Chengdu’s pandas and the Li River down to Yangshuo

Chengdu’s giant panda base at opening time and the 71 m Leshan Buddha, less than an hour and a half away by bullet train; the limestone hills of Guilin and the boat ride of about four hours down the Li River to Yangshuo; and, to finish, the Star Ferry and the Peak in Hong Kong.

Day by day Open the itinerary in the app

Chengdu → Guilin → Hong Kong · 9–13 days

The route on the map, in the itinerary’s order.

ChinaChengdu
Days
3–4
When
Mar–May · Sep–Nov
Per person/day
Average 479 CNYMid-range · per person/day
Cost scope
Per person per day: accommodation, meals, urban transport, visits and a small allowance for extras. Flights excluded; larger purchases vary. Editorial estimate, not a quote.
ChinaGuilin
Days
3–5
When
Sep–Nov
Per person/day
Average 602 CNYMid-range · per person/day
Cost scope
Per person per day: accommodation, meals, urban transport, visits and a small allowance for extras. Flights excluded; larger purchases vary. Editorial estimate, not a quote.
China (Hong Kong SAR)Hong Kong
Days
3–4
When
Oct–Dec
Per person/day
Average 700–1,400 HK$Mid-range · per person/day
Cost scope
Per person per day: accommodation, meals, urban transport, visits and a small allowance for extras. Flights excluded; larger purchases vary. Editorial estimate, not a quote.

Who it is for

For travellers who have done Beijing and Shanghai, or who prefer landscape and food to capitals: Sichuan cooking, the river between the karst hills and the vertical city of Hong Kong.

Not for anyone after imperial China: there is no Forbidden City, Great Wall or clay army on this route, and the past Hong Kong keeps is that of the colonial port, with Man Mo Temple and Tai Kwun among the towers of Central.

The strategy

Chengdu gets three days: the pandas right at opening, with Wenshu Monastery and a teahouse afternoon in People’s Park; Du Fu’s Thatched Cottage, the Sichuan Museum and the Wuhou Shrine; and the Leshan Giant Buddha, by bullet train from Chengdu East or Chengdu South. The city has two airports, Tianfu (TFU) and Shuangliu (CTU): check your ticket for which one the Guilin flight leaves from. Guilin gets three days: the hills in town and Reed Flute Cave, the boat down the Li River to Yangshuo, and the Yulong valley by bike and bamboo raft. Sleep in Yangshuo after the boat, since that is where the minibuses to the Yulong leave from. On the way out, allow about an hour by bus from Yangshuo town to Yangshuo station, which is in Xingping; from there the fast train takes about half an hour to Guilin West or North, where the high-speed trains to Hong Kong’s West Kowloon station stop. Hong Kong closes the trip with three days: the island, Kowloon and Lantau. The shared window runs from mid-October to the end of November, after Golden Week, 1 to 7 October, which fills the Li River boats and the panda base. Hong Kong runs its own immigration, separate from mainland China: check the entry rules of both for your passport.

What you will see

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (成都大熊猫繁育研究基地) is about 13 km north of the center.
Li River, Guilin. The stretch from Guilin to Yangshuo is the reason for the trip: about four hours by boat among limestone peaks, bamboo groves and villages, passing Xingping and the Huangbu shoal, the scenery that appears on the 20 yuan note.
Victoria Peak, Hong Kong. The funicular has run since 1888 and got sixth-generation cars in August 2022, carrying up to 210 passengers per trip on the 1.4-km climb to the top of Victoria Peak.