Things to do in Yangshuo
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Yangshuo
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring: green fields and misty Li River, comfortable in April and May. March can be dank, late May starts the rains.
Summer: hottest and wettest, rivers full and countryside greenest, with peak domestic crowds in July and August.
Autumn: the best season, drier and in the low to mid 20s, gold rice and osmanthus. Avoid Golden Week, 1 to 7 October.
Winter: cool, grey and damp feeling, with the lowest prices and empty viewpoints, but some rafting and shows pause.
What's on
- Yangshuo Climbing Festival typically October/November
China's biggest climbing gathering, with competitions, clinics, films, music and food stalls.
- Mid-Autumn Festival 15th day of the 8th lunar month; September/early October
Grapefruit skin lanterns lit at Moon Hill and floated on the river under the full moon.
- Chinese New Year / Spring Festival January/February
Village lion dances and fireworks, festive in Xingping and the villages but chaotic for transport.
- Fishing Lights Season autumn evenings
Cormorant lantern imagery on the Li at Xingping is most active in the autumn fishing lights period.
- Dragon Boat Festival 5th day of the 5th lunar month; usually June
Local dragon boat racing on the Li and Yulong, lively if you are here but in the rainy season.
- Osmanthus Season October
Osmanthus trees bloom across town and osmanthus tea, wine, cakes and honey appear everywhere.
Best things to do in Yangshuo
Bamboo Rafting on the Yulong River
Hand poled rafts for two drift past karst peaks and weirs on the quiet river, the single best experience in Yangshuo.
Xingping Ancient Town
Compact 1,700 year old riverfront town of Ming and Qing lanes, covered on foot in under half an hour.
20-Yuan Viewpoint
The riverbank spot matching the Li River scene printed on the back of the 20 yuan note, free to visit.
Nine Horse Fresco Hill
Cliff face above the Li reached by a short motor raft from Xingping, part of the classic 20 yuan scenery.
Xianggong Mountain
Stepped climb to a platform above the great Li River bend, at its finest at sunrise with mist below.
Impression Sanjie Liu
Zhang Yimou open air night show with hundreds of performers on the Li River against illuminated peaks.
Ruyi Peak
Cable car to ridge platforms, a suspension bridge and a glass walkway over a dense cluster of peaks.
Cycling the Yulong Valley and Ten-Mile Gallery
Flat valley lanes past rice paddies, villages and Moon Hill on a cheap rental bike, the best cheap day here.
Where to stay in Yangshuo
Shili Gallery / Yulong River area
first trip, all-round base
Wake inside the landscape with raft docks, Moon Hill and cycling lanes nearby, 15 to 25 minutes from town.
West Street / town centre
short stays, nightlife and transport
Restaurants, bars and tour pickups on foot, but stay one or two lanes back from West Street for quiet.
Xingping Ancient Town area
photographers and hikers
Cuts the pre dawn drive to Xianggong and puts the Li at its best in early and late hours.
Fuli / east-bank luxury zone
honeymoon and decompressing
Isolation is the product, with architecture, spa, pools and river grounds 20 to 50 minutes from the sights.
Think twice about
- Directly on West Street and the Pantao Road bar strip
Late night bar noise, touting at the door and the town's highest prices for its weakest rooms. Sleep two lanes back.
- Yangshuo Station highway-strip motels near Xingping
Isolated and characterless, outside Xingping old town with no evening dining, costing DiDi fares every day.
- Very isolated guesthouses deep in the Yulong lanes
Poor for a first time solo winter visit: pitch dark lanes, no dining in walking distance and long DiDi waits after 9pm.
Best restaurants in Yangshuo
Bai Yun
Refined Guangxi and Cantonese fine dining at Banyan Tree, where a special occasion dinner in Yangshuo happens.
Sugar House Restaurant
Cantonese and Western menus in the converted sugar mill, plus a bar in the old factory space.
Da Shi Fu Beer Fish
The benchmark beer fish restaurant at the West Street entrance, plus stuffed snails from the 18 stuffed dishes.
Lucy's Cafe & Bar
Backpacker era institution just off West Street with Chinese and Western dishes, cold beer and owner run warmth.
Cloud 9 Restaurant
Long running restaurant above its cooking school, serving Sichuan leaning Chinese home cooking and traveller staples.
Kali Mirch Indian Cuisine
Indian kitchen with fresh naan, rogan josh and aloo gobi, the answer when you are fished out by day four.
Village Farmhouse Restaurants in Jiuxian
Courtyard farmhouse lunches on the cycling loop, with beer fish, stuffed vegetables and greens picked that morning.
Private Farmhouse Banquet in Jiuxian
Hotel arranged full table meal in a courtyard house, cooked for your group alone with beer fish and bamboo chicken.
Outdoor things to do in Yangshuo
Rock Climbing in Yangshuo
China's climbing capital, with guided beginner half days and famous crags like White Mountain and Lei Pi Shan.
Yulong Upper-Valley Cycling Loop
Full day flat loop through Jiuxian and past Fuli Bridge and Jinlong Bridge on quiet lanes on both river banks.
Jiuxian Ancient Village
Qing dynasty courtyard village on the Yulong cycling loop and a beloved farmhouse lunch stop.
Fuli Bridge
600 year old single arch stone bridge over the Yulong, one of the oldest in Guangxi and notably uncrowded.
Fuli Ancient Town
Town across the Li famous for painted fans and a real local market on days ending in 2, 5 and 8.
Yangdi to Xingping Hiking Trail
Riverside hike of about 20km through the 20 yuan landscape, with three short ferry crossings of the Li.
Laozhai Mountain
Steep, rough, free climb by Xingping pier to a summit pavilion with a superb view over the Li bend.
Damian Hill
Free hill above Xingping, the local sunset alternative to Laozhai Mountain.
Best hotels in Yangshuo
Yangshuo Sugar House
A 1960s sugar mill converted into a celebrated design hotel on the Li, the Yangshuo splurge for architecture lovers.
Banyan Tree Yangshuo
Full resort luxury in Zhuang inspired villas on the Li, with a large spa, pools and a kids club.
Misty Wonderland
Small design led Xingping property in deep quiet countryside, priced at the top boutique tier.
Yangshuo Mountain Retreat
Locally owned riverside retreat facing Moon Hill, with free bikes, warm staff and a no TV slow down ethos.
Yangshuo Moondance Boutique Resort
Boutique resort in Fenglou village with a pool and spacious grounds, well suited to families.
Yangshuo Mountain Nest
Well reviewed small boutique property in the Shili and Yulong villages, rated above town hotels at this price.
The Bamboo Leaf
Boutique village hotel with polished service and easy access back into Yangshuo town.
Green Lotus Hotel
Large five star town hotel on the river end of West Street, the best full service option in the centre.
Is Yangshuo expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥280 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥800 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥2,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Bamboo Rafting on the Yulong River: a few days ahead
- Xianggong Mountain: a few days ahead
- Impression Sanjie Liu: a few days ahead
- Ruyi Peak: a few days ahead
- Yangshuo Cooking School: a few days ahead
- Cloud 9 Cooking School: a few days ahead
- Hans's Cooking Class: a few days ahead
- Rock Climbing in Yangshuo: a few days ahead
- Book one or more days ahead: Yulong rafting, Impression Sanjie Liu, cooking classes, guided climbing and paragliding.
- Book paragliding for the first possible morning, not the last day, because flights are weather dependent.
- Book hotels before leaving home for Golden Week, Labour Day and Chinese New Year, or avoid those dates.
- No need to pre-book Moon Hill, Big Banyan Tree, Xingping town, bikes, Silver Cave or most restaurants.
Is Yangshuo safe?
- Yangshuo is a very safe small town. The main risks are overcharging, heat, river water, slippery limestone and scooters.
- Wear the scooter helmet, never swim when the river is brown or fast, and take summer climbs slowly with water.
- Give water buffalo and farm dogs a wide, calm berth on village lanes.
Yangshuo travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Beer fish is priced by weight. Choose the fish yourself, watch it weighed and agree the per jin price and total before cooking.
- A fair beer fish dinner for two runs roughly 200 to 300 yuan. If a tout is dragging you in, walk away.
- West Street bar prices are inflated. Prefer printed menus and confirm buy one get one and minimum spend terms first.
- Every raft, viewpoint and cave photo has a fee. Agree it before the shutter clicks or decline clearly.
- Skip ticket bundles, Butterfly Spring, the Moon Water Cave mud baths and the full Guilin to Yangshuo big boat cruise.
Getting around Yangshuo: public transport and more
- Yangshuo Station is near Xingping, about 45 minutes from Yangshuo town. Guilin airport is about 1.5 hours away.
- Walk in town. For the countryside use a hotel bike or rented e-scooter first, then DiDi, then local buses.
- Use Amap for navigation, not Google Maps, and download the area offline before setting off.
- Set up Alipay with a foreign card before arrival and carry 200 to 400 yuan in small cash for villages and ferries.
Who Yangshuo suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Yangshuo your trip
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