Guilin - Yangshuo 3 Days 2 Nights Tour

Guilin the bright pearl in China has one of the best sceneries in China. The popular Chinese saying "Guilin Shan Shui Jia Tian Xia (桂林山水甲天下)" meaning Guilin’s mountain and water scenery is the best under heaven. Though famous for its beautiful karst mountain, Guilin also has numerous caves to explore. The more well known ones are Reed Flute Cave, Seven Star Cave, ChuanShan Cave and etc.

Chuanshan Park (Tunnel Hill Park) is located on the southern suburbs of Guilin City, just a 10 minutes’ drive from Guilin Railway Station. It is regarded as one of the beautiful parks in Guilin. Chuanshan Hill (also called Tunnel Hill) which centers in the park faces the Elephant Trunk Hill across the Li River.

Pogoda Hill as shown in the photo above is another small hill between Chuanshan Hill and the Elephant Trunk Hill. It was known that Pogoda Hill was connected to Chuanshan Hill hundred of years ago but due to crustal movement, it became an individual hill. The pogoda on top was made of mainly bricks stands at 13.3m. During autumn when maple leaves fall, the view of the pogoda in the park becomes a beautiful scenery which was recorded in the Guniness World Record.

There are actually 2 caves in Chuanshan Hill which are Chuanshan cave and Moon cave. To get over to the Chuanshan cave, people need to climb to the hill side to cross over. Above is the entrance to get the tickets to enter the cave.

The Chuanshan cave was formed some 34,000 years ago with a total length of 1531m. Inside the cave, you can find numerous stalactites and stalagmites of interesting shapes and sizes. I would advise you bring along a jacket since I found it a little chilling inside the cave.

The cave was discovered and developed from 1977. It is cooling inside with a little moisture often found on the stones. The place decorated with various color of neon lighting to enhance the beauty of the place. It will let your imagination run wild with those mixture of lights shining on those uniquely formed stones. I was quite amazed by the effects of the colorful lights on the stones which really enhance their looks.

The main cave is 348m long and wide ranges from 3 to 5m. The highest and widest part of the cave is about 30m. Many of these stalactites and stalagmites are given interesting names. The highlights of the cave is the 'Stone Shield' which was formed 200,000 years ago and has been inscribed on the Guinness World Records. It is amazing to see four pieces of 'shields' are naturally formed on the same stalactite.

Due to its beautiful scenery, one part of the popular Chinese classic 80s TV series, Journey to the West was filmed here. That part of the scene with Sun Wukong, the monkey King was shown at the cave. The fee to visit the Chuanshan Hill costs about 65RMB which includes entrance to Chuanshan cave and can be bought separately.

Elephant Trunk Hill also known as Elephant Hill is the emblem of Guilin. It is located at the South Central area of Guilin where Li River and Peach Blossom River merged. It got its name as it looks like a huge elephant stretching its trunk and drinking water. I will probably recommend to take a boat ride to enjoy a better view on it.

Being one of the world's "Top 10 Watery Wonders", Li River cruise is very popular with tourists as this mother river of Guilin has the best picturesque scenery in China.

Notice that the reverse side of the new 20 RMB note is a view of a fisherman on his bamboo raft floating down the Li River through the spectacular Karst mountains of Guilin. Most local people will be able to tell you where that scenic point is. It is somewhere between Xingping and Yucun (Fishing Village)which is the highlight of the Li River cruise. When you are on the Li River cruise, you can see the beautiful landscape of the 20 RMB note shows up when the river takes a big turn at Xingping.

Situated 65km south of Guilin lies Yangshuo county. As saying goes,"Guilin is the most beautiful city of natural scenery in the world, but next to Yangshuo". A very popular tourist attraction which draws a large number of Chinese as well as foreigners for its karst peaks, caves, river and also for its laid back cafes and bars.

Yangshuo is fairly a large tourist town which is unique at its own. It is a clean city free of air and noise pollution and has a temperate climate all year round. It consists of the most typical karst topography with hills of various shapes and sizes standing almost everywhere within the county. Some look like a human or an animal, some look like an object. Above photo is Ingot Hill as the name implied, it looks like an ingot.

West Street is the oldest street in Yangshuo with a history of 1400 years. Since 1980s, this street which is situated in the heart of Yangshuo has contained mixtures of the of eastern and western cultures and becomes the biggest language center in China. You will be amazed by the various shops which sell items from fashions, apparels, paintings, calligraphy, embroidered silk clothes, souvenirs and many others etc. You may also find several cafes and bars which draws the crowds at night when these bars turns the night heaty by live performance of local artists with music and dances.

West Street also has the best variety of food in the region. You can find comfort food like pizza, beef steaks, french fries, ice-cream sundaes which are uncommon in other parts of China. For local delicacy, definitely you cannot miss the beered fish which is made from freshly catch by the Li River. It's unique taste with beer will surely stimulate your taste bud. Picture shown above was beered fish served in the famous Da-Shifu (Master chef) restaurant which is well-known to have the best original taste.

Street vendor in West Street selling local delicacies like spicy little lobsters and stone snails will be a good snack if you like something spicy but not too hot.

BBQ cuttlefish is also very popular with the locals. They love it to be spicy. There is so much variety of food in West street that surely you would not feel bored.

Yangshuo is very well known among travellers in Southern China and is a must stop destination for many tourists. Some of the main reasons that people stop in the town is to explore the local countryside by bike, to do rock climbing or enjoy the scenery via bamboo raft.

Yulong River, the main river in Yangshuo county which is also the major tributary of Li River is about 16km long, 38 to 61m wide and 0.5 to 2m deep. I truly had an enjoyable experience on Bamboo rafting while admiring the works of the nature's wonder.

The beauty of Yangshuo's scenery is a common subject of Chinese paintings as well as the inspiration for poetry since olden days. Both sides of the Yulong River lies the remarkable hills and peaks which stretches for miles with various shapes. The riverbank is green with grass, lush bamboo and trees. The water is jade green, clean and bright.

Catch from the Li River eg. longevity fish becomes a local delicacy which you can find along the riverbanks or near some of the tourist's attractions.

The ‘Impression of Sanjie Liu' are produced based on the 1961 film 'Sanjie Liu' which made the Li River famous. These impressions are derived from the daily life of the folks living around the Li River rather than following the story line from the film. From the impressions, you will understand the background of Sanjie's birthplace and the beauty of the folk songs' hometown. There is a night show at 8.00pm daily which stages a virtual scenery performance with local musical theme.

The Big Banyan Tree is one of the main attractions of Yangshuo. Located some 7.5km south of Yangshuo, it was originally planted during the Jin Dynasty and estimated to be 1,400 years old. The tree itself is about 17m high and 7m wide with healthy leaves that provide thick shades.

Moon Hill is so named for a wide semi-circular hole passing through below the summit of a great limestone peak. It is located near Fenglou village in Gaotian town. Stands at 380m high, it is a spectacular sight of primitive elegance. To climb up to the arch (about 800 steps), it will take approximately 20 minutes. Note that a small entrance fee is required to climb the hill.

Fuli is one of the few well preserved ancient town on the east bank of Li River located about 8km east of Yangshuo between the road of Yangshuo and Xingping Town. Catch a glimpse of authentic ancient China and see the simple life of the local people of this small ancient town of about 800 years old.

Towards the end of the town, it leads you to the river where you can find glorious view of the karst hills with the Li River.

Fuli is also well known for its arts in colorful paintings and paper fans. Here probably you can get the best price of getting a painted paper fan in China. Majority of the locals are involved in this ancient craft of making the paper fans. The paper fans here are usually decorated with Guilin's landscapes, birds and flowers etc. Bill Clinton, the former US President visited Fuli during his China trip in 1988 and he called these paper fans, 'natural air-conditioners' made Fuli Town become famous.

Assembling Dragon Cave is one cave that is worthed a visit. It is located 6km south of Yangshuo between the Big Banyan Tree and the Moon Hill. It got its name because of the grotesque peaks outside the cave shapes like the dragons in the cloud.

Apart from the beautiful formations of stalactites and stalagmites, there are pavilions, terraces, and towers built in style of local minorities' architectures. Entrance fee is about 45RMB and required about 1 hour for the tour.

Xingping the most beautiful ancient town which has grown from a small fishing village has many histories and buildings related back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. On normal days, its local market is busy with local from nearby villages who come to buy and sell their products.

Xingping ancient street is an one kilometer stone street lined with many old brick buildings. Guided halls can be seen along the ancient street with many other well preserved architectures. It is 25km away from Yangshuo county and there are frequent bus services from Yangshuo to Xingping ancient town daily.

The most scenic stretch of the Li River starts from Xingping. A 30 minutes walk out from Xingping town by a nice road, you will reach the dock area which links you to a small road along the river. A little farther up, you can actually see the famous scenic spot of the 20RMB background.

Lotus cave is located about 3km northeast of Xingping town. Its karst cave landscape is highly remarkable by people around the world. Apart from those stalactites, what made this cave famous are the 108 stone plates which floats on the water. They look like lotus blossoms and similar in shapes and colors. This famous sight is called the 'The Lotus Petals Suspended Upside Down'.

The breath taking sceneries from Guilin to Yangshuo with the natural beauty of the karst landscapes along Li River, it is definitely one of the most popular tourist's attraction in China. The above were just some of the attractions that I went for a 3 days 2 nights tour in Guilin and Yangshuo. There are many other places at the region which may be worthed visiting too eg. Yangdi village town, Butterfly Spring Park, Longji Rice Terraces and etc. Due to its peaceful cultures and beautiful scenery, it will be worthed visiting a 2nd or 3rd time.