Guilin and Yangshuo are the best-known part of China's limestone karst country: rows of steep green peaks, a clear river, bamboo rafts and cycling lanes through rice fields. Guilin is the upstream city with the airport and main stations; Yangshuo is a small town at the downstream end of the Li River cruise; and the Longji rice terraces lie to the north. Give the area 3 to 4 days. Entry rules, payments, blocked apps and train booking are on the China hub. Where we could not verify something against an official page, such as cruise ticket prices and direct flights, we say so in the relevant section. Everything was checked on 16 and 17 October 2026.
Who Guilin and Yangshuo suit
They suit people who like scenery and photography, who are happy to walk or cycle slowly through villages, and who would like to see the peaks from a boat without much walking, which makes the cruise a good choice for parents. Wikivoyage describes Guilin as the base for the surrounding limestone countryside, including the Longsheng terraces, the Li River and Yangshuo, a small riverside county at the downstream end. If you want malls and big-city nightlife, Guilin may feel quieter than you expect.
The region in words
- Guilin city is upstream. Elephant Trunk Hill stands where the Li River meets the Taohua River. The railway station and airport are in the south and the cruise piers are less than 30 km from downtown, according to the official Li River site.
- Yangshuo (the small town) is where the cruise ends. West Street (西街) is the main tourist street, per Wikivoyage, and a base for hiring bicycles and reaching the rafts.
- Xingping is further up the river from Yangshuo, on the stretch pictured on the CNY 20 note.
- The Yulong River and Yangshuo countryside are flat rice country that you can cycle or raft through, with Moon Hill to the south.
- Longsheng is north of Guilin and is home to the Longji rice terraces, about 2 hours by road from the city, per Wikivoyage.
The main things to do
The Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. This is the core trip. The official Li River site says the route is about 61 km, starting at Mopanshan (also called Zhujiang) passenger terminal, less than 30 km from downtown Guilin, and ending at Longtoushan pier (Shuidongmen) in Yangshuo. There are 3-star, 4-star and 5-star boats. China Highlights, a tour company, says over 90% of visitors choose the cruise and that it takes about 4 hours on the water. Our Li River cruise page covers boats, tickets and the details we checked.
West Street, Yangshuo. The main tourist street, with restaurants, bicycle rental and places to stay. It is good for an evening walk after the boat or raft. We did not check shop hours or prices on this street.
Bamboo rafts and cycling on the Yulong River. Wikivoyage says the Yulong is compared to the Yangdi to Xingping stretch of the Li River for beauty. Besides rafting, it is popular to cycle riverside lanes through villages and past stone bridges, but Wikivoyage warns that routes are confusing and you can get lost, so use a local guide if you are not confident. It gives bicycle hire at about CNY 20 to 50 (unofficial and possibly out of date) and warns about bag-snatching from bicycle baskets, so use a basket that closes.
Longji rice terraces. Terraced fields on the hillsides of Longsheng county. Wikivoyage divides them into Ping'an (a Zhuang village) and Jinkeng with Dazhai (a Yao village). The trip from Guilin is long, so we give fees, hours and routes on a separate Longji page.
Reed Flute Cave. A lit limestone cave about 5 km from central Guilin, per Visit Guilin (a tour operator's promotion site). Fees and hours are inconsistent between sources, so see the Reed Flute Cave page.
Elephant Trunk Hill. The symbol of Guilin, where the Li and Taohua rivers meet in the city. Visit Guilin says the hill is 55 m above river level and has Water Moon Cave. It takes little time and is walkable from the centre. Travel China Guide has a dedicated page for it.
Moon Hill and the evening show. Moon Hill is a limestone peak with a large arch, south of Yangshuo. Wikivoyage gives an entry fee of CNY 15 and marks it temporarily closed as of May 2025. A guesthouse opposite the entrance (Yangshuo Village Inn) writes on its own site that it charges CNY 14 per person. The two figures disagree, so check at the gate. For the riverside outdoor show, Wikivoyage says it runs every evening from 20:00 to 21:10, which matches the same guesthouse's description of a 70-minute show.
Cormorant fishing. Wikivoyage says local companies run evening boats to watch fishermen using cormorants. We did not check operators or prices and do not recommend any.
Getting to Guilin
We do not confirm direct international flights. The Guilin airport website opens, but its flight schedule loads through scripts we could not read, and we could not reach international flight data from an official source on the check day. Wikivoyage says Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) has daily flights from major mainland cities and from some East and South-East Asian cities, and mentions AirAsia flights from Kuala Lumpur every other day. Check your airline or a booking app for your actual dates.
The common route without a direct flight is to connect inside China, or to enter through Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Hong Kong and take the high-speed train. Wikivoyage gives about 3.5 hours from Hong Kong West Kowloon and about 3 hours from Shenzhen. Check real timetables and prices on 12306, which the China hub explains how to use.
From the airport and the stations into town
The official Li River site says the airport is about 28 km from the city centre and that you can take an airport bus, taxi or ride-hailing car into town. The airport's own site says there are intercity buses from the airport on seven routes, including Yangshuo.
| Item | What we found | Check status |
|---|---|---|
| Airport to downtown | About 28 km | Official Li River site, 17 Oct 2026 |
| Airport bus to Yangshuo | There is a route listed on the airport site (Chinese page) | Fares and times are not on that page |
| Airport bus into town | CNY 20, and CNY 50 to Yangshuo, as of December 2024 | Wikivoyage, unofficial |
| Guilin to Yangshuo by bus | CNY 18 (minibus outside the railway station) or CNY 18 to 22 (express from the bus station), about 1.5 hours | Wikivoyage; its two pages give different express fares (18 and 22) and warn that minibuses wait until full |
| Yangshuo railway station | In Xingping, about 36 km from Yangshuo town, with a shuttle to town | Wikivoyage, unofficial |
If you arrive at a Guilin station, the official site names Guilin, Guilin North, Guilin West and Yangshuo as the railway stations in the area. Check which one is on your ticket, because the north and west stations are far from the centre, as Wikivoyage warns.
Seasons and weather
Wikivoyage gives these monthly averages for Guilin (degrees Celsius, low/high, and rain in millimetres).
| Month | Low / high | Rain (mm) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 6 / 12 | 69 |
| February | 8 / 14 | 84 |
| March | 11 / 18 | 153 |
| April | 17 / 24 | 227 |
| May | 21 / 28 | 321 |
| June | 24 / 31 | 449 |
| July | 25 / 33 | 266 |
| August | 25 / 33 | 148 |
| September | 23 / 31 | 81 |
| October | 18 / 26 | 55 |
| November | 13 / 21 | 82 |
| December | 8 / 15 | 54 |
Reading the table, May and June are the wettest, while September and October have little rain and comfortable temperatures (our reading). The Grand Link Hotel writes on its own site that spring and autumn are best, summer is hot and humid, and the water is low in winter. Wikivoyage's Yangshuo page adds that in the dry season some cruises start part-way and continue by road, so ask the seller where your boat leaves from. Travel China Guide says the rainy season runs from April to August and that heavy rain can muddy the river and halt bamboo rafts. It names April to May and September to November as the best windows, and calls late September to mid-October the clearest water and the golden harvest at Longji. Those are unofficial views that fit the rain table above. The Longji page has details on the rice seasons.
How many days, and where to start
Our suggestion (not official): spend the first day in Guilin around Elephant Trunk Hill and the Two Rivers and Four Lakes area; on the second day take the cruise to Yangshuo and sleep there; on the third day cycle or raft on the Yulong River; and if you want Longji, add a fourth day with enough time to get back to Guilin. Do not squeeze every stop into one day, because distances between the counties are longer than they look on a map.
Where to stay
We checked 8 hotels against their own sites, spread across central Guilin, the Li River bank, Xingping, Fuli, the Yulong River and a village near Moon Hill, with an area comparison. See where to stay in Guilin and Yangshuo. We have not checked hotels on West Street or in Longji, so we name none.
Combine with other places in China
For other big stops, the English guides to Chengdu, Chongqing and Zhangjiajie cover the main sights and booking rules. For a route that continues to the south-west, see our Yunnan guide.
Hand-picked places to stay
Examples of established Guilin hotels, spread across areas and budget bands. Every fact below was checked against the hotel's own website or a reputable source on 2026-10-16 and links to that source. We have not stayed at these places and give no ratings; we show no prices because rates change daily. The band is the property class (hostel or guesthouse, mid-range, upscale), not a live price.
| Hotel | Area | Band | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercure Guilin Hi Tech Zone | Guilin urban area (Hi Tech Zone) | Mid-range | It suits travellers who want a mid-range chain hotel in the urban area of Guilin with a short drive to the railway station. |
| Mercure Guilin Yangshuo Xingping | Xingping Ancient Town, Yangshuo | Mid-range | It suits travellers who want to stay near the Xingping stretch of the Li River and the Yangshuo high-speed rail station. |
| Banyan Tree Yangshuo | Fuli Town, Yangshuo countryside | Upscale | It suits travellers who want a resort-style stay in the Fuli countryside rather than in Yangshuo town. |
| Shangri-La Guilin | Li River bank, Guilin | Upscale | It suits families and travellers who want a large riverside resort in Guilin with children's facilities. |
| Yangshuo Mountain Retreat | Yulong River (Ten Mile Gallery), Yangshuo | Mid-range | It suits travellers who want a quiet riverside base on the Yulong River for walking, cycling and rafting. |
| Yangshuo Village Inn | Moon Hill Village, Yangshuo | Budget | It suits budget-minded travellers who want a village guesthouse near Moon Hill with Yangshuo town 15 minutes away. |
| LiCLOUDS Hotel (Two Rivers and Four Lakes, Xiangshan Park) | Zhongshan Middle Road, Xiangshan District, Guilin centre | Mid-range | It suits travellers who want to walk to Elephant Trunk Hill, the lakes and the city centre, and families who want pools. |
| Grand Link Hotel Guilin | Chuanshan Road, riverside Guilin | Upscale | It suits travellers who want a large garden hotel on the Li River bank facing Elephant Trunk Hill. |
Mercure Guilin Hi Tech Zone
- The page says the hotel is in the core area of Guilin, 5 minutes' walk to a shopping mall and 10 minutes by car to Guilin Railway Station. [Source]
- The page lists a restaurant, a leisure area, a meeting room, a 24-hour gym and laundry. [Source]
- The all-day restaurant serves a breakfast buffet. [Source]
- The lobby lounge text says complimentary high-speed WiFi is available. [Source]
- The address is 9 Huan Cheng Yi Lu, Guilin 541004. [Source]
Suits: It suits travellers who want a mid-range chain hotel in the urban area of Guilin with a short drive to the railway station.
Keep in mind: The page gives a walk time only to a shopping mall and a drive time to the station; it gives no walking time to Elephant Trunk Hill or the lakes, so check the map.
Official site Check rates on Booking.com Checked 2026-10-16
Mercure Guilin Yangshuo Xingping
- The page says the hotel is in Xingping Ancient Town, a 15-minute drive to Yangshuo Railway Station. [Source]
- It lists 83 guest rooms, a buffet restaurant, a lobby bar, a 24-hour fitness center and a laundry room. [Source]
- The restaurant serves a buffet breakfast. [Source]
- The lobby bar text says it offers free high-speed WiFi. [Source]
- The address is No 12 Rongtan street, Xingping Town, Yangshuo. [Source]
Suits: It suits travellers who want to stay near the Xingping stretch of the Li River and the Yangshuo high-speed rail station.
Keep in mind: Xingping is not Yangshuo town; the page gives no distance to West Street, so allow transport time for evenings in town.
Official site Check rates on Booking.com Checked 2026-10-16
Banyan Tree Yangshuo
- The page counts 141 villas and suites with views of the mountain range and the Li River. [Source]
- It lists a swimming pool overlooking the Li River. [Source]
- The hotel notice says the heated outdoor pool is open seasonally. [Source]
- The address is 168 Zhendong Street, Fuli Town. [Source]
- The notice says pets are allowed in designated villa rooms. [Source]
Suits: It suits travellers who want a resort-style stay in the Fuli countryside rather than in Yangshuo town.
Keep in mind: The page does not give distance to Yangshuo town or the railway station, and the hotel notice says guests must match booking details with names and IDs, so read the notice before booking.
Official site Check rates on Booking.com Checked 2026-10-16
Shangri-La Guilin
- The home page lists 439 rooms including terrace mountain-view and family rooms. [Source]
- The page describes a 300 square metre indoor heated swimming pool. [Source]
- The page says it is not only a hotel but also a mini amusement park, mini zoo and mini botanical garden. [Source]
- The page says the hotel is on the bank of the Li River. [Source]
- The home page gives about 45 minutes by car from the airport. [Source]
Suits: It suits families and travellers who want a large riverside resort in Guilin with children's facilities.
Keep in mind: The home page says about 45 minutes from the airport while the About page says about 40 minutes (and 20 minutes from the railway station), so treat both as approximate.
Official site Check rates on Booking.com Checked 2026-10-16
Yangshuo Mountain Retreat
- The page says the hotel has been on the Yulong River since 2001. [Source]
- The page says guestrooms have no telephone, no TV and locally made furniture. [Source]
- The page describes a 5 km walking path from the hotel up the river to Chaolong Village and the bamboo raft jetty. [Source]
- The page says the hotel has its own bamboo raft landing. [Source]
- The sister hotel's page gives 32 rooms. [Source]
Suits: It suits travellers who want a quiet riverside base on the Yulong River for walking, cycling and rafting.
Keep in mind: The page does not give a distance or transport time to Yangshuo town, and guestrooms are described as simple with no TV or telephone.
Official site Check rates on Booking.com Checked 2026-10-16
Yangshuo Village Inn
- The page says it is in the heart of Moon Hill Village, 15 minutes from Yangshuo town. [Source]
- The page says it is a family-run guesthouse. [Source]
- The page says rooms are in a restored mud-brick farmhouse. [Source]
- The page says breakfast is taken in a pomelo grove and Moon Hill Scenic Area is just across the road. [Source]
- The page says the Moon Hill park ticket office charges RMB 14 per person, good for the day. [Source]
Suits: It suits budget-minded travellers who want a village guesthouse near Moon Hill with Yangshuo town 15 minutes away.
Keep in mind: The RMB 14 Moon Hill ticket quoted on the hotel page is the hotel's own statement; Wikivoyage gives 15 yuan and a closure in May 2025, so check the park status.
Official site Check rates on Booking.com Checked 2026-10-16
LiCLOUDS Hotel (Two Rivers and Four Lakes, Xiangshan Park)
- The page says it is in the heart of Guilin at No. 2 Zhongshan Middle Road. [Source]
- The page says it overlooks the Two Rivers and Four Lakes and is steps from Xiangshan Park. [Source]
- The page lists free parking, two outdoor pools including a rooftop infinity pool, and English-speaking staff. [Source]
- The page describes a breakfast buffet of Chinese, Western and Asian dishes. [Source]
- The address is No. 2 Zhongshan Middle Road, Xiangshan District. [Source]
Suits: It suits travellers who want to walk to Elephant Trunk Hill, the lakes and the city centre, and families who want pools.
Keep in mind: The wording on the hotel's site is promotional; check room type and view in the booking page rather than relying on the descriptions.
Official site Check rates on Booking.com Checked 2026-10-16
Grand Link Hotel Guilin
- The page says the hotel faces Elephant Trunk Hill across the river. [Source]
- The page says the hotel has 593 deluxe guestrooms and suites. [Source]
- The page describes four gardens around the hotel. [Source]
- The page gives 45 minutes to Guilin Liangjiang International Airport. [Source]
- The address is No. 42 Chuanshan Road, Guilin. [Source]
Suits: It suits travellers who want a large garden hotel on the Li River bank facing Elephant Trunk Hill.
Keep in mind: The page's ride time to the city centre and station is given in a sentence with an unclear start point, so check the route on a map.
Official site Check rates on Booking.com Checked 2026-10-16
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a visa for Guilin?
It depends on your passport. See the China hub for the 30-day visa-free list and the 240-hour transit rule, with the date we checked each.
Are there direct flights to Guilin from abroad?
We could not confirm any. Wikivoyage mentions AirAsia flights from Kuala Lumpur and flights from some East and South-East Asian cities. Check your airline for your dates, or connect through a mainland city or Hong Kong.
When is the best time for a Li River cruise?
Grand Link Hotel's own site says spring and autumn are best, summer is hot and humid and winter water is low. Our rain table shows May and June as the wettest months, and Wikivoyage says some boats start part-way in the dry season.
Where do I stay: Guilin or Yangshuo?
For Elephant Trunk Hill and the city, stay in Guilin. For cycling and rafting, stay in Yangshuo or by the Yulong River. See the area table on the stay page.
How do I get from Guilin to Yangshuo?
By cruise from the Mopanshan or Zhujiang pier (a tour operator's site says about 4 hours; not official), or by bus. Wikivoyage gives CNY 18 to 22 and about 1.5 hours for the bus (unofficial).
Do I need cash or a payment app?
China relies on Alipay and WeChat Pay, and the official Li River site tells you to buy boat tickets through a WeChat account. The China hub explains setup. Carry some cash as a backup.
Can I do Longji and the cruise on the same day?
We do not recommend it. Both take several hours of travel and lie in different directions, so split them over two days.
See also
- Li River cruise, Guilin to Yangshuo
- Longji rice terraces
- Reed Flute Cave
- Where to stay in Guilin and Yangshuo
- China travel guide for foreigners
How this guide compares
We read Travel China Guide's Guilin page (about 1,470 words) and China Highlights' Li River page (about 1,780 words). Travel China Guide gives a tidy overview, a weather section and a days suggestion, and links to tours; China Highlights covers five ways to see the river and is written to sell private tours, with dollar upgrades and no sources. This page adds sourced official facts from the Li River authority, the mixed-source airport and bus table with the unofficial status labelled, a monthly rain table, a plain statement that we could not confirm direct flights, and per-sight pages with the disagreements between sources shown. Where we are weaker: we have no official cruise price and have not taken the boat ourselves.
Links on this page and our earnings
The hotel search buttons on this page open the providers' own destination search pages as of 17 October 2026. We have no registered affiliate link for Guilin hotels and have earned no commission, and we have not compared prices for you. Our disclosure page explains how affiliate links work and what we never do.
Official sources and further reading
- Guilin Li River Scenic Area official site (English): introduction and cruise route
- Li River official site: transportation (airport, stations, buses, piers), re-read 17 Oct 2026
- Li River official site: ticket information, re-read 17 Oct 2026
- Li River official site: bamboo raft routes
- Guilin Liangjiang Airport (Chinese): intercity airport buses
- Wikivoyage: Guilin (airport, trains, climate; not official)
- Wikivoyage: Yangshuo (getting around, sights; not official)
- Wikivoyage: Longsheng (Longji terraces; not official)
- Grand Link Hotel Guilin: surroundings and best seasons
- Yangshuo Mountain Retreat (hotel site): surroundings, Yulong and Longsheng
- Visit Guilin (tour operator's promotion site, not government): Elephant Trunk Hill
- Travel China Guide: Guilin travel guide (benchmark; read 17 Oct 2026)
- China Highlights: Li River, 5 ways to enjoy the scenery (benchmark; read 17 Oct 2026)
Prices, schedules and entry rules change. Figures here are approximate as of 2026; always confirm on the official or operator page before you book. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
