3 Days Best Guilin Tour

Glad to see you in Guilin, the capital of southern China’s Guangxi Province. Upon your arrival, your guide will transfer you to a hotel. Then you can have a rest here so as to be well prepared for the following Guilin visa-free tour.

The first destination today is Elephant Trunk Hill. Also known as Lishan Hill, it is located where Peach Flower River and Li River meet. When looked at from a distance, the hill resembles a giant elephant standing on the edge of the river, with its nose connected with Li River, hence its name. There is a cave called Water Moon Cave, which is set between the “elephant nose” and the “elephant leg”. Covering an area of about 150 square meters, it is 17 meters long, 9.5 meters wide and 12 meters high. According to scientific research, about 12,000 years ago, the rising of the earth’s crust and the decreased area of the Li River led to the formation of the cave. On the top of Elephant Trunk Hill stands Samantabhadra Tower, which is a solid brick tower built in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). When looking at the tower from afar, you will find it is like a sword handle inserted in the “elephant” back. As such, the tower is also dubbed as Sword Handle tower. 

After that, you will go to Reed Flute Cave. There used to be a kind of grass at the entrance to the cave.  Legend has it that the grass could be made as a flute, which could produce a pleasant sound. That is how the cave is named. There is a variety of engaging stalactites. One of the legends about Reed Flute Cave goes like this: In old times, there was a domineering emperor. On his birthday, he ordered villagers living around the Reed Flute Cave to pay a tribute to him. Afraid of the emperor’s rights, the villagers had to give all of their treasures to the emperor. Luckily, the fairy living in heaven knew the thing and she decided to help them as the villagers were so friendly and kind. Therefore, the fairy hid the treasures in Reed Flute Cave and turned them into stones so that the emperor could not find the treasures. And gradually, the stones became the stalactites in the cave.

Reed Flute Cave

Elephant Trunk Hill

This morning, let’s drive you southeast for about 40 minutes to Mopanshan Pier, about 24 kilometers away from the urban center in Guilin. When arriving at the pier, you are supposed to take a three-state Li River Cruise for about four hours to Yangshuo. On the cruise, you can not only have a lunch box but also appreciate the beauty of Li River. Endowed with the lucid river, the river is surrounded by majestic and green mountains. As the cruise moves, different scenery is available for you. Sometimes you will see mountains resembling a pattern of some animal, sometimes you can see a spray of water, and sometimes you can see buffaloes plowing the fields.

Upon your arrival in Yangshuo, you will go to Yangshuo West Street. With a length of nearly 800 meters long, the marble-paved street is S-shaped. Both sides of the street stand antique house with local characteristics, some of which has been 70 years old. At the same time, Yangshuo West Street is extremely international. The buildings such as bars, restaurants, cafes, calligraphy, and painting shops are a combination of Chinese and Western styles, each of them is equipped with a shop sign read by foreign language. Besides, almost all shopkeepers here can speak English, even old ladies who sell fruits on the street are fluent in English. So you can find it easy to be immersed in the culture of Yangshuo West Street. 

At night, you will spend your night time at Yangshuo hotel.

Optional evening activity

If you want to watch a local performance, the performance, Impression Liu Sanjie (19:45/22:20), is a good choice. As China's first large-scale landscape solid view performance, it is performed at the stage that is two kilometers away from Li River, with 12 peaks as its background. The whole performance has no continuous storyline, no accurate translation of lyrics, but it can best display Zhuang, Yao, Miao, Yao, and other ethnic minorities customs in Guangxi. After watching the performance, you can have a better understanding of minority cultures in China.

Li River Cruise

Yangshuo West Street

Today’s destination is Yulong River. With a total length of 43.5 kilometers and a basin area of 158.47 square Ukilometers, the river is encompassed by steep mountains in various forms. The water of the Yulong River is as clear as green jade, with various fishes swimming. When a breeze blows across the water, ripples will echo on the river. Besides, there are no so-called modern buildings and no urban hustle and bustle in the Yulong scenic area. So it is a good place to stay away from the noise of the city. It is on this river that you start your bamboo rafting trip. Starting from Jima Dock and ending in Gongnong Bridge, you will spend about 1.5 hours. Along the way, you can feel the coolness of the water and breeze, enjoy fresh air, and appreciate the beauty of nature.

After that, you will start a 3-hour biking trip. Starting from Yangshuo and ending in West Street, you will pass Jima, Jiuxian Village, Shuiedi Dock, and Gongnong Bridge. Along the way, mountains are overlapping, rivers are clear, and stone bridges are quaint. Most importantly, cement roads almost lead into all of your destinations. So you need not worry about road bumps. Besides, exuberant trees and beautiful wide flowers on both sides of the road will be in your sight. Sometimes, you can also see farmers using plows to prepare their fields for planting crops, which can give you a back-to-nature sense.

After enjoying lunch, you will be driven to the airport. Goodbye.

Warm tips:

1. Test the brakes and check the tires before you get on the bike. 

2. Take some drinking water and commonly used medicines. 

3. Apply sunscreen cream on a sunny day. 

Yulong River

Yulong River

Author: Xie Peng