桂林米粉
Guilin rice noodles
Breakfast. The broth may be clear or sour with pickled vegetables. Both are correct.
桂林 · 3 to 4 days
Guilin
Guilin is the city on the rail line. Yangshuo is the town among the hills. Most visitors should sleep in Yangshuo and treat Guilin as the station, the noodles, and a river evening.
Stay near
Yangshuo, if the landscape is why you came
Give it
Three nights, with a spare half day
Book first
The Li River section you actually want
Watch for
Low water and a shortened cruise
Trains reach Guilin easily from Guangzhou. Yangshuo’s high-speed station is outside the town. Budget the taxi. West Street is loud. Sleep a few lanes back so the night market is a walk and not your bedroom.
The classic cruise depends on the water. In the dry months the advertised route is sometimes shortened. Ask which pier you depart from and where you get off. A bicycle day on the Yulong River paths often shows more than the loudspeaker tour.
Scooters are a common injury. If you do not ride at home, take the bus or a bike. Summer is hot, wet, and sudden.
Eat this, not a poster of it
What Guilin actually tastes like
啤酒鱼
Beer fish
A Yangshuo river fish cooked with beer, tomato, and chili. Order it where they cook it to order.
时令水果
Peelable fruit
Pomelo and persimmon in season. Skip the cut fruit sweating in the sun.
The sights
Where to go, and whether you can just show up.
Book the pier
Li River
The cruise everyone means. Buy the section, the pier, and the hour, not a vague “Li River tour.”
Scenic-area ticket
Elephant Trunk Hill
The city’s symbol, a hill that looks like an elephant drinking. Ticketed.
Buy ahead on holidays
Reed Flute Cave
A lit cave of stalactites in the northwest of the city. Book before a holiday.
Free town, paid boats
Yangshuo
The town inside the peaks. The countryside is the sight. West Street is the noise.