Guilin🇨🇳

The signature Guilin experience — 4-5 hours downstream by motor cruise from Mopanshan or Zhujiang piers (45 min taxi from Guilin city centre) to Yangshuo, passing the most photographed karst landscape on earth. Standard tourist boats hold 60-80 people with onboard buffet lunch; private bamboo rafts operate the shorter Yangdi-Xingping section (the most scenic 18 km). Cruise tickets ~270-450 RMB depending on boat class. Book through your hotel; independent purchase is difficult.

The viewpoint overlooking the Li River U-bend that appears on China's 20-yuan banknote — a 20-minute climb from the road. Best at sunrise (5:30-7 am summer; 7-8 am winter) when the karst peaks emerge from morning mist over the river. From Yangshuo, take a 30-min taxi to the hill base. Entry 60 RMB. The most photographed view in the Guilin region.

The 800-year-old pedestrian street through Yangshuo old town — once a quiet traders' route, now a 1.5 km strip of bars, hostels, restaurants, climbing gear shops, and souvenir vendors. Almost cartoonishly tourist-oriented, but the karst peaks visible at every street end remind you this is still rural China. Best at night when neon signs reflect off the wet cobblestones.

A 240 m long limestone cave 5 km northwest of Guilin, illuminated since the 1960s with extravagant multicoloured lighting that turns the formations into a fantasy landscape. Discovered 1,200 years ago and used as a Tang dynasty calligraphy gallery (preserved inscriptions on the walls); served as a WWII air-raid shelter. Entry 120 RMB. Allow 1.5 hours including the walk. Ignore the somewhat kitsch lighting and appreciate the cave itself.

The symbol of Guilin city — a karst hill on the Li River that resembles an elephant lowering its trunk to drink. The arched cave at water level (Water Moon Cave) frames the river view through the "trunk". Pleasant 2-hour visit; entry 70 RMB. Combine with a stroll along the riverside Binjiang Park.

The 700-year-old Yao and Zhuang minority rice terraces 90 km northwest of Guilin — sculpted into the mountainsides at gradients of up to 50 degrees. Most spectacular in May (when terraces are flooded for planting and reflect sky), September (golden ripe rice), and after winter snow. Two main villages: Ping'an (more accessible, more touristy) and Dazhai (longer hike, more authentic). Entry 80 RMB; allow a full day or overnight.

The smaller, quieter Yulong River (a tributary of the Li) is best experienced by bamboo raft — 2-3 hour float from Yima Bridge or Jin Long Bridge through karst countryside, with periodic small weirs that create gentle drops. Less spectacular than the Li River main scenery but far more peaceful and authentic. ~150-250 RMB per raft (2 people).

A karst hill with a natural arch — moon-shaped — that is one of the iconic Yangshuo silhouettes. 30-minute climb to the arch viewpoint; the rock-climbing routes through the arch itself are world-renowned among climbers. Entry 15 RMB. Best at sunset; 8 km bike ride from Yangshuo town through rice paddies and karst scenery.

Yangshuo Cooking School (long-established, in nearby Chaolong village) and several others offer half-day Chinese cookery courses including a market visit, pig brain (optional), and 4-5 dish preparation. Around 200-350 RMB per person. The classes are excellent — Guilin/Yangshuo cuisine combines southern Chinese subtlety with Yunnan-influenced spice and is rarely well-represented outside the region.

The 1,300-year-old Li River fishing technique — fishermen on bamboo rafts using trained diving birds (great cormorants, neck rings preventing the birds swallowing larger fish) — is now mostly a performance for tourists. Evening shows on the Li River near Yangshuo (held on bamboo rafts under torchlight) are visually striking and the older fishermen are the genuine practitioners. ~80-150 RMB per person.

A spectacular outdoor evening show choreographed by film director Zhang Yimou (of Beijing Olympics opening ceremony fame) — 600+ performers on bamboo rafts on a karst-amphitheatre stage at the Li River. The legend of Liu Sanjie (Third Sister Liu) told through dance, song, lighting, and the actual karst peaks as backdrop. Tickets 220-680 RMB depending on seat. Most evenings; book in advance.

A small karst hill in central Guilin on the Li River, with a small Tang-dynasty cave temple (Pearl-Returning Cave), Buddhist rock carvings dating to the 9th century, and a panoramic view of the city from the summit. Less crowded than Elephant Trunk Hill and more historically rich. Entry 30 RMB; allow 1.5 hours.