May Guilin Yangshuo + Longji Travel Notes

We chose China Southern Airlines for the flight from Nanjing to Guilin, but due to weather conditions, the flight was delayed by 8 hours, starting a pleasant trip with an overnight stay at the airport.

For friends who don’t travel often, be careful when buying tickets: check if it’s a connecting flight. We booked a flight from Harbin to Nanjing and then from Nanjing to Guilin. Of course, when buying tickets, they won’t remind you that this is a connecting flight. In fact, 10 minutes before our flight, there was a China Eastern Airlines plane that took off on time.

Day 1: Yulong River

Upon arriving in Guilin, we chose a self-driving trip. The hotel we selected was the Borui Hotel in the new district of Guilin, on Century Avenue. The hotel offered free airport pickup, but because our flight was delayed and we couldn’t confirm the departure time, we gave up on the pickup and took a taxi instead, costing about 60 yuan. The hotel was very comfortable in all aspects, and breakfast was good. It can be considered a hotel with good value for money, though not high-end.

We chose a car rental service. I’m not sure if it was because of the holiday or standard pricing, but renting for 3 days cost 1800 yuan.

From the hotel to Yangshuo, it took a 2-hour drive, and we arrived directly at the Yulong River. I had visited 10 years ago and vaguely remembered the clear water and the feeling of rafting on the Li River on bamboo rafts. But this trip had some unpleasant moments, which I’ll recount slowly.

We asked around and found that the classic bamboo raft section of the Yulong River is from Jinlong Bridge Pier to Jiuxian Pier. When we arrived, it was already 1 PM, and the tickets were sold out. At that point, local residents approached us, saying they could take us to another pier where tickets were still available. My husband and I discussed it: since we were already here, we couldn’t just turn back. So we followed a villager to another pier, about a 10-minute drive. The villager said it would be 200 yuan per person and she would help us buy tickets. Key point: you must stick close to her and only transfer the money when you’re about to board. In the end, she gave us only one ticket, and when we later went to the ticket office to buy another, we found it was only 145 yuan per ticket. We were ripped off 200 yuan. As we later experienced on the Yulong River, the water had become murky, not as clear as last time. The boatman sighed: “People’s hearts change, let alone the river water.”

We bought a flower wreath from an old farmer for 5 yuan. Last time, I think it was 2 yuan. Since many sellers are elderly, it’s convenient to carry small change.

After visiting the scenic spot, we stayed at Puyuan, a homestay. This hotel was an excellent choice. The service was great, and the interior was comfortable. The drive from Yulong River to Puyuan took about 30 minutes. Later, the hotel owner told us that on the way back we passed through Shili Gallery. It’s known as a great place for cycling, but once you’re in Guilin, you become numb to the scenery because there are mountains everywhere, so you might not even realize you’re in Shili Gallery.

From Puyuan, we drove out for dinner and chose Master Chef Beer Fish. The beer fish is a must-try, but I personally think they used catfish this time, which didn’t taste as good as the Li River fish from before. The flavor was still excellent. The snails are also a local specialty, but for our family of three, eating snails made us feel a bit dizzy because they’re stuffed with snail meat and pork, quite greasy. Master Chef Beer Fish costs about 120 yuan per person, which is a bit pricey. A dinner cost over 300 yuan.

Day 2: Xingping Town

We drove from Yangshuo town to Xingping for about an hour. Xingping is the famous spot for the 20-yuan banknote photo, and there’s also the old man in a straw hat on a solitary boat. Xingping is an ancient town, but it was too hot, so we didn’t explore it. We drove directly to the ticket office and bought tickets for the section from Xingping to Jiuhua Painting Mountain, then took a small train (20 yuan per person) back from Jiuhua Painting Mountain. On the way there, we walked to the pier. Remember: you must walk to the pier because there’s a 20-yuan photo spot along the way, and you’ll also pass the old man. Also, don’t rush to queue at the 20-yuan photo spot near the entrance of the pier area; the real spot is near the actual boarding pier, and there are fewer people there. It takes about 20–30 minutes to walk from the ticket office to the boarding point, which I personally find acceptable. The boat ride takes about half an hour, passing the essence of the Li River, including the Seven Fairies, Jiuhua Painting Mountain, and Dolphin Mountain.

That evening, we had dinner at Puyuan. The chef’s skills were good, but the prices weren’t cheap. It’s a tourist area, so if you want cheap food, you might only get Guilin rice noodles. As for me, a foodie, I’m not particularly fond of rice noodles.

At night, we set out from the hotel to watch “Impression Liu Sanjie.” Tickets were booked through the hotel, cheaper than at the ticket office: 220 yuan each. As for the viewing experience: a large-scale light show. Ten years ago, I didn’t want to go because it was too expensive. Ten years later, it fulfilled a longing, but I have to say it needs to keep up with the times. I wouldn’t watch it again. Locals recommend “Eternal Love” as much better. Maybe next time.

Day 3: Longji Rice Terraces

Going to Longji also fulfilled a wish from 10 years ago, as I didn’t go then. It took over 2 hours to drive from Yangshuo. The expressways in Guangxi were smooth. When leaving Yangshuo, we happened to see a hot air balloon site, took a couple of photos, and moved on. After all, hot air balloons are everywhere, but rice terraces are unique to this place.

Upon arriving at the scenic area, you need to buy a ticket. You can pay without getting out of the car, then drive further into the mountains. There are several villages. For good luck, we chose the Ping’an Zhuang village. My husband said the Golden Pit Terraces felt like a pit (a pun in Chinese: “golden pit” sounds like “a pit”). Haha.

First, park the car at the parking lot, then buy small train tickets to take us to a viewpoint. We chose to take the small train uphill and walk downhill, so we didn’t need round-trip train tickets. Walking through the mountains was a unique experience. It was raining that day, with mist swirling, giving a feeling of “a day in the mountains feels like a year.” As for photos, every shot was like a masterpiece. We felt the hard work of the farmers and the difficult life in the village.

We tried bamboo-tube rice, but found it mediocre. The mountain spring chicken: because of the high humidity, the locals cook it with a lot of ginger, which we weren’t used to. We ate at a random restaurant in the village.

On the way back, we drove directly from Longji to downtown Guilin and stayed at Letu Hotel. I have to complain: aside from its convenient location, everything else was terrible—it felt dirty. The hotel was damp, and because it was Golden Week, the price wasn’t cheap. The so-called airport transfer service was paid—seriously, why mention it if it’s paid? Do they think I can’t get a taxi?

Starting from the 3rd, it rained. In the evening, we ate at Haitian Rice Noodle Roll. It was very close to the hotel. The rice noodle rolls were tasty and cheap, but eating too much felt greasy. Still, worth a try. But compared to Cantonese rice noodle rolls, I think these are inferior—Guangdong’s are more delicious. Guilin’s version felt unclean and greasy.

Originally, we planned to visit East-West Alley, but we didn’t. My husband said when he returned the car, he passed by it and it seemed smaller than Confucius Temple. Plus, it was raining, so we skipped it.

On the morning of the 4th, we had breakfast at Agan Restaurant. The taste was good, somewhat similar to Cantonese morning tea. I felt like we had Cantonese morning tea in Guilin.

Then we went to the airport because our naughty kid had to finish homework, so we returned to Nanjing early. It cost about 80 yuan by taxi from the city to the airport. At the airport, we had roast goose from a chain restaurant, delicious. The return flight was with Juneyao Airlines, delayed by half an hour, which was acceptable.

1. When driving and parking, everywhere is like territory—private parking charges 30 yuan regardless of duration. That’s annoying, but there’s nothing we can do. The local government doesn’t seem to regulate it.

2. Don’t buy tickets from scalpers, unless it’s through your hotel. Avoid random scalpers—you might end up like me.

3. Because of the high humidity, choose a good hotel in the city; otherwise, the experience will be terrible.

4. We had visited Silver Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill, Moon Hill, Butterfly Spring, and Big Banyan Tree on our previous trip, and neither my husband nor I liked them, so we didn’t go this time.