What to See in Guangxi, by Interest

Karst rivers

Boat and raft trips through the limestone peaks between Guilin and Yangshuo, and the one hilltop that looks down on the river bends. Almost everyone can do these; the rafts have age limits, the big cruise does not.

Li River cruise, Guilin to Yangshuo 漓江精华游

Guilin to Yangshuo

A morning sailing of about 60 km on a 3-star or 4-star boat from a pier south of Guilin to Yangshuo, 3.5 to 5 hours depending on the water. Seats are assigned and the top deck is open to all.^{1 2 3}

When: April to October, avoiding the flood peaks of June and early July. From January to March the full route is often replaced by a shorter section with road transfers.
Time: Half a day plus the transfer; the piers are about 25 km from central Guilin.
Booking: Book ahead, by real name. Foreign passengers enter the passport number and show the passport at boarding.
What can go wrong: The Guilin maritime authority closes the river at high water, sometimes the evening before: in 2026 on 19 to 22 June and 6 July. Plan B is the road to Yangshuo and the Yulong River raft.

Li River raft at Xingping and the 20-yuan view 兴坪漓江排筏

Xingping, Yangshuo

A four-seat motor raft on the most photographed stretch of the river, from Xingping to Nine Horse Fresco Hill and back in about an hour, or the longer Yangdi to Xingping run. The view printed on the 20-yuan note is free from the public riverbank at Xingping.^{4 5 6}

When: April to October outside storm days; before 09:00 or after 15:30 for shorter queues.
Time: Half a day from Yangshuo; Xingping is about 45 minutes by car.
Booking: Real-name; bring the original passport to the dock.
What can go wrong: Heavy rain suspends all rafts at short notice (21 April and 20 June 2026). Riders aged 70 and over and small children are not accepted, and the rafts have no shade. The river is busy: about 2,000 boat and raft passages a day. Plan B for older clients is the cruise.

Yulong River bamboo rafting 遇龙河竹筏

Yangshuo

A bamboo raft for two or three people on the smaller river west of Yangshuo, dropping over low weirs along the way. There are routes of 30 to 70 minutes on different stretches, priced per raft.⁷

When: May to August for the smoothest water, outside heavy-rain days.
Time: An hour or two on the water, from Yangshuo.
Booking: Real-name; the passport is checked at the dock. Next-day tickets are released at 20:00.
What can go wrong: Heavy rain can stop the whole river for days (all piers on 22 May 2026; six days in June 2025). No riders aged 70 and over. Plan B is the riverside path on foot or by bicycle.

Xianggong Hill at sunrise 相公山

Xingping, Yangshuo

A hilltop platform on the west bank of the Li River, reached by a lit stepped path of 15 to 25 minutes, looking over a bend of the river. The effort is the pre-dawn start, not the climb.^{8 9 10}

When: Sunrise on a clear morning; the top is busy by about 05:10 in summer.
Time: Two to three hours including about an hour's drive each way from Yangshuo, with the car booked the day before.
Booking: Pay at the gate.
What can go wrong: Cloud or haze hides the sunrise. Plan B is Laozhai Hill above Xingping, or the free riverbank.

Rice terraces and minority villages

Hillsides cut into terraces and the Zhuang, Yao and Dong villages that farm them, north of Guilin. For people who are happy on stone steps and in simple guesthouses.

Longji rice terraces: Ping'an and Dazhai 龙脊梯田

Longsheng, about two hours from Guilin

A terraced mountainside with three ticketed areas on one ticket: the Zhuang village of Ping'an, the Yao village of Dazhai, and Longji Ancient Zhuang Village. Stone-step paths link villages and numbered viewpoints; at Dazhai a cable car goes up to the Golden Buddha Peak viewpoint.^{11 12 13}

When: The season matters more here than anywhere else in the region. Water in the fields from about mid-April to late May (ploughing began on 2 May in 2026); green from late June to mid-September; gold from late September to about 20 October (golden on 2 October 2025); bare from early March to early April.
Time: A night, from Guilin.
Booking: Real-name; the passport used to book is checked at the gate. Walk-up works except in the October golden weeks, when guesthouses fill a month ahead.
What can go wrong: In a year when the fields fill late or are cut early, a client booked for mirrors or gold sees mud or stubble. Steep steps; luggage is carried up. The plan asks the guesthouse about the fields the week before and can move the Longji night within the trip.

Huangluo Red Yao village 黄洛瑶寨

Inside the Longji scenic area

A Red Yao village by the river, known for the very long hair its women keep, their embroidered dress, songs and oil tea. The village itself is a ten-minute walk.¹⁴

Time: A stop of under an hour on the way into the terraces.
What can go wrong: Reviewers find it staged, and the performance costs extra. Easy to skip for more time in Ping'an or Dazhai.

Chengyang Eight Villages and the Wind and Rain Bridge 程阳八寨程阳永济桥

Sanjiang, Liuzhou

Eight connected, lived-in Dong villages with drum towers and stilt houses, and the Chengyang Yongji bridge of 1924, about 80 m long. A national 5A scenic area since 2024.^{15 16}

When: Early morning on the bridge before the groups, or evening when it is lit.
Time: Half a day for the 2 to 3 hour walk through the villages; a night to see both morning and evening. On our 14-day route.
Booking: Not required; tickets at the windows, machines or online.
What can go wrong: The sightseeing bus does not reach every village, so expect to walk.

Countryside by bike and on foot

The flat valley floors around Yangshuo and the riverside paths near Xingping. Here the answer depends most on the day: one long walk needs village ferries, and the famous climb is closed.

Yulong River path and the Ten-Mile Gallery road 遇龙河步道十里画廊

Yangshuo

Two linked ways through the countryside west and south of the town. The Yulong River has a riverside path of about 13 km that can be cycled, with small steps in places; the Ten-Mile Gallery is the quiet road past Moon Hill, about 30 minutes from West Street by bicycle.^{10 17}

When: Morning, before the heat.
Time: Half a day to a full day, at any pace.
Booking: None; the road and the path are free.
What can go wrong: The road on to Xingping is busy and not for cycling. Plan B is the Yulong raft, which covers the same valley sitting down.

Xingping old town and Laozhai Hill 兴坪古镇老寨山

Xingping, Yangshuo

A small old river town, the starting point for the short raft and for Laozhai Hill: a 7 km circuit of 2.5 to 3.5 hours with a climb of 40 to 60 minutes to a summit over 300 m, with a view like Xianggong Hill's and no ticket.^{9 10}

When: Daylight only; the hill path has no lights.
Time: Half a day from Yangshuo.
What can go wrong: Most of the hill path has no guardrails. Xianggong Hill has built steps if that matters.

Yangdi to Xingping riverside walk 杨堤—兴坪徒步

Li River

An 18 km walk along the banks of the Li River through the same scenery the rafts pass. The path changes bank several times, and each change is a small village ferry.⁹

When: Outside June to September, when floods affect the trail and the ferries. Start by 09:00.
Time: A full day: 7 to 8 hours of walking.
Booking: No ticket; the ferries are paid in cash.
What can go wrong: The walk only works if every ferry runs, and the last one stops at 17:00. We confirm the ferries the day before, and the plan keeps the raft as the fallback.

Border waterfalls and canyons

The south-west corner along the Vietnam border: a wide waterfall shared by two countries, a rice valley among karst peaks, and canyons and springs around Jingxi. For travelers with at least a week, since it is a long drive from Yangshuo.

Detian Transnational Waterfall 德天跨国瀑布

Daxin County, Chongzuo

A waterfall on the China–Vietnam border, called Ban Gioc on the other side. Visitors see it from the Chinese bank and can take a bamboo raft to the foot of the falls.^{18 19 20 21}

When: June to November for full flow. From December to May the water is lower; in that season releases from the Vietnamese side around midday can lift it, so midday may beat early morning.
Time: Half a day from Mingshi, about 40 minutes away.
Booking: Online, real-name; entry is by ID scan, so we confirm how a passport holder enters before you travel. Day entrance 80 CNY.
What can go wrong: The cross-border group tour to the Vietnamese side is open only to Chinese and Vietnamese passport holders; Americans see the falls from the Chinese side. Chongzuo is outside the 240-hour visa-free area. Carry your passport: it is a border zone.

Mingshi countryside 明仕田园

Daxin County

A valley of karst peaks and rice fields along the Mingshi River, and the overnight base for Detian. The paid activity is a bamboo raft of about 40 minutes.²²

When: April to July or September to November.
Time: Half a day, plus the night.
What can go wrong: The drives are long: Nanning to Mingshi is about three hours.

Tongling Grand Canyon 通灵大峡谷

Jingxi, Baise

A gorge reached by about 800 stone steps down from the entrance, with cave passages and a waterfall of up to 188 m. The walk ends at an exit from which a shuttle returns to the gate.²³

Time: Two to three hours; base in Jingxi. On our 14-day route.
Booking: Not required.
What can go wrong: About 800 steps. Plan B is Goose Spring or Jiuzhou nearby.

Gulongshan Grand Canyon 古龙山大峡谷

Jingxi, Baise

Three canyons and three karst caves passed through by raft, two people and a boatman to a raft, with an underground river section and a waterfall. From November to March walking trails on floating walkways open as well.²⁴

When: June to September for the waterfall; it runs weak in the dry season.
Time: Three to five hours; base in Jingxi.
What can go wrong: Riders get wet. A walking-only ticket exists for people who do not raft.

Jiuzhou old town 旧州景区

Jingxi, Baise

A Zhuang old town among fields and karst peaks, with a street of workshops where women hand-embroider silk balls, a riverside pavilion and Ming-era tombs. About 6 km from Goose Spring.²⁵

When: Late afternoon, around 16:00 to 17:00, for the light.
Time: Two hours, paired with Goose Spring.

Weizhou Island and the Beihai coast

An island with a volcano park reached by ferry, a city beach, an old street of arcaded shop-houses, and a food street with a Vietnamese side. For two-week trips that want sea at the end, with the understanding that the weather decides the ferry.

Weizhou Island 涠洲岛

Off Beihai

An island with a volcano park at Crocodile Mountain, a Catholic church, and beaches for sunrise and sunset. The only way on is the passenger ferry from Beihai International Passenger Port, 60 to 110 minutes depending on the ship.^{26 27}

When: Outside typhoon weeks; in 2026 the ferry was suspended on 14 June, 4 to 6 July, 20 to 26 August and 31 August to 1 September.
Time: A night on the island, with a spare day in Beihai before any onward flight.
Booking: Island and ferry tickets are sold together by real name; in July and August sales open seven days ahead and sell out.
What can go wrong: A suspended ferry strands visitors or cancels the trip, and the island can take two or three days to recover after a typhoon. Plan B is Beihai itself. We confirm how a foreign passport buys the ferry ticket before you travel.

Silver Beach 北海银滩

Beihai

The city beach, a 4A scenic area with a swimming zone that keeps set hours and an evening fountain show.²⁸

When: Early or late in the day; the sun is strongest from about 11:00 to 15:00.
Time: A few hours.
What can go wrong: Busy at Spring Festival and in summer; evenings bring sand motorbikes and loudspeakers.

Beihai Old Street 北海老街

Beihai

A street of arcaded shop-houses on Zhuhai Road, 1.44 km long and dating from 1821, with former British, French and German consulate sites among the cafés and snack stalls.²⁹

Time: An hour or two, day or evening.

Qiaogang food street 侨港风情街

Beihai, near the beach

A food street in a neighbourhood settled by returned overseas Chinese from Vietnam: rolled rice noodles and spring rolls, drip coffee, grilled oysters, stir-fried snails, crab noodles and sweet soups. The fishing harbour early in the morning shows the catch being sold.³⁰

When: Evening, when it is busiest; the harbour at dawn.
Time: An evening.
What can go wrong: Long queues at the popular shops.

Guilin city and old towns

The lakes, hills and caves inside Guilin, and one old town in Hezhou. For a first or last day, a rainy day, and travelers who want history as well as scenery.

Two Rivers and Four Lakes, with the Sun and Moon Pagodas 两江四湖日月双塔

Guilin

The ring of lakes and river channels in the centre of Guilin, walked along the banks or toured by boat, with two pagodas lit at night, one gold and one silver. Walking the banks is free; the boats are paid.³¹

When: After dark for the pagodas; the earliest night sailing catches dusk.
Time: An evening; the night cruise is about 90 minutes.
Booking: Online; the night-cruise docks rotate, so the dock is confirmed the day before.
What can go wrong: A client sent to the wrong dock misses the boat. Plan B is to walk the lakes.

Elephant Trunk Hill 象鼻山

Guilin

The hill and park on the Li River that stands for the city. Free since 31 January 2022, but still ticketed: a real-name reservation online, with no sales at the gate.^{32 33}

When: Late afternoon for softer light and fewer people.
Time: An hour or two.
Booking: Free, by advance reservation only. How a foreign passport makes the reservation is the one thing we settle before listing it in a plan.
What can go wrong: Without the reservation the gate refuses entry. Plan B is the view from the opposite bank or from a boat.

Reed Flute Cave 芦笛岩

Guilin

A show cave about 240 m deep with a walking route of roughly 500 m past lit rock formations. Visits follow a Chinese-speaking guide who moves the group from point to point.³⁴

When: Any weather; a rainy-day choice.
Time: About an hour.
What can go wrong: Slippery floor, many steps, no wheelchair access, and a fast pace that suits few photographers.

Seven Star Park 七星景区

Guilin

A park with Seven Star Cave, Camel Hill, the old Flower Bridge and a collection of stone inscriptions.³⁵

Time: Half a day.

Jingjiang Princes' City and Solitary Beauty Peak 独秀峰王城

Guilin

The Ming princes' residence in the city centre, with a museum in the main hall, more than 200 cliff inscriptions including the famous line that Guilin's scenery is the finest under heaven, and a short climb up Solitary Beauty Peak for a view over the city.³⁶

Time: About two hours, with a guided visit in Chinese.
What can go wrong: No foreign-language guiding was found; the plan tells you what you are looking at.

Huangyao Ancient Town 黄姚古镇

Zhaoping County, Hezhou

An old town with an opera stage, clan halls, temples, an old banyan and a stone bridge; Huangyao tofu and fermented black beans are its foods.³⁷

Time: Three to five hours on site; whether it is a day trip or a night from Yangshuo depends on the road, which we check.

Food and markets

Guilin, Liuzhou and Nanning each have a rice-noodle dish of their own, and the markets around Yangshuo rotate from town to town. None of it needs a ticket.

Guilin rice noodles 桂林米粉

Guilin, more than 5,000 noodle shops

Fresh rice noodles dipped in hot water and dressed with a braising liquid of dozens of spices, topped with braised beef, tripe and crisp roast pork, fried soybeans, green chilli and garlic. The craft joined the national intangible heritage list in 2021.³⁸

Yangshuo beer fish 阳朔啤酒鱼

Yangshuo

A Li River carp fried with its scales on in local camellia oil, then simmered in Guilin beer with peppers, tomatoes and celery until the sauce reduces. The signature dish of the county.³⁹

Yao oil tea and bamboo-tube rice 瑶族油茶竹筒饭

Longji guesthouses and villages

A savoury drink of tea leaves pounded with ginger and garlic, simmered and served topped with puffed rice, rice cake and peanuts; by custom a guest drinks three bowls before the meal. The Yao oil tea custom is on the national intangible heritage list. Bamboo-tube rice and chicken are the village restaurant dishes.^{40 14}

Liuzhou luosifen 柳州螺蛳粉

Liuzhou

Rice noodles in a broth of river snails stewed with pork bones and spices, finished with chilli oil and topped with sour bamboo shoots, black fungus and tofu skin: sour, spicy and hot. Also on the 2021 national heritage list.⁴¹

What can go wrong: Liuzhou city is not on our routes; Sanjiang, which is, belongs to it.

Market days around Yangshuo 圩日

Fuli, Xingping, Baisha, Yangshuo

Country markets that move between towns on a three-day cycle: Yangdi and Baisha on one day, Fuli on the next, Yangshuo town and Xingping on the third.¹⁰

When: Which calendar the cycle follows is the one fact that decides a planned market day, and it is not settled in public sources; we confirm locally.

Baisha Six-Twenty-Three fair 白沙六·廿三会期

Baisha Town, Yangshuo

A yearly town fair held since 1914 on the 23rd day of the sixth lunar month: a procession, a firecracker-grabbing contest, opera for several days, snacks from the new rice and a night dragon parade on the Yulong River. In 2026 it ran from 2 to 12 August.⁴²

When: The date moves each year with the lunar calendar.

Not offered right now

Places a plan from us will not include until the situation changes.

Moon Hill 月亮山: Closed, with no reopening date: Ctrip and Trip.com both list it as temporarily closed, and a visitor turned away in December 2025 reports it shut since October 2024. No official notice explains why. The arch can still be seen from the road at the foot of the hill.^{43 44}
The cross-border tour to Ban Gioc at Detian 德天跨境游: Open only to Chinese and Vietnamese passport holders, in groups. American visitors see the falls from the Chinese side.^{20 21}

Sources

Checked on 10 October 2026. Where only a booking site or a guide states a fact, it says so.

Karst rivers

Li River cruise, Guilin to Yangshuo 漓江精华游

Li River raft at Xingping and the 20-yuan view 兴坪漓江排筏

Yulong River bamboo rafting 遇龙河竹筏

Xianggong Hill at sunrise 相公山

Rice terraces and minority villages

Longji rice terraces: Ping'an and Dazhai 龙脊梯田

Huangluo Red Yao village 黄洛瑶寨

Chengyang Eight Villages and the Wind and Rain Bridge 程阳八寨 程阳永济桥

Countryside by bike and on foot

Yulong River path and the Ten-Mile Gallery road 遇龙河步道 十里画廊

Xingping old town and Laozhai Hill 兴坪古镇 老寨山

Yangdi to Xingping riverside walk 杨堤—兴坪徒步

Border waterfalls and canyons

Detian Transnational Waterfall 德天跨国瀑布

Mingshi countryside 明仕田园

Tongling Grand Canyon 通灵大峡谷

Gulongshan Grand Canyon 古龙山大峡谷

Jiuzhou old town 旧州景区

Weizhou Island and the Beihai coast

Weizhou Island 涠洲岛

Silver Beach 北海银滩

Beihai Old Street 北海老街

Qiaogang food street 侨港风情街

Guilin city and old towns

Two Rivers and Four Lakes, with the Sun and Moon Pagodas 两江四湖 日月双塔

Elephant Trunk Hill 象鼻山

Reed Flute Cave 芦笛岩

Seven Star Park 七星景区

Jingjiang Princes' City and Solitary Beauty Peak 独秀峰王城

Huangyao Ancient Town 黄姚古镇

Food and markets

Guilin rice noodles 桂林米粉

Yangshuo beer fish 阳朔啤酒鱼

Yao oil tea and bamboo-tube rice 瑶族油茶 竹筒饭

Liuzhou luosifen 柳州螺蛳粉

Market days around Yangshuo 圩日

Baisha Six-Twenty-Three fair 白沙六·廿三会期

Not offered right now

Sources

Two or three of these draw you?

Chengyang Eight Villages and the Wind and Rain Bridge 程阳八寨程阳永济桥

Yulong River path and the Ten-Mile Gallery road 遇龙河步道十里画廊

Xingping old town and Laozhai Hill 兴坪古镇老寨山

Two Rivers and Four Lakes, with the Sun and Moon Pagodas 两江四湖日月双塔

Yao oil tea and bamboo-tube rice 瑶族油茶竹筒饭