5 Days Best Guilin In-depth Vacation (Li River, Yangshuo & Longji Terraces)

Day 1 Guilin Arrival

Pick up at Guilin - Elephant Trunk Hill - Reed Flute Cave

Welcome to Guilin, the most scenic city in China. Upon your arrival, be met by your local guide and escorted to your hotel in Guilin downtown.

You’ll start your Guilin tour after a break. Firstly make a visit to the symbol of Guilin landscape - Elephant Trunk Hill. A giant rock hill vividly shapes like an elephant which is drinking water. Besides, there are many historical sites here for you to explore, such as stone carving, Buddhist temple, relic exhibition, etc. Then, drive about 7 kilometers (about 20 minutes' drive) to the next attraction - Reed Flute Cave, a majestic underground palace with sparkling different colors. The magical Mother Nature condenses millions years of natural efforts to form the incredible stalactite, stalagmite, stone shield and stone waterfall of different sizes and shapes.

After the tour, be transferred to your hotel.

• Gerhard's group from Germany visited Elephant Trunk Hill in August, 2019
• Reed Flute Cave Crystal Palace, Taken by Delma from Ireland in July, 2021

Day 2 Guilin to Longsheng (B, L)

Huangluo Yao Village - Ping'an Village (Seven Stars with Moon, Nine Dragons & Five Tigers)

In this morning, you’ll be driven about 80km (about 1.5 hours) to witness one of the most beautiful rice terraces in China - Longji Rice Terrace, an amazing feat of farm engineering rising up to 1000m high in Longsheng County. There are several featured Zhuang and Yao minority villages along the road and you’ll take a visit to the special Huangluo Yao Village, the First Village of Long Hair in the World, where you can see women in red ethnic clothes with very long hairs (the longest can reach up to 1.7 meters).

Later, continue your drive to a beautiful 600-year-old Zhuang Village - Ping’an and check in your hotel located near the rice terraces. After some rest, start to explore the breathtaking views. The rice terrace is layer upon layer, like the changing ladder created by nature leading to the blue sky, forming a majestic painting between heaven and earth. From Ping’an, you can hike on the cobbled paths built among terraces to catch the best landscape. Climb up to the great lookouts at Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers from which you can get superlative views of terraces and villages. Hike half day around, then back to Ping’an for dinner and accommodation. 

Good to Know:

1. Best time to visit: Longji Rice Terrace can be visited all year round. Go mid-April to mid-June for mirror-like irrigated terrace and rice transplanting scene; go mid-June to mid-September for green terraces; go late September to early-October for golden and harvest scene.

2. Walking: When arriving at Ping’an Village, you can only be dropped at Ping’an Village Tourist Center parking lot that you need to walk about 900 steps to your hotel. Comfortable shoes are highly recommended!

3. Luggage carrying: For the aged or travelers who are lack of physical strength, you’d better hire a local porter to help carry your heavy luggage to the hotel (pay extra expense on your own).

4. Notice: The Viewing Platform of Seven Stars with Moon is under a reconstruction which means it is closed for travelers at present. The hiking route between Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers would do some adjustment during the construction. You won’t miss the amazing rice terraces scenery when visiting.

• Longji Rice Terrices in late September 2019, Taken by Our Customer Caryn from Australia
• Santos from Canada visited Longji Rice Terrices in late August, 2019
• Fay from India visited Huangluo Yao Village in April 202l

Day 3 Longsheng to Guilin (B, L)

Hiking from Ping'an via Zhongliu to Dazhai - Jinkeng Village

When walking up in the fresh air of peaceful morning, you may forget where you are. You can go to watch the magnificent sunrise over the beautiful rice terraces at a great location. Then get back to hotel for breakfast.

After breakfast, you’ll enjoy an in-depth hiking tour led by your guide from Ping’an to Zhongliu and Dazhai (located in Jinkeng Yao Rice Terraces). The walk from Ping’an to Zhongliu takes about 2 hours, as well as another 2 hours from Zhongliu to Dazhai. You’ll indulge in the most invigorating walk offering the most spine-tingling views - sparkling layers of waterlogged terraced fields tenaciously climbing the hillsides, bubbling stream, local farmers working in the fields and primitive minority villages…It is surely worth your time and effort! After the tour, transfer back to Guilin.

Please note:

1. Jinkeng Rice Terrace has three main sites - West Hill Music, Thousand-layer Terraces and Golden Buddha Peak and if you want to explore deeply, you can use cableway up to Golden Buddha Peak for the magnificent and panoramic view of the terrace. Please discuss with your guide based on the real situation.

• Claire from UK visited Longji Rice Terrices in October 2021.
• Gerhard from Germany visited Longji Rice Terrices in late August, 2019

Day 4 Guilin, Li River Cruise to Yangshuo (B, L)

Li River Cruise - Yangshuo Countryside View - West Street

As the declaration in Chinese textbook "Guilin’s landscape is the best under heaven", today you will explore this best landscape starting with a relaxing sightseeing cruise along the Li River from Mopanshan Pier to Yangshuo Town. Along the 84-kilometer cruise, dazzling scenery overwhelms your eyes like a vast endless Chinese painting of winding river, green limestone karst mountains, fascinating countryside views, amazing scene of A Painting of Nine Horses, and notable view printed on the back of the 20 RMB note. (Please note: Lunch is served by the cruise with simple local Chinese cuisine. And you can take some snacks when getting on board.)

After about 4 hours’ cruise, disembark in Yangshuo Town, and check in your hotel. Take a short break, and then throw yourself into the stunning countryside views and relaxed atmosphere. Be enthralled by the patches of paddy fields nestling under green hills and near the mirror-like river, with farmers cultivating the soil with their water buffalos.

After that, walk leisurely on the ancient West Street to witness how the western culture and Chinese culture perfectly and peacefully coexist here. Whether you want to enjoy a cup of drink in bar, taste some local food, or just experience the relaxing atmosphere, you get it here.

Optional afternoon activities:

1. Join the interesting Chinese Cooking Class (15:00-18:00) to learn about Chinese dishes and cook your special dinner with the help of English-speaking chef. 2. Discover more about Chinese culture by joining our calligraphy class / Taichi class.

Optional evening activity:

Watch the splendid evening performance of Impression Liu Sanjie with the Li River itself as the stage, which was directed by famous director - Zhang Yimou (usually performs for an hour between around 19:45 and 22:20).

• Pleasant Yangshuo Yulong River Countryside View
• Visit Yangshuo West Street at Night
• Li River Scenery, Taken by Our Customer Santos from Canada in September, 2018

Day 5 Yangshuo & Guilin Departure (B, L)

Yulong River Sightseeing & Outdoor Activities - Flight / Train off Guilin

This morning, after breakfast, start your impressive exploration of the best charming sightseeing and ideal countryside ease at Yulong River. Let all the refreshing scenes please your eyes and souls to the utmost. Just enjoy every moment to close up to the Karst hills dotted around, chatting stream, rippling mountain reflection, swaying floras, patches of vivid crops, old dwellings on the riverside, comfortable breeze, clear azure sky… There are diverse kinds of ways for your enjoyment of the fun and beauty, including biking, hiking, sightseeing bus, bamboo rafting and scooter. You can easily choose and combine your ideal way(s) and part of Yulong River. (Please tell your likes to your travel consultants before booking the tour, as the final prices will differ by activities you choose.).

Biking (some physically demanding & sightseeing by the river) - Ride to enjoy the river view, the real fields, the antique houses and hundreds-year-old stone bridge (route: Yangshuo - Jima - Jiuxian Village - Shuiedi Dock - Gongnong Bridge - West Street; for 3 hours). During the tour, pay a visit of a local family near Chaoyang to have a short break and see their living environment and farming tools of local peasants.

Bamboo Rafting (relaxing and interesting & sightseeing on the river) - have fun with the classic bamboo rafting (Route A: Shuiedi Dock - Gongnong Bridge for 40-50 minutes; Route B: Jima Dock - Gongnong Bridge for 1.5 hours) to see the more serene view like pieces of traditional Chinese landscape ink paintings.

Sightseeing Bus (most leisurable and comfortable & sightseeing on the road) - sit leisurely on the bus from Jima to Gongnong Bridge to appreciate the lovely countryside view (about 0.5 hour). You can get off and on anywhere on the middle way to explore more about your interested place.

After the visiting, be transferred to catch your flight / train to next destination. (Note: arrange your flight or train in late afternoon or early evening.)

Note: according to the regulations of Yulong River Tourism, children less than 1 meter high and elders over 70 years old are not allowed to take the bamboo rafting.

• Delma from Ireland visited Yulong River in July, 2021
• Delma from Ireland visited Yulong River, Yangshuo, Guilin in July, 2021