Guilin

Guilin is surrounded by the karst hills that appear on every Chinese painting: steep green peaks rising straight out of the ground. We arrived by high-speed train from Chengdu on 7 August 2025 and spent two days here: one in the city and one in the Longji rice terraces. On the third morning we took the Li River cruise to Yangshuo.

Where to Sleep?

We stayed at the Travel Light Hostel and paid €59.

Tip: Downtown Guilin is easy to explore by bike, the quickest way between the hills.

Day 1 - Guilin city

1. The hills

Four karst hills rise from the middle of the city: Folded Brocade Hill, Solitary Beauty Peak, Fubo Hill and Elephant Trunk Hill.

Elephant Trunk Hill is the symbol of Guilin, a hill that looks like an elephant drinking from the Li River. It has the Water Moon Cave, the Elephant's Eye and the Puxian Pagoda on top. Tickets were ¥70.

Fubo Hill rises 213 metres right on the bank of the Li River. At its foot are the Pearl-Returning Cave, the Thousand Buddha Cave and the Sword-Testing Rock. Tickets were ¥28, open from 6am to 6.30pm.

Folded Brocade Hill (Diecaishan) is just under a kilometre north of Fubo Hill, and the two make one scenic area. Climb to Bright Moon Peak for the best bird's-eye view of the city.

2. Reed Flute Cave

There are a lot of caves around Guilin, and Reed Flute is the most famous: a limestone cave full of stalactites and stalagmites lit up in every colour. Open from 9am to 5pm. Tickets were ¥90.

3. Zhengyang Pedestrian Street

A lively street full of shops, restaurants and street food.

4. Sun and Moon Pagodas

Two pagodas in the middle of Shan Lake, one gold and one silver. They are best at night, when they are lit up. Free, open from 8am to 10pm.

5. Xicheng Night Market

Guilin's largest night market, five minutes from the centre on Xicheng Pedestrian Street. Open from 8pm to midnight.

Day 2 - The Longji rice terraces

The Longji rice terraces, the Dragon's Backbone, climb the mountains for hundreds of metres, carved over centuries by the Zhuang and Yao people. The scenic area has several villages, but in one day you only have time for one of the two main areas: Ping'an, or Dazhai and Tiantouzhai. They are not connected to each other. We chose Dazhai and Tiantouzhai.

Dazhai and Tiantouzhai share the same entrance and have three high viewing platforms. Platform 1, West Hill Music, and Platform 2, the Thousand-Layer Terraces, are in Tiantouzhai and are both great for sunrise. Platform 3, Golden Buddha Peak, is the most popular because the Jinkeng cable car takes you there from the car park.

Hiking up to Platforms 1 and 2 and back takes four to five hours, so we took the cable car to Platform 3, which was ¥100 return or ¥55 one way. The entrance ticket to the terraces was ¥80.

How to get there

The terraces are about 90 minutes from Guilin. Take the bus from Qintan Coach Station to Longji Shuangdong, about 7 kilometres from the ticket office, and then a bus or taxi to the scenic area. After buying your entrance ticket, independent travellers have to take the local public bus to the villages: 18 kilometres to Ping'an or 24 kilometres to Dazhai and Tiantouzhai. It runs every hour and cost ¥40.

Tip: Keep your bus ticket. It is valid for several days and for the return trip. The last bus back from Dazhai leaves at 5.30pm.

If you choose Ping'an instead, it has two viewing platforms: Nine Dragons and Five Tigers, and Seven Stars Accompany the Moon.