Guilin | A Five-Day Self-Drive Tour to See the World's Finest Scenery

📍 Guilin · 👁 1 reads · ❤️ 76 likes

Guilin is probably a city that everyone dreams of visiting, right? In my opinion, if you want to see the magnificent landscapes of our motherland, then Guilin is a must-visit. I love Guilin, not only for the waters of the Li River but also for the mountains here.

There are many attractions in Guilin, but many of them are not concentrated. To improve travel efficiency, we specifically rented a car. Their company had many car models, and the cars were very clean. During the pandemic, they would even disinfect the cars daily. In short, using their service was very reassuring.

It was a total of 4 days. On the first day, we arrived in Guilin in the afternoon. After exploring the East-West Alley (Dongxi Xiang), we also wandered around the Sun and Moon Twin Pagodas.

On the second and third days, we specifically visited the Li River and Yulong River. We also went to Yangshuo West Street.

On the fourth day, we started a one-day tour of the Longji Rice Terraces.

On the morning of the fifth day, we visited Elephant Trunk Hill, and in the afternoon, we returned to Chengdu.

Since we spent three days playing around the Guilin city area, we chose a hotel in the city center to stay at, the Zhengyang Puyun Hotel. This hotel was quite good, with a great location. It took about four or five minutes to walk to East-West Alley, no need to drive.

Going to Elephant Trunk Hill and the Sun and Moon Twin Pagodas was only about a 20-minute walk. Of course, you could also drive directly there.

During our stay in Yangshuo, the hotel we stayed at was very large, with several buildings. The room we had was also very nice, beautifully decorated, and even had a bay window. They offered free breakfast, with steamed buns and Guilin rice noodles, you could choose. We had been eating rice noodles at many small shops, so at the hotel we had porridge and steamed buns.

After arriving in Guilin that day, we first went to the parking lot to pick up the car from the rental agency. Since we had already booked online, the whole pickup process was very convenient. This time we rented a Golf, which cost over 800 yuan for 5 days, and the price was not expensive.

After picking up the car, we immediately went to East-West Alley. It is a very bustling alley, and moreover, it is a historical alley left over from the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. Today, you can still see many traces of history here.

There are many former residences of celebrities in East-West Alley. If you have time, you can go and take a look. In addition, we had both lunch and dinner here. Guilin rice noodles are so famous, so there are so many rice noodle shops here. We randomly found a shop to eat rice noodles. The portion of noodles was not very generous, but the various toppings were super abundant. Mixed together, it was absolutely delicious.

After eating the rice noodles, we went to the Jingjiang Prince's Mansion (Jingwangfu). You can go inside the Jingjiang Prince's Mansion to have a look; there are staff on duty at the entrance. There are two large banyan trees at the gate of the Jingjiang Prince's Mansion, truly towering trees, said to be over a hundred years old. Ah, they are older than all of us present.

We strolled around inside the Jingjiang Prince's Mansion, but felt there were no particularly outstanding highlights, so we left after a short while. Due to travel fatigue, we returned to the hotel to rest. From the hotel, we could see the super beautiful Guilin scenery. Guilin doesn't have many high-rise buildings, precisely to avoid obstructing the view of the beautiful landscape. This can be considered a professional ethic of a tourist city, haha.

In the hotel, opening the curtains and looking out, what we saw was this natural scenery, which we particularly liked. Afterwards, we took a nap in the hotel, and when we went out again, it was already evening. Going out at night was mainly to see Guilin's night view. You should know that besides the beautiful mountains and waters, Guilin's night scene is also very beautiful.

From afar, we could see the lights of the Sun and Moon Twin Pagodas, one silver and one gold, complementing each other, exceptionally beautiful. Additionally, you can take a boat tour here to see the Two Rivers and Four Lakes. We still felt that walking along the shore offered the best views, so we did not take the boat tour.

On the second and third days, our travel focus was Yangshuo West Street, but before going to Yangshuo, we played around the Li River for a while. The places we visited were like a paradise, with exceptionally beautiful scenery.

Taking a boat trip on the Li River, we saw some farm women washing clothes by the shore. It had been a very long time since we had seen anyone washing clothes by the river. Suddenly, the poem 'Silk-Washing Stream' (Huanxisha) came to mind. What a beautiful scene!

After that, we set off for Xianggong Mountain, which is also very famous in Guilin. The path up Xianggong Mountain is particularly steep, making it a relatively challenging attraction. We climbed Xianggong Mountain early in the morning, and the whole experience was very intense. In fact, many people time their visit specifically to Xianggong Mountain, either coming in the morning to watch the sunrise or in the evening to watch the sunset.

Standing on Xianggong Mountain to view the scenery was exceptionally beautiful. Below was a very beautiful river, truly wonderful. The Yulong River rafting passes through here. The wonder of Guilin is that regardless of spring, summer, autumn, or winter, you can start a Yulong River rafting trip. Since we had already experienced rafting several times this year, we did not start a rafting trip in Guilin.

After that, we set off for Xingping Ancient Town, which is also a famous ancient town in the area. We have visited too many ancient towns in recent years, so we weren't particularly interested in Xingping Ancient Town. We just took some photos here. A landmark attraction in the ancient town is the stage, named the Wannian Stage (Ten-Thousand-Year Stage), and many people come here to take pictures.

In the north, there are almost no flowers blooming anymore, but in Xingping Ancient Town, beautiful flowers can be seen everywhere. We absolutely loved this scene! That's why I say, in winter and autumn, you must come to the south to play. It's warm here, and it also allows us northerners to once again savor the taste of summer.

The Yangshuo Li River Scenic Area is full of beautiful scenery. Ten Li Gallery (Shili Gallery) is a place well worth visiting. We rented a bicycle and rode along the road. Cycling through the fields gave a particularly strong sense of life.

This area is all green rice fields, simply wonderful. In the distance, there are rolling peaks, complemented by blue sky and white clouds. This is truly scenery worthy of a computer desktop.

This is the well-known Ten Li Gallery Scenic Area. The so-called Ten Li Gallery means that a long stretch of road is like a painting. There were many people at Ten Li Gallery, and I even saw some children sketching here. I admire today's children; they can always be very quiet sketching in one place. Thinking back to my childhood, I certainly couldn't achieve such tranquility.

After that, we checked in at the Longji Rice Terraces. The Longji Rice Terraces are an attraction well worth visiting. Later, I will write a dedicated guide for everyone.

Travelogue Directory

1. About the Itinerary

2. About Accommodation

3. Day 1: Arrival in Guilin

4. Day 2-3: Yangshuo Travel Diary

5. Yangshuo Li River Scenic Area Travel Information

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