Yangshuo.
- Yangshuo itself is walk, bike and e-cart territory, and Longji needs a car or tour transfer on winding roads.
Who Guilin suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Guilin your trip
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