2021 May Day Holiday Guilin Yangshuo Self-Drive Family Trip: A Unique Traveler's Guide – Where to Go and Must-Visit Attractions

If meeting the right scenery at the right time is the most pleasant thing in travel, then meeting the most beautiful landscapes of Guilin Yangshuo in this sunny summer is the best arrangement from heaven.

From a young age, we learned in textbooks the saying 'Guilin's landscapes are the best under heaven.' The book gave a detailed explanation of Guilin's mountain and water scenery and summed it up perfectly with this phrase. The beautiful landscape paintings of Guilin filled us out-of-town visitors with longing! So a few of us colleagues organized a spur-of-the-moment trip.

Day 1: Self-drive arrived at the hotel at 13:00, rested a bit, then went to eat Beer Fish — in the evening watched Zhang Yimou's 'Impression Liu Sanjie.'

Zhang Yimou's live-action landscape performance is quite distinctive with local characteristics and also spectacular, but we then went to visit the most beautiful Foreigner Street — West Street. Yangshuo West Street is one of the earliest internet-famous ancient streets in China and also one of the first to go international, thus very popular with foreign tourists. It's not surprising to see many foreigners here. The street is full of various characteristic bars, comparable to Beijing's Houhai Bar Street.

Day 2: Got up in the morning to take a Li River bamboo raft, took photos with the 20 RMB note background image. Had lunch in Xingping Ancient Town, then in the afternoon hiked along the Li River to watch the sunset and the internet-famous old man, Grandpa Huang, casting his fishing net on the 20 RMB note — you can take great photos! In the evening, we watched the 'Eternal Love' show, a must-see performance in a lifetime.

Day 3: In the morning, rented a small electric scooter to go to Ruyi Peak and took the cable car to overlook the peak forest of Yulong River — had lunch at the foot of Moon Hill (farmhouse meal) — in the afternoon went to Silver Cave to see the most beautiful karst landscape cave in Yangshuo. (Silver Cave is quite far, need to drive or book a package with transportation.) We were quite ambitious; after returning, we also went to Ten-Mile Gallery and watched the sunset at Gongnong Bridge — had countryside local dishes for dinner.

Day 4: In the morning, went to Yulong River to take a bamboo raft drift. You must take a bamboo raft on Yulong River because they are hand-poled, zero pollution, zero noise. Just sitting there for a whole day feels blissful. In the afternoon, went to Fuli Bridge, Yulong Bridge, Xiangui Bridge, Old County Ancient Village, Yulong Shuiyun, and cycled along the Yulong River bike trail. We did a bamboo raft trip once and then walked the trail again — you can see how much we loved this place, haha.

Day 5: Outdoor adventure ATV off-road vehicle base and sand buggy. Hiking at Waterfall Pond to see the Li River.

Day 6: Woke up at 4:00 AM to go to Xianggong Mountain, the first bend of the Li River, to see the sunrise and sea of clouds. PS: To watch the sunrise, you really have to get up very early. At noon, went to Grape Stone City; in the afternoon, went to Zhuge Wuhou Cuiping Five Finger Mountain. The first two days were relatively relaxing, and we didn't feel the fatigue of travel, but today we had to get up early. Woke up at 3:40 AM to fulfill my long-held wish to see a sunrise. The place opens at 4:30 AM, and we arrived at 5:00 AM. The best spots were already taken, but since it gets light late here, it starts getting bright around 5:30 AM, and the sunrise is around 6:10 AM. So if you're not a professional photographer, you don't need to arrive too early. If you're into photography, come the day after rain — it's beautiful with clouds and mist, like a fairyland. It hadn't rained in Guilin for the few days I was there, which was fine since I don't like rainy days. This was the most beautiful sunrise I've seen recently.

Day 7: Went to see Yangshuo's internet-famous check-in spots: via ferrata (rock climbing, suitable for outdoor enthusiasts, relatively rare in China) and hot air balloons. In summer, you must go to the super thrilling rafting destination, Longjing River. It's so thrilling that I screamed my throat hoarse, but it was really exciting, super enjoyable, and stress-relieving.

Longji Rice Terraces, Shangri-La — we'll meet next time I come.

Ten-Mile Gallery is a must-visit spot in Yangshuo. The scenery along the way is picturesque with many attractions. You can enjoy the most beautiful Guilin landscapes and also see centuries-old ancient village culture. The best part is that the entire scenic area is free of charge. Rent an electric scooter and ride along the Yulong River, taking in the scenery on both sides. Romantic love is actually simple~

Guilin is a place worth visiting in person. The rolling mountains, flowing waters, ancient civilization of the Eight Gui region, and lingering flavors on your tongue. Travel is an enjoyable thing; there's no need to rush to check in. Take a leisurely trip to both Guilin and Yangshuo, and give yourself a perfect life. Leaving marks the end of this trip but the beginning of the next. Looking forward to meeting you on the road.