# Guilin: map, what to do and when to go

Limestone hills inside the city, the Li River to Yangshuo and rice terraces in the mountains

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Guilin: how do you get from the airport to the center?** Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) is west of the city.
- **Guilin: how do you get to Yangshuo?** There are three ways between Guilin and Yangshuo.
- **Guilin: how does the Li River boat to Yangshuo work?** The stretch from Guilin to Yangshuo takes about four hours by boat, passing Xingping and the Huangbu shoal.

## Guilin: hills, palace and lakes
Start early at Diecai Hill, in the north of the center, and climb the stairways to the top before the heat.
- Elephant Trunk Hill (象鼻山)
- Sun and Moon Pagodas (日月双塔)
- Princes of Jingjiang City and Duxiu Peak (靖江王城)
- Diecai Hill (叠彩山)
- Fubo Hill (伏波山)
- Reed Flute Cave (芦笛岩)

## Down the Li River to Yangshuo
In the morning, take the transfer bought with the ticket to Mopanshan or Zhujiang Pier, with the passport used for the purchase.
- Li River (漓江)
- West Street (西街)
- Xingping (兴坪古镇)

## The Yulong valley by raft and bicycle
Early, take an agreed-price taxi or minibus to the boarding pier of your chosen stretch of the Yulong.
- Moon Hill (月亮山)

## Xingping and the river of the 20 yuan note
Decide before leaving where you will sleep. If the trip continues to Guilin, Longji or the flight, check out and take your luggage, because the high-speed train station is near Xingping.
- Laozhai Hill (老寨山)
- Huangbu shoal, the scenery of the 20 yuan note (黄布滩)

## Li River (漓江)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-rio-li
Half a day or more
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. Three-star boats leave from Mopanshan Pier and four-star boats from Zhujiang Pier, both outside central Guilin, and reach Yangshuo around noon. Tickets are sold through the park's official channel and authorized platforms, and boarding requires the ID used for the purchase. In winter, with the river low, the boat may start farther downstream, with part of the route by road; in heavy rain, the operator decides whether the boat sails.
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## Elephant Trunk Hill (象鼻山)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-colina-da-tromba-do-elefante
Xiangshan · Up to half an hour
The official symbol of Guilin, at the confluence of the Taohua and the Li: a hill with a natural arch that looks like an elephant drinking water, the Shuiyue (Water and Moon) Cave underneath and the Puxian Pagoda on top. It is in Xiangshan Park, a walk from the center. Entry is free, with advance named reservation through the park's official channel; check the rule and the day's hours before going. Trees planted in the park block part of the view of the arch, which shows better from the river.
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## Sun and Moon Pagodas (日月双塔)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-pagodes-do-sol
Xiangshan · Up to half an hour
Two pagodas on the south shore of Shan Lake, built in 2001: the Sun Pagoda, yellow, 41 meters and nine stories, and the Moon Pagoda, pale blue, 35 meters and seven. They are part of the circuit of the two rivers and four lakes, the ring of water around the center, which you can walk for free along the banks or take by boat, with a separate ticket. Lit up at night, they are the best reason to leave the hotel in Guilin.
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## Princes of Jingjiang City and Duxiu Peak (靖江王城)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-cidade-dos-principes-de
Xiufeng · One to two hours
The walled compound of the Ming palace, begun in 1372, and the isolated peak that dominates it. Of the wooden buildings, burned in 1652, what remains are walls, gates, platforms and stone stairways; the compound is a campus of Guangxi Normal University and is open to visits with a ticket. The climb up Duxiu Peak leads to a view of the whole center, and in the reading cave at its base is the inscription by Wang Zhenggong with the most quoted line about Guilin.
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## Diecai Hill (叠彩山)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-morro-diecai
Guangxi · One to two hours
A group of peaks in the north of the center, climbed by stone stairways. The top gives the widest view of Guilin over the Li River and the surrounding hills, which is why the climb is worth doing in the morning, before the heat.
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## Fubo Hill (伏波山)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-morro-fubo
Up to half an hour
A sheer-walled hill on the bank of the Li, with Tang dynasty carvings in stone and Buddhist inscriptions. It sits between Diecai Hill and Elephant Trunk Hill and offers a view similar to Diecai's, shorter.
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## Reed Flute Cave (芦笛岩)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-caverna-da-flauta-de-junco
Xiufeng · One to two hours
A limestone cave in the northwest of the city, with stalactites lit by colored lights and 77 ink inscriptions, the oldest from 792, left by visitors of centuries past. Local residents reported the cave to the authorities in 1959, and it opened to the public in 1962, after access works. Admission is paid; check the price and hours on the official channel before going.
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## Seven Star Park (七星公园)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-parque-das-sete-estrelas
Half a day or more
A large park on the east bank of the Li, with hills, a cave with a separate fee and the Guihai Stele Museum, with more than two hundred steles from the Tang dynasty to the early twentieth century. Worth it for anyone staying more than one day in Guilin.
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## West Street (西街)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-west-street
Yangshuo · Up to half an hour
The stone street in the center of Yangshuo, a few hundred meters long between Pantao Road and the bank of the Li, full of shops, bars and restaurants. It received 21.1 million visitors in 2023. It works as a meeting point and a place for dinner; the interest of the trip lies outside it.
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## Yulong River (遇龙河)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-rio-yulong
Half a day or more
A tributary of the Li that crosses a flat valley of rice fields west of Yangshuo and joins the Li at the foot of Shutong Hill. You go down on bamboo rafts pushed with a pole, with small weirs along the way that the raft jumps over; the time depends on the boarding pier, from about 35 minutes to 90 minutes. The raft only goes downstream: from the arrival pier, the way back is overland. The banks have trails and country roads good for cycling, between villages and stone bridges. With brown, choppy water, the descent is not safe.
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## Moon Hill (月亮山)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-moon-hill
Yangshuo · Up to half an hour
A peak 380 meters high beside Highway 321, south of Yangshuo, with a natural arch in the shape of a half moon. Whether the park that gives access to the climb is operating is uncertain: in 2025, guides and booking platforms listed it as closed with no reopening date, and more recent lists still mention the place without a notice. Confirm before planning the climb; the arch can be seen from the road, on the way to Gaotian.
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## Xingping (兴坪古镇)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-xingping
Yangshuo · One to two hours
A village on the Li, settled since the year 265, with old streets, a quay and boats. It is the base for Laozhai Hill, for the Huangbu shoal and for walking the bank to Yangdi. Buses from Yangshuo take about 45 minutes; the high-speed train station called Yangshuo is a few kilometers away, with connecting buses.
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## Laozhai Hill (老寨山)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-morro-laozhai
One to two hours
The peak at the south end of the Xingping waterfront, with 1,159 steps up to a pavilion about 220 meters above the village. The view takes in the bend of the Li and the surrounding peaks. The steps are steep and uneven; climb early, in the cool, and only with good footwear.
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## Huangbu shoal, the scenery of the 20 yuan note (黄布滩)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-banco-de-huangbu-a-paisagem-da
Up to half an hour
The reflection of the peaks in the Li by the Huangbu shoal is the scene on the 20 yuan note of the fifth series. The spot from which the scene is photographed is about ten minutes' walk from Xingping, free; short boat trips leave the village for the same stretch.
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## Impression Liu Sanjie (印象·刘三姐)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/guilin/#g-lugar-impression-liu-sanjie
One to two hours
An open-air night show on the Li, near the center of Yangshuo, directed by Zhang Yimou, with more than 600 participants in Zhuang, Miao and Yao costume and the lit-up peaks as scenery. It lasts about 70 minutes, with assigned seats, and may stop in January or February for maintenance. Worth it for anyone who likes large productions of light and staging.
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**Guilin: how do you get from the airport to the center?**
Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) is west of the city. In December 2024 there were eight airport bus lines: Line 1 goes to the civil aviation terminal in the center for 20 CNY, and Line 7 goes directly to the Yangshuo bus station for 50 CNY, in about 90 minutes. A taxi from the airport to central Guilin is the most convenient option with luggage.

**Guilin: how do you get to Yangshuo?**
There are three ways between Guilin and Yangshuo. The boat on the Li River makes the trip in about four hours and ends in Yangshuo. The intercity bus goes from the Guilin terminal to the Yangshuo county seat in about an hour and a half; the minibuses run by touts in the station square are less reliable. The high-speed train takes about half an hour from Guilin West or North to Yangshuo station, which is in Xingping, more than 30 km from the county seat: from there, connecting buses reach Xingping in ten minutes and central Yangshuo in about an hour.

**Guilin: how does the Li River boat to Yangshuo work?**
The stretch from Guilin to Yangshuo takes about four hours by boat, passing Xingping and the Huangbu shoal. Three-star boats leave from Mopanshan Pier and four-star boats from Zhujiang Pier, both outside central Guilin, and reach Yangshuo around noon. Tickets are sold through the park's official channel and authorized platforms, and boarding requires the ID used for the purchase. Tickets vary with the boat category, the stretch and the season; check the day's price on the park's official channel before buying. In winter, with the river low, the boat may start farther downstream, with part of the route by road; in heavy rain, the operator decides whether the boat sails.

**Guilin: how many days should I stay?**
I'd stay three days: one in Guilin, for the hills of the center, Reed Flute Cave and the lakes at night; one to go down the Li River by boat to Yangshuo, which is the route that justifies the trip; and one in the Yulong valley, by bicycle and raft. With four, I'd add Xingping, to climb Laozhai Hill early and walk a stretch of the bank. The fifth day I'd give to the Longji terraces, preferably sleeping one night in one of the villages, because the trip from Guilin takes about three hours on mountain roads and the best light on the terraces is in the morning and the late afternoon. With just one day, I'd do only the boat to Yangshuo.

**Guilin: do I need a visa to enter China?**
China's entry rules depend on nationality and have changed several times since 2024, with visa exemptions and visa-free transit of up to 240 hours for dozens of countries: check the current list with China's National Immigration Administration before buying your ticket.

**Guilin: how do you pay for things?**
In China almost everything is paid by QR code, with Alipay or WeChat Pay. Since 2023 both accept Visa and Mastercard cards issued abroad, and in 2024 the central bank raised the limit for foreigners to 5,000 dollars per transaction and 50,000 per year; registration is done in the app itself, and it is worth setting up and testing before you arrive. In the app you pay merchants, not individuals. Cash is still accepted and is useful at street stalls and in the Longji terraces, where crowdsourced guides report a lack of ATMs in Dazhai.

**Guilin: how do you visit the Longji rice terraces?**
The terraces are in the mountains of Longsheng County, about 77 km north of Guilin, and have two sectors: Ping'an, a compact Zhuang village, with viewpoints reached on foot through the village itself, and Jinkeng, with the Yao village of Dazhai and a cable car to Jinfo Peak. From Guilin it is about two hours by road to Longsheng and about another hour by local bus to the villages, or a direct transfer you book; from Yangshuo, the route passes through Guilin and is much longer. General admission cost 80 CNY in September 2026, without the cable car. Sleeping in a village lets you see the morning and late-afternoon light; anyone going and returning in a day has to leave Guilin early and catch the last bus, which leaves before sunset.

**Guilin: when is the best time to go?**
September to November; April to July is the rainy season, peaking in June, and the Golden Week holiday, October 1 to 7, fills boats and hotels.

**Guilin: is it safe?**
Guilin and Yangshuo are calm destinations, and the most common problems are petty scams and thefts. At Guilin's central station and on buses, watch your wallet and phone, and be wary of approaches from people who introduce themselves as students or teachers and end up at a tea house or gallery with a high bill. On the valley roads, motorbike thieves snatch bags from bicycle baskets; carry belongings in front of you or secured. On the small beaches of the Li, thefts from people who leave their things on the bank to swim are frequently reported, and the river has a current. Do not drink tap water; bottled water is cheap.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 3 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/guilin/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/guilin/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/guilin.md