Yao Mountain (Yaoshan) - The Highest Mountain in Guilin Downtown

With a long history for more than 2,200 years, Yao Mountain, or called Yaoshan, got its name because of the Yao Emperor Temple on the top of the mountain, which was established in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 207 BC). As the highest mountain in Guilin city area, Yao Mountain has attracted innumerous visitors from the global to enjoy the broad view of the Karst landscape in Guilin City area. Another attraction of Yao Mountain is the grand tomb group of Jingjiang Princes at the foot of the mountain, where the largest and best-preserved tombs of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) princes can be found.

Recommended Hot Tours in Guilin:

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Highlights to Experience in Yao Mountain

There are lots of highlights in and around Yao Mountain that waiting for your experience. Before climbing up to the top of the mountain, you can pay a visit to the Mausoleums of Jingjiang Princes and explore more charming Chinese history. Once up the hill, you can take a deep breath of the fresh air and snap beautiful pictures of the marvelous karst landscape in front of you. After the visit, you can head to the tea plantation near the Yao Mountain and have a personal experience of picking up tea leaves…

Capture Amazing Panorama of Karst Landscape in Guilin City

The main peak of Yao Mountain is about 909.3 meters (2,983 feet) above the sea level, which is also the highest peak in the Guilin city area. Thanks to its advantaged height and the close distance from the Guilin downtown area, Yao Mountain has gradually become a hot tourist site to appreciate the panorama view of Karst Peaks inside Guilin city. Once arrive at the top, you will have a broad view of the seemingly never-ending Karst mountains and rivers that stretch for as far as your eyes can see. If you are photography enthusiasts, remember never miss this stunning spot to snap the Karst landscape in Guilin.

Visit the Grand Mausoleums of Jingjiang Princes

The Mausoleums of Jingjiang Princes is located at the foot of the Yao Mountain. It is a huge historic tomb group of the Jingjiang Family during the Ming Dynasty. More than 300 tombs can be found there, including the tombs for eleven princes of the Jingjiang Family, making this tomb group the largest and best-preserved group of tombs of the Ming Dynasty princes. At present, only the tomb for the third king and his consort has been opened to the public. When you visit the lavish tomb, you can encounter with various statues of animals and officials, and appreciate some valuable relics excavated from his tomb.

Enjoy Tea Performance at Tea Plantation near Yao Mountain

With a driving distance for about 3.5km from the entrance of Yao Mountain, there is a tea plantation operated by the most authoritative tea research base in Guangxi, where provides unique tea leaves picking, tea manufacturing and tasting experience. During this 1-1.5 hours' Chinese tea culture exploring journey there, the staff not only tell you the most professional skill of how to pick up and taste the tea, but also show you the detailed process of the tea making. Besides, there is also a special tea performance show prepared.

Warm tip: It is not the right season for the tea leaves growing from November to March of next year, thus you cannot pick up leaves at the tea plantation during this period of time, but you can enjoy tea performance and taste tea during the whole year.

Get to Yao Mountain from Guilin Downtown

Yaoshan can be reached from Guilin by taxis, public buses and also private cars. Taking a taxi and driving a private car are the top recommended ways, which only take for about 30 minutes. The price of the taxi charged is only about 30 RMB or so. You can also take bus 13 or 24 to Jingjiang Wangling (Mausoleums of Jingjiang Princes) Station, and walk north for about 15 minutes to Yao Mountain.

Get Around Yao Mountain - Cable Car and Slideway

To get to the top of the mountain, you can go hike or take the cable cars. The wild hiking from the foot of the mountain to the top is free and takes only about one hour or so. However, the direct hike along the rough stepped walking path on both sides of the chairlift is more recommended for the hiking enthusiast and adventurist. For most of the tourists to visit Yao Mountain, you are more suggested to take the cable cars, which take about 30 minutes and charge for about 40 RMB for a single way and 75 for a round trip (the price may be changed according to the practical situation, you can contact us for the real-time information).

To go downhill, you can take the cable cars and also the slideway according to your interest and physical power. The starting point of the slideway settled on the halfway of the mountain, so you have to go half way down the mountain to take the slideway. About 35 RMB per person is charged of the slideway.

1. To avoid attracting bees, you are not suggested to wear perfume.
2. Carefully check the weather forecast before planning your journey. Yao Mountain is usually surrounded with frogs, which may obstruct the panorama view of the karst peaks.
3. In order to avoid the long queen of the cable cars, you are not suggested to visit the Yao Mountain during the peak period of Chinese holidays like the National Day (10.1-10.7) and the Holiday of Labors Day (days around May 1st).
4. The Yao mountain scenic area opens at about 9:00 am in the morning and closes at about 4:00pm in the afternoon, hence you can't encounter with the sunrise and sunset there. If you are keen on a bird-view of the stretching karst peaks on the backpack of sunrise or sunset, you can climb up to another famous mountain named Xianggong Mountain to enjoy such a wonderful view, which is the most famous spot in Guilin to snap the Karst landscape of Guilin and is allowed to be visited at the early morning.