Top 10 Things to Do in Guilin

Cruising from Guilin to Yangshuo, a water way around 80 km (50 miles), is also called Li River Essence Tour. This is definitely one of the best things to do in Guilin. Along the way, the blue sky, green mountains with strange rocks and the clear water compose a beautiful painting. Boarding on a comfortable cruise to appreciate the attractions like Yellow Cloth Shoal which was printed on the note CNY 20 will really be an unforgettable experience.

 Recommended Tour:  3 Days Guilin Tour from $409

 Book a 3 Star Li River Cruise.
 Book a 4 Star Li River Cruise.

Elephant Trunk Hill is located in the center of Guilin City and it is one of the most famous landmark sceneries. The shape of the hill is like a giant elephant sucking the water from Li River with its nose. That’s why its name is Elephant Trunk Hill. On the hill, there is a brick tower Puxian Pagoda which was built in Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). Another good place to see the Hill is Love Island which is to the north of the Hill. You cannot miss the interesting Elephant Trunk Hill and it deserves one of the best places to visit in Guilin.  

 Recommended Tour with the Hill:  Guilin 1 Day Tour

 Book an Elephant Trunk Hill ticket.

Longji Rice Terraces is a large-scale terraced field group in Longsheng, about 90 km (56 miles) from Guilin, which definitely is one of best places to visit. Many people come here to enjoy the landscape and the sunrise view. In addition, several ancient minority villages consist of Zhuang and Yao nationalities inhabited here for hundreds of years. Thus you can appreciate the landscape while experiencing the customs of ethnic minorities.

In fact, you can enjoy different landscape in different seasons. In spring, people start to irrigate, you can see the terraces are like mirrors. In summer, green pictures make you feel the vigor. In autumn, the golden terraces shining in the sunlight can be a really beautiful painting. In winter, the white winding terraces in snowy days will give you a different impression.

 Recommended Tour:  4 Days Guilin Tour to Longsheng and Yangshuo from $549

 Book a Longji Rice Terraces ticket.

To enjoy the best landscape of Li River, hiking along the river is certainly one of top things to do in Guilin. The most popular hiking route is start off from Yangdi Village to Xingping Town. Via this way, you can enjoy most of the beauty from different angles. Besides, you can also enjoy the Li River by bamboo raft in some sections. However, not everyone can choose this way. The physical requirements are a little high since the whole journey may take around 5 hours. For those outdoor enthusiasts, you cannot miss it.

 Recommended Tour:   5 Days Hiking Tour around Guilin, Longsheng, Yangshuo

Referring to the top things to do in Guilin, enjoying an impressive view of Li River must be on the list. Xianggong Mountain near Yangshuo is no doubt an excellent position to overlook the First Bay of the Li River. You can see the limpid Li River winding through the mountains, which is very magnificent. The sunrise and sunset views here are also very impressive, which attract a lot of shutterbugs.

The Xianggong Moutain is not very high and it takes about 20 minutes to climb up. However, the road condition is not very well, so take care when climbing and going down. 
 

If we say the scenery of Guilin is the best, then Yangshuo will be the highlight of it. One of the top things to do in Yangshuo is cycling in the countryside. You will have an opportunity to enjoy the Ten-Mile Gallery, which is a section of the picturesque road in south of the town. Along the way, you can appreciate the endless mountains with pure rural landscape. Some particular scenic spots along the way are also worth visiting like Totem Ancient Path and Butterfly Spring Park. 

 Recommended Tour:   Guilin Yangshuo 4 Days Tour Itinerary from $509

Yulong River, near the Ten-Mile Gallery in Yangshuo is one section of Li River, which contains some essence landscapes. Drifting on Yulong River is one of the fun things to do in Yangshuo, because through this way you can greatly view the pastoral scenery on both sides of the river. In general, cycling to enjoy the Ten-Mile Gallery and drifting to view Yulong River are the best way to sightsee around Yangshuo.

In the process of raft drifting, it is better to raise the feet while going through some embankments to avoid the water spattering, and pay attention to your cameras and mobile phones in case of dropping in water.
 

Speaking of the free things to do in Guilin, you cannot miss strolling around the West Street in Yangshuo. The West Street has a long history with more than 1,400 years and is a “Global Village” in China. There are so many foreigners living there, nearly tripling as the local people. So it’s easy for you to see the buildings combining Chinese and exotic characteristics. Some fantastic stores stand on both sides of the street and you can purchase some souvenirs. What’s more, tasting some food or drinking with your friends here will be awesome. 
 

One of the must things to do in Guilin at night is to enjoy the performance of Impression of Sanjie Liu, which is played in the world's largest landscape theater in Yangshuo. The stage is a two square kilometers area of Li River with the background of 12 peaks. The performance consists of seven chapters based on a folk legend of Sanjie Liu, a legendary female folk singer. You can enjoy the classical folk songs and watch the ethnic customs and locals’ life, which will definitely leave you a deep impression.

 Recommended Tour with the Show:
 12 Days Luxury China Tour of Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, Shanghai from $3455

Guilin is a beautiful city with typical karst landform and there are a lot of karst caves to explore. Among them, Reed Flute Cave is the most splendid one. As one of the must-see places in Guilin, the cave is like a magnificent underground palace containing a large number of exquisite stalagmites, stone pillars, stone mantles and stone flowers. Especially in the deep of cave, the Crystal Palace is like a fairyland under the colorful lights.

 Recommended Tour with the Cave:  Guilin 2 Days Tour

 Book a Reed Flute Cave ticket.