Guilin and Yangshuo in four days: Li River and Longji terraces

One night in Guilin, two in Yangshuo

Sleep in Guilin the first night so that the cruise piers are an early drive away, then move to Yangshuo for two nights. In Guilin, stay in the centre near Elephant Trunk Hill: the hill, the Binjiang Road food street and the city lakes of the night boat are a short walk away, and the coaches to the piers leave from central stops such as Guilin station. Yangshuo has two kinds of base. The town and its West Street suit you if you want restaurants and bicycle hire at the door; a guesthouse in the countryside along the Yulong River gives you rice fields from the window, but you will need a car or a bicycle for every meal and a hotel car after dark. The cruise ends at Yangshuo’s Longtoushan pier, so either base is a short ride from the landing.

Hotels register foreign guests with the police for you, but not every property can register foreigners, so if you choose a countryside guesthouse along the Yulong River, confirm before you book that it accepts foreign passports. Choose hotels whose front desk will book for you: the cruise, the bamboo raft and the Longji ticket are sold through Chinese apps, and the hotel can also arrange the night boat and the cars this plan uses.

The Li River cruise: which boat, which pier, how to buy

The scenic area’s main cruise is about 60 km and takes about four hours. It sails one way and you leave the boat at Yangshuo. The route passes the Nine Horse Fresco Hill, the reflections at Yellow Cloth Shoal and the landscape printed on the back of the 20-yuan note, with green hills on both banks. There are two grades. The three-star boats start at Mopanshan pier and have panoramic windows, Wi-Fi and a multilingual audio guide you start with a QR code. The four-star boats start from Zhujiang pier, have wider cabins and a two-level walking deck, and serve a Chinese and Western buffet or set meals. Your ticket names the boat grade, the sailing and the pier, so a four-star ticket is no use at Mopanshan.

The published standard adult fares, checked on 26 October 2026, are CNY 215 for the three-star ticket, made up of CNY 54 scenic-area admission and CNY 161 for the boat; a lunch is an optional CNY 30. The four-star ticket is CNY 360 on the latest published table (June 2024), made up of CNY 54 and CNY 306. These are standard adult totals; concessions apply to the scenic-area admission component, not automatically to the boat fare. Neither price includes the ride to the pier or the way back from Yangshuo. There is no left-luggage service, because the boat does not return, so take a day bag on board and book one car from your Yangshuo hotel to collect you in Guilin, drop you at the pier and drive your suitcases on to the hotel, at about CNY 300 a car.

Buy only through the scenic area’s official WeChat account, “漓江售票处” (Li River Ticket Office); the scenic area’s website sends buyers there. You pay inside WeChat with Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay), which takes a linked Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Discover or UnionPay card, though your bank can still decline it. Tickets are real-name: you give a valid personal document when you buy, and at boarding the ticket, the person and the document are checked against each other. If the account will not take your passport, your hotel can buy the tickets for you, or you can book the packaged cruise below. Sales open seven days before the sailing, and earlier before Golden Week and other national holidays; the account announces the date. The normal three-star sailings from Mopanshan are at 09:00, 09:30, 10:00 and 12:05, and the four-star sailings from Zhujiang at 08:50, 09:20, 09:50 and 10:20, though the times are adjusted with visitor numbers, and sales stop when the day’s capacity is reached.

Buy at least a day ahead: the scenic area says its capacity cannot meet demand on busy days, and some National Day dates have sold out. The pier sells almost no tickets on the day, only a few returned ones, and remaining tickets are updated on the account at 11:00 and 16:00 each day. Ignore roadside sellers of “inside” or “express” tickets. If your date is full, move it or take the short return boat from Xingping to Fishing Village, CNY 115 a person on the same 2024 table. Floods can suspend or change the cruise; keep your Guilin and Yangshuo bookings flexible enough to move the sailing and the transfer together. In a dry winter the trip can instead be a round trip from Yangdi; that does not take you to Yangshuo, so arrange the onward road transfer to your hotel.

Refunds carry a fee that depends on how long before the sailing you cancel: a collected paper ticket is refunded at the scenic area’s flagship shop or the pier refund counter until 10 minutes before sailing, and an uncollected online order under the terms shown when you buy. Install and set up WeChat before you travel (our payments and apps guide covers it), or take the packaged cruise below.

Guilin before the boat

Guilin’s limestone hills stand inside the city, so an afternoon and an evening are enough. Start at Elephant Trunk Hill, where the Taohua River meets the Li: the hill leans into the water like an elephant drinking, and the arch at the waterline, the Water Moon Cave, is famous as a place to watch the moon over the river. Entry has been free since 2022; you reserve your visit online under your real name beforehand. Seven Star Park holds Camel Hill, a rounded two-humped hill shaped like a resting camel, and Seven Star Cave, which China Daily’s Guilin guide pairs with Reed Flute Cave as the city’s two caves to see. Reed Flute Cave, about 5 km north-west of the centre, is about 500 metres long and lit to show its stalactites, stalagmites and stone pillars; the gate price is about CNY 90.

After dark, walk along Shanhu Lake. It is one of the four city lakes of the Two Rivers and Four Lakes, the waterway that links the Li and Taohua rivers with Ronghu and Shanhu in the south, Guihu in the east and Mulonghu in the north, and boats tour it by day and night. The Sun and Moon Pagodas rise from Shanhu Lake, and the Sun Pagoda is billed as the world’s tallest bronze pagoda. Finish with a bowl of local rice noodles and go to bed early: the first sailings leave at about 09:00.

Both piers are about 24 km by road south-east of central Guilin, based on the road route from Elephant Trunk Hill. The scenic area lists customised coaches from central stops, Guilin station among them, to Zhujiang and Mopanshan at 07:00, 07:20, 08:00, 08:30, 09:00 and 10:30, and city bus 9 to Zhujiang every 30 minutes from 07:00 to 08:30. The coaches call at several city stops; choose a departure that reaches the pier before your sailing’s boarding deadline. With suitcases, the car described above is simpler for two. Agree the hotel pickup and the pier arrival time with the transfer provider when you book.

Yangshuo: West Street, the Ten-Mile Gallery and the Yulong River

Yangshuo is a small county town ringed by steep karst peaks, and the cruise ends at its Longtoushan pier. West Street, the old main street, runs up from the Li River into the centre, lined with cafés, bars, restaurants and bicycle-hire shops, and it is where the evening is spent: walk it after dark, when it is at its busiest, and order beer fish, the town’s own dish, for dinner. The town is the base for the land around it, and that land is the reason to stay two nights.

Give the middle day to the countryside. The Ten-Mile Gallery is the road south of town, named for the karst peaks that line it. Ride it for about 7 km to Gongnong Bridge over the Yulong River, with Moon Hill, a peak pierced by a great round arch, 2 km further on and clear from the road. From the river, lanes lead upstream past villages, rice fields and old stone bridges; the Yulong is often called the little Li River. Hotels and guesthouses lend or hire bicycles, and set aside about CNY 50 a day for hire, a comparison with the area’s short local rides rather than a fixed tariff. Ride out in the morning, stop at a village for lunch and return the bicycles in the early afternoon.

Then take a taxi to Jima pier for the hand-poled raft to the Comprehensive pier beside Gongnong Bridge. The operator describes a 5.2-kilometre route over nine low weirs and lists CNY 320 a raft. Use the operator’s official booking channel and ask it how to book and check in with your passport before paying; have your hotel help with the Chinese interface if needed. The current release time and availability are shown in that channel. Two-person rafts have health, age and weight restrictions: the operator’s visitor rules prohibit pregnancy, age 70 and over, heart disease, coronary disease, hypertension, intoxication and limited mobility, and children under 1 metre. Children at least 1 metre tall must ride with an adult. A person over 100 kg must ride alone; a pair over 160 kg must split between rafts and pay per raft. Choose a riverside walk instead if the restrictions exclude you. Return to town by taxi from the landing.

Two stops suit a spare afternoon or a fifth day. Xingping, the river village near the lower end of the cruise, stands among karst peaks about 30 km by road from Yangshuo town. Coaches leave Yangshuo for Xingping every 15 minutes from 06:30 to 19:20, and bus 802 runs to Xingping pier from 07:30 to 17:40. The cruise has already shown you the view printed on the 20-yuan note, so come for the old lanes and the riverside walking, which are free. Xianggong Hill looks down on the bend known as the First Bend of the Li River and is a favourite of photographers at dawn. It is about 30 km by road from Yangshuo town and about 10 km from Xingping; arrange a taxi or hotel car if you want to be there for sunrise. It is not in the costs below.

Longji rice terraces: a long day

The terraces are the one stop that needs a full day. The park puts Longji 77 km from central Guilin, in three viewing areas: the Ping’an Zhuang terraces, the best known, with the Seven Stars and Moon viewpoint; the Jinkeng Dazhai Red Yao terraces; and the Longji Ancient Zhuang village, where timber houses stand on the slope. The terraces run from 380 to 1,180 metres above sea level. For a day trip, go to Ping’an, the first area opened to visitors. From the car park, stone-paved steps climb through the Zhuang village to its two viewpoints: Nine Dragons and Five Tigers at the top, where nine ridges and five low hills fan out below, and Seven Stars and Moon, where seven small mounds stand among the fields like stars around a crescent. The walk between the two takes about 40 minutes. Ping’an has two entrances, so tell the driver Ping’an village (平安寨), not the Ancient Zhuang village.

Entry is CNY 80 a person on the park’s price list, and one ticket covers every viewing area. Buy before the ticket check if you qualify for a concession: top-up tickets at the check do not receive discounts. Pay at the ticket office when you arrive, or ask your driver or hotel to book it online through Douyin, the Chinese video app the park sells through. Only the park’s shuttle buses, villagers’ minibuses and self-driven cars under seven seats may enter the villages, so with a hired car you change at the main gate to the shuttle bus up to Ping’an, CNY 40 a person return. The Jinkeng cable car, CNY 55 one way or CNY 100 return, is only needed if you choose Jinkeng instead. Go in early November to see the harvest, or in late spring for flooded terraces.

Leave Yangshuo early and give Longji the whole day. The park’s visitor guide puts the terraces about two hours from Guilin and about four from Yangshuo, whose road runs back through Guilin. A 06:30 start therefore puts you near Ping’an around late morning, before the shuttle and uphill walk. A private car with a driver for the day, from Yangshuo to the gate and on to Guilin with your luggage, costs about CNY 1,000 a car, an estimate against the Yulong River lodge’s published transfer rates; agree waiting time and the final station or airport when booking. For a same-day onward train, choose a late-evening departure and allow time at the station for security and passport checks. For a flight, a night in Guilin is the easier choice: the mountain road, shuttle and airport transfer leave little margin after a full visit. To see the terraces at first or last light, sleep in Ping’an village instead and drive down the next morning. Either extra night extends this four-day plan. A three-day version drops Longji.

Four days in order

Buy the cruise first, then fit the other days around the sailing you get.

• Day 1: Guilin. Arrive, see Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Cave, walk along Shanhu Lake to the Sun and Moon Pagodas after dark and sleep in Guilin.
• Day 2: the cruise. The car from your Yangshuo hotel collects you in central Guilin about an hour before your sailing, takes you the 24 km to Mopanshan or Zhujiang pier and drives your suitcases on; sail downstream with a day bag and reach Yangshuo in the early to mid-afternoon, depending on the sailing. Spend the evening on West Street.
• Day 3: Yangshuo countryside. Cycle the Ten-Mile Gallery and the Yulong River lanes in the morning, drift from Jima to Gongnong Bridge on a bamboo raft in the afternoon and stay a second night.
• Day 4: Longji and Guilin. Leave Yangshuo at about 06:30 by private car with your bags, change to the park shuttle at the gate, spend the late morning and early afternoon at Ping’an and return to Guilin for a late-evening train. For a flight or a slower visit, add a night in Guilin or Ping’an and travel on the next day.

Getting to Guilin and Yangshuo

Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) is about 28 km from the city, with airport buses, taxis and ride-hailing. The scenic area also lists a coach between the airport and Yangshuo, leaving towards Yangshuo every 30 minutes from 07:30 to 18:30. Yangshuo town is about 65 km by road from central Guilin, and Guilin’s south and north coach stations and Qintan coach station run frequent coaches to Yangshuo town. Guilin has three railway stations, Guilin, Guilin North and Guilin West, and Yangshuo has its own, so check the station name on your ticket. Our transport guide explains the 12306 app and passport ticketing.

For trains on Thursday 5 November 2026, 12306 listed these direct trains (checked 25 and 26 October 2026): | Leg | Direct trains | Journey time | Second class | | --- | ---: | --- | --- | | Chengdu East to Yangshuo | 2 | 6 h 30 min to 7 h 35 min | CNY 432 to 479 | | Chengdu East to Guilin West | 14 by day | 4 h 58 min to 7 h 30 min | CNY 405 to 538 | | Guilin West to Yangshuo | 7 | 20 to 24 min | CNY 25 to 29 | The two Chengdu trains to Yangshuo leave at 07:41 and 10:05; most other Chengdu trains end at Guilin West, as on our 14-day route. Guilin North had another 12 direct trains to Yangshuo that day, taking 22 to 25 minutes.

Yangshuo station stands near Xingping, about 40 km by road from Yangshuo town and West Street. With bags, a taxi or ride-hailing car from the station is the simple way in; the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat, a lodge on the Yulong River, charges CNY 180 a car for the 42 km from the station and CNY 300 a car from the airport. By bus, take the connecting bus from the station to Xingping pier, timed to the train arrivals out of season and leaving when full in busy periods, then the coach from Xingping to Yangshuo, which runs every 15 minutes from 06:30 to 19:20.

Guilin Liangjiang International Airport is one of the designated ports for the 240-hour visa-free transit rule, and Guilin, Yangshuo and Longsheng lie inside Guangxi’s permitted area. Our entry guide lists who can enter visa-free for up to 30 days and the full transit conditions.

Carry your original passport at all times; a printed copy is not accepted. German advice is to refrain from using VPN services. Plan on limited access to some overseas apps and keep offline maps and notes. Check your own government’s current travel advice before you book.

What four days in Guilin and Yangshuo cost

These figures are for two adults sharing one private double for three nights, one in Guilin and two in Yangshuo, on ordinary weekdays outside the national holidays, with prices checked on 25 October 2026. They cover rooms, three meals and drinks a day, the cruise, the raft and the gate fees on the day plan, the Longji car and shuttle bus, local rides, two SIMs and a 10% buffer. The cruise, terrace and shuttle prices are published fares; the raft uses the operator’s listed price. The rest are estimates, with food compared with the Shanghai restaurant prices in our China trip cost guide, rooms set against hotel and hotel-chain rates for late-November weekdays (about CNY 410 to 560 in central Guilin and CNY 280 to 900 in Yangshuo), the two cars against one Yulong River lodge’s car rates, Reed Flute Cave against the region’s paid attractions, the SIM against China Telecom’s regional CNY 125 visitor tariff, and the flights against published return fares.

A London return to Shanghai or Beijing costs about GBP 650 to 850 a person. The total with flights assumes you also fly between Shanghai and Guilin both ways, about CNY 1,000 each way (CNY 2,000 a person); with both, the four days come to about GBP 1,280 to 1,480 a person (GBP 2,560 to 2,960 for two). If you come by train from Chengdu instead, as on the 14-day route, the second-class fare in the table above, CNY 405 to 538, replaces the inbound flight. Conversions use the State Administration of Foreign Exchange central parity rate of 23 October 2026 (GBP 1 = CNY 8.9749); your bank or card will give a different rate.

• Rooms, about CNY 1,900 for two. One night at about CNY 500 in Guilin and two at about CNY 700 in Yangshuo, with no breakfast counted.
• Food, about CNY 1,440 for two. Using the Shanghai restaurant prices in our China trip cost guide as comparisons, about CNY 180 a person a day for four days: breakfast, lunch, dinner, water and snacks.
• Getting around, about CNY 1,620 for two. About CNY 300 a car from Guilin to the pier and on to Yangshuo with your bags, about CNY 1,000 a car for the Longji day from Yangshuo to the terraces and on to Guilin, CNY 80 for the Longji shuttle bus (CNY 40 a person), and about CNY 240 for the other rides: arrival in Guilin, the ride from the Yangshuo pier, bicycles, the taxis to and from the raft and local taxis.
• Sights and tours, about CNY 1,380 for two. Each person pays CNY 360 for the four-star cruise, CNY 80 for the terraces and about CNY 90 for Reed Flute Cave; Elephant Trunk Hill is free. The two-person bamboo raft from Jima to Gongnong Bridge is CNY 320. The three-star boat saves CNY 290 for two.
• SIM and extras, about CNY 300 for two. About CNY 150 a person for a roughly 15-day data SIM, estimated against China Telecom’s regional CNY 125 visitor tariff; local availability and your travel dates affect the offer.
• Buffer, about CNY 660. Ten per cent of the subtotal.