How to Enjoy Guilin with Just One Day

Travel and tourism are different. Since it's 'touring' as opposed to 'traveling', the focus should be on 'having fun'. And it should be comfortable with good food and fun activities.

Summer has arrived, and some friends want to take advantage of the reopening of inter-provincial travel to visit Guilin. They've asked many questions about visiting Guilin, such as: Is it hot? Is it fun? Is the food good? My answer is: it's very hot, it's fun, and the food is good.

Of course, they always automatically ignore the answer to the first question and start preparing to come to Guilin. In other words, high temperatures cannot stop people from traveling.

After arranging the itinerary, a new question came up: 'Is there a way to have a leisure Guilin travel route that takes as little time as possible without being too rushed?'

After silently cursing a thousand times in my heart, I suddenly remembered... well... there actually is a way!

Route arrangement: Shili Gallery + Jinshui Cave + Tianlai Butterfly Spring + Yulong River Hike

Theme: Appreciate the essence of Li River scenery, explore the landscapes and local customs

First stop: Picturesque Shili Gallery

Around 7:30 AM, pick up guests from major hotels in the city. This is a must-visit for self-guided tours in Yangshuo. Moon Hill Scenic Area is also located along Shili Gallery. Along the way, you'll see magnificent peaks and pastoral beauty, with many uniquely shaped rocks that inspire imagination—this is the poetic and picturesque Yangshuo Shili Gallery. When former US President Jimmy Carter visited Yangshuo, he learned from his advance security that there were many interesting small sights along Shili Gallery, but driving would miss them. Upon hearing this, Carter changed the tour plan on the spot and rented bicycles to leisurely tour Shili Gallery. As a result, in 2000, the government built a nearly 10-mile bicycle path, viewing platforms, and rest pavilions for tourists to freely enjoy the scenery. Locals call it Carter Scenic Road. Major sights along Shili Gallery include: Peaches Offering Longevity, Dolphin Emerging from Water, Nun Descending the Mountain, Flame Mountain, Bajie Sunbathing, Golden Cat Coming Out of Cave, Horse-Elephant Strange Rock, Dragon Horn Mountain, Monkey's Sorrow, Camel Crossing the River, Qing'e Scenery, Ancient Banyan Beauty, Lady Dressing Up, etc.

Second stop: Jinshui Cave

[Jinshui Cave] is located in Li Village, Moon Hill Scenic Area, Yangshuo. It is opposite Moon Hill about 5 km from Yangshuo to Shili Gallery. Jinshui Cave is the largest, most distinctive, most exciting and world-famous underground river crystal cave in Yangshuo. It traverses three large mountains, about 5 km long. The Jinshui Cave scenic area mainly consists of the dry cave area, underground river crystal area, mud bath area, and cave hot spring area. The stalactites inside the cave are majestic and rugged, crisscrossing like a 'Dragon Palace'. Enter Jinshui Cave to enjoy the pure natural Karst landform style unique to Guilin, experience the unique underground river cave. Walking along the path lined with stalagmites and stone pillars, hearing the sound of flowing water, it feels like a fairyland.

Third stop: Tianlai Butterfly Spring

Visit [Butterfly Spring Scenic Area] (about 90 minutes). Butterfly Spring is located in the prime tourism area of 'Shili Gallery' in Moon Hill Scenic Area, only 3 km from the county. It gets its name from the butterfly spring in Butterfly Cave. It has the reputation of 'Without reaching the top of Butterfly Mountain, you won't know the scenery of Yangshuo', and is a typical representative of Yangshuo's landscapes. See Yangshuo's only original suspension bridge, the high mountain music waterfall, and the best viewing platform overlooking Yulong River and Yangjiao Mountain—the 'Shangri-La' of Yangshuo. Here you can also watch the original, authentic, and ecological Dong Grand Song and passionate Dong dance performances of ethnic minorities like the Dong and Miao!

Fourth stop: Yulong River Hike

Arrive at Yulong River Scenic Area for a walking tour. The Yulong River is known as the 'Little Li River'. The entire Yulong River scenic area has no artificial attractions. As a pure natural landscape area in Guilin, it is praised by Chinese and foreign tourists. The pastoral scenery on both sides of the Yulong River, the calm and elegant river surface, like a large mirror, reflects the mountains on the shore, making it hard to tell which is real and which is reflection—refreshing and pleasing!

Of course, it's not very realistic to (leisurely) visit all of Guilin in just one day.

But you can follow me! I'll update information about visiting Guilin from time to time.

Taoyuan Special Feature: Elegant Oil Tea Experience

Making oil tea is quite particular. First, the water must be from the Li River; the tea leaves are stir-fried in an old iron wok; the tea strainer is made of bamboo; and the heating is done slowly over firewood. This is the authentic way to make oil tea.

The experience process involves making it with an Yao ethnic sister: first, stir-fry the tea leaves in a large iron wok with a spatula, then add ginger and garlic and stir-fry. During the process, use a wooden hammer to mash the ginger and garlic to extract the juice.

Then, the way to eat oil tea is according to personal preference: optionally add local glutinous rice, crispy soybeans, fried peanuts, chopped green onions, and salt to taste. It is worth mentioning that the flavor of oil tea is versatile: salty with salt, sweet with sugar—very special.

The cooked oil tea is fragrant, slightly sweet, can ward off cold and prevent illness, and also has the effects of quenching thirst, refreshing the mind, and relieving fatigue. Especially for those who like late-night snacks, oil tea is a good helper for strengthening the spleen and stomach and aiding digestion.

Eating oil tea is basically similar to traditional tea drinking: first observe its color, then smell its aroma.

The oil tea soup has an amber luster, with a thin layer of oil floating on the surface. The tea flavor is moderate, subtle yet persistent, neither like new tea nor old tea. Only wild local tea can have such a unique taste.