How many days in Yangshuo?

The headline things to do in Yangshuo

From the Yangshuo guide — these are the items that anchor a 1-day visit. For the full breakdown, read the Yangshuo travel guide.

1. Li River Bamboo Raft Cruise (Yangdi to Xingping) — Yangdi pier, 30 min north of Yangshuo town

   The iconic 4-hour drift downstream past the karst peaks printed on the 20-yuan note. The classic stretch is Yangdi to Xingping, not the full 83-km Guilin–Yangshuo cruise — the lower section is where the spires get genuinely vertical and the water emerald-clear. Modern motorised "bamboo" rafts (PVC tubes painted to look like bamboo, holding 4–6 passengers) cost ¥150–220 per person; arrange via your guesthouse or at the Yangdi pier. Genuine wooden bamboo rafts are now rare and only operate the shorter Yulong River. Go in the morning — the karst is east-lit until 11:00 and the afternoon haze rolls in by 14:00. The 20-yuan note view is just downstream of Xingping; have someone hold up the banknote and frame the shot.

2. Yulong River Bamboo Raft — Yima village, 12 km west of Yangshuo town

   The quieter, slower, traditional alternative to the Li. The Yulong is a tributary west of Yangshuo town — narrow, shallow, no motorboats, and traversed by genuine 4-metre two-person bamboo rafts poled by a single boatman. The Yima to Gongnong Bridge stretch (2 hours, ¥180–280 per raft) drifts past 22 small weirs (which you bump over with a satisfying splash), water buffalo in the shallows, and karst peaks reflected in unbroken paddies. The water is shallow enough to walk in much of the year. This is the Yangshuo experience repeat visitors and locals actually choose.

3. Moon Hill (Yueliang Shan) — Gaotian, 9 km southwest of Yangshuo town

   A 230-metre karst peak with a near-perfect crescent-shaped natural arch hollowed through its summit — the result of millions of years of water erosion. The 800-step paved staircase to the arch takes 30–40 minutes up at a moderate pace; the arch itself frames a sweeping view back across the paddy fields, and the underside of the limestone overhang is the most famous sport-climbing wall in Asia (graded 5.10–5.13). ¥15 entry, open 7:00 to 18:00. 9 km southwest of Yangshuo town on the Big Banyan road; cycle, scooter, or take a ¥50 taxi. Pair with the Big Banyan Tree and the Assembling Dragon Cave for a solid half-day.

4. Xianggong Hill — Xingping, 25 km north of Yangshuo town

   The single most photographed sunrise and sunset viewpoint in the Li River valley — and the angle most often confused with the 20-yuan note. A 20-minute paved climb from a small car park leads to a wooden viewing platform looking down over an S-bend in the river framed by overlapping karst silhouettes. ¥60 entry, open 5:30 to 19:00 (early opening for sunrise). 25 km north of Yangshuo town near Xingping; almost every guesthouse runs a 4:30 a.m. sunrise minivan for ¥80–120 per person. In the misty months (March, October, November) the river layer below the peaks is genuinely sublime; in cloudless summer it is merely good.

5. Xingping Old Town — 25 km north of Yangshuo on the Li River

   A 1,400-year-old fishing village on the Li River — far more atmospheric than Yangshuo town itself. Stone-flagged lanes, a Ming-era market square, traditional Qing wooden shopfronts, and a working fishing-raft harbour where elderly fishermen still demonstrate the cormorant-fishing tradition for tourists at sunset (the birds catch the fish, the fishermen reclaim them via a throat ring). The 20-yuan note view is a 15-minute walk south along the riverbank. Stay overnight here rather than in Yangshuo town if you want quiet — several restored courtyard guesthouses (¥250–550 per night). Reachable by a 90-minute Li River ferry (¥45) or a 40-minute ¥80 taxi from Yangshuo.

6. Liu Sanjie Impression Show — Tianjia Riverside, 2 km from West Street

   Zhang Yimou's 2004 open-air light-and-water spectacular on a natural Li River stage — the same director who choreographed the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening. 600+ performers, most of them genuine local Li River fishermen, sing, raft, and parade across a 1.6-km stretch of river illuminated against twelve karst peaks as backdrop. 70 minutes, nightly at 19:30 and (in summer) a second 21:00 show, weather permitting. ¥190 nosebleed seats up to ¥680 VIP cushions; book through your guesthouse (English-friendly) or online via Trip.com. Cheesy in concept, breathtaking in execution; it remains the single most-attended live show in China after two decades.

7. Yulong Bridge and Ten-Mile Gallery Cycle — Yulong River valley, west of Yangshuo town

   The defining Yangshuo activity: rent a bicycle (¥30–50 per day), follow the paved Ten-Mile Gallery road southwest from town through paddy fields, karst peaks, and water-buffalo pastures, and loop back along the Yulong River past the 600-year-old Yulong Bridge — a Ming-dynasty single-span stone arch and the oldest bridge in the area. 25-km loop, 3–4 hours at a relaxed pace with stops at Moon Hill and the Big Banyan Tree. The route is gloriously flat. Avoid June–August midday heat; sunrise or late afternoon is ideal.

8. Big Banyan Tree (Da Rong Shu) — Gaotian, 7 km southwest of Yangshuo

   A 1,400-year-old banyan tree on the Jin Bao River, 7 km southwest of Yangshuo, with a trunk circumference of nearly 7 metres and a canopy spreading 100 metres across. The tree was a backdrop in the 1961 film Liu Sanjie — the legend of the singing fairy that gives the Zhang Yimou show its name and makes this site a domestic-tourist pilgrimage. ¥20 entry. Best paired with Moon Hill on a single half-day cycle or scooter loop. Domestic tour groups overrun it 10:00–14:00; arrive at 8:30 or after 16:00.

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