Top 10 Things To Do In Guilin – Best Things To Do In Guilin
Last Update: 13th October 2020
What are the Top 10 Things To Do In Guilin?
Guilin is well-renowned around the world with its amazing natural scenery as well as its spectacular beauty. Aside from the amazing scenery, Guilin also offers its unique tasty food, such as the world famous Guilin Rice Noodles, toffee taro and monk fruit. Just imagine yourself enjoying delicious snacks while exploring its beauty! From Reed Flute Cave to Elephant Trunk Hill and more, please see the Top 10 Things To Do In Guilin and the Best Guilin Tours as outlined below.
Top 10 Things To Do In Guilin
Interested in visiting The Top 10 Things To Do In Guilin on a Tour?
Wendy Wei Tours offers a variety of different packaged tours as well as custom tours in Guilin, among other cities and areas. To find out more, please visit our Tours page or Contact Us directly to find out more.
1. Li River Cruise (漓江游船)
Take a Li River Cruise to Yangshuo from the city of Guilin along the Li River. The natural beauty along Li River is the most amazing around Guilin. The Li River with its clear water and green hills around offers the ideal surroundings for photographing. What’s more, they make you get the feeling of staying in the Chinese-landscape-painting-like environment.
To enjoy Li River boat cruises, you should get to the Mopanshan Wharf or Zhujiang Wharf before 9 a.m. to board the boat from the downtown of Guilin. Generally speaking, the cruise takes about four and a half hours to arrive in the Town of Xingping in Yangshuo. During the cruise, you could appreciate the most attractive sightseeings around Li River Scenic Area under the blue sky. Breeze touching your face and fresh air blowing around you, you will be refreshed and relaxed. After reaching Yangshuo in the afternoon, you could visit other attractions or take a sip in a bar on Yangshuo West Street.
Li River Cruise
2. Reed Flute Cave (芦笛岩)
With a depth of 300 meters, Reed Flute Cave, acclaimed as “the artistic palace of the nature”, is a shining pearl among all the scenic spots in Guilin. Lying at the hillside of the southern side of Guangming Hill which is 5 kilometers away from the downtown of Guilin, the cave features various unique stalactites, stalagmites, stelae and other stones with distinctive shapes.
When walking in the cave, you will be shocked at the power of the nature bringing you unparalleled feasts for eyes. Reed Flute Cave looks like an underground palace with its own characteristics. Tips: English-speaking guides serve the visitors at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. every day. If you visit the cave at any other time, the additional charge needs paying. The last entry is at 6 p.m. Please arrange your time reasonably for the visit during your staying in Guilin.
Reed Flute Cave
3. Yao Mountain (尧山)
Yao Mountain is located in the northeast of Guilin City, around 10 kilometers away from the center of Guilin City. The main peak, the highest hill in Guilin City, has an altitude of some 910 meters. Yao Mountain lies from the south to the north, looking like a lying buffalo. Its cableway is 1416.18 meters long, providing the panorama of Guilin City for you. Its slide is 1000 meters long with 8 bends.
In March, azaleas with different colors blossom around Yao Mountain, making the mountain a sea of flowers. When it is rainy in Guilin in summer, you can experience the exciting landscape on the top of Yao Mountain. Hills with clouds and fog around make for a wonderland. The scenery on Yao Mountain differs with four seasons, creating four different feasts for your eyes.
Yao Mountain
4. Elephant Trunk Hill (象鼻山)
Lying at the point of Peach Flower River and Li River, the Elephant Trunk Hill in the center of Guilin City symbolizes the natural beauty of Guilin. It looks like an elephant standing close to the river that drinks water. It is a round hole with an area of around 150 m2 between the elephant trunk and the elephant legs.Water in the river runs through this hole, which makes the scene where a shining moon floats on the river.
The Elephant Trunk Hill offers the spots, such as the Water and Moon Cave where the Morning Sun Pavilion was built first in Song Dynasty, the Elephant Eye Cave formerly as an underground river in the ancient China which runs from the north to the south and so on. The most special spot here is the Elephant Trunk Hill Cellar where Guilin Sanhua Liquor is made.
Elephant Trunk Hill
5. Folded Brocade Hill/Diecai Hill (叠彩山)
Located in the northeast of Guilin City, Folded Brocade Hill (also known as Diecai Hill) stands close to Li River. Covering an area of some 2 square kilometers, it consists of Mingyue Peak, Xianhe Peak, Siwang Hill and Yuyue Hill. The name of Diecai Hill comes from its tier upon tiers of the fractured rocks in cross-section.
The hill offers incredible inscriptions on precipices created in the ancient China.Mingyue Peak overlooks the whole Guilin City. When you take a rest atWangjiang Pavilion, you can enjoy the Scenic Area of “Two Rivers Four Lakes”. Having two big ends and narrow middle part, Wind Cave at the hillside of Mingyue Peak, presents you a distinctive view. The middle part is narrow just for a single person to walk through. Before, the cave had worked as an ancient underground river.
Diecai Hill
6. Four Lakes Night Cruise (夜游四湖)
Four Lakes Night Cruise offers a chance for you to appreciate the most beautiful landscape belt around Guilin City. The four lakes are Shanhu Lake, Ronghu Lake, Guihu Lake and Mulonghu Lake. Four Lakes Night Cruises is the preferred choice to visit the new Guilin City for you in Guilin.
You can enjoy the beauty of over 10 traditional famous hills in Guilin, including the Elephant Trunk Hill, Diecai Hill, and Yao Mountain, and the Chinese classical garden -RonghuLake and ShanhuLake Scenic Area, the ecological garden – Guihu Lake Scenic Area and the historical and cultural garden of Song Dynasty – Mulonghu Lake Scenic Areaon the boat.
Besides, you can also watch shows with the local national style, such as Guangxi Gui Opera, Guilin Caidiao Opera, and Zhuang Bronze-drum Dance.
Four Lakes Night Cruise
7. Riyue Shuangta Cultural Park (日月双塔)
Standing in Shanhu Lake and named as “the Landmark of New Guilin”, Riyue Shuangta Cultural Park is located in the center of Guilin City. The Sun Pagoda is built in bronze and the Moon Pagoda, colored glaze. A tunnel which is over 10 meters long under the lake connects the two pagodas. At night, the Sun Pagoda gives out the golden light, and the Moon Pagoda, the silver light with their own shadows in the lake.
With a height of 41 meters and 9 floors, the Sun Pagoda is the highest bronze pagoda in the world. Every part of the pagoda is completely built in bronze. With 7 floors, the Moon Pagodais 35 meters high. The interior walls, windows and doors of the two pagodas are decorated with carvings and colorful patterns. The best time for visiting is at night.
Riyue Shuangta Cultural Park
8. Zhengyang Walking Street & Shangshui Snack Street (正阳步行街 & 尚水小吃街)
Don’t miss the busiest shopping mall when exploring a new city. Thus, wandering about Zhengyang Walking Street will bring you an unforgettable experience in Guilin. Lying in the centre of Guilin City, Zhengyang Walking Street is located on Zhengyang Road which has a history of around 1000 years. It’s a must-visit in Guilin. Buildings here feature the Western and the Chinese styles. With their own uniqueness, various shops, including fashion boutiques, cosmetic shops, bars and so on, stand here, welcoming the visitors from all over the world.
Tasting the local snacks is very necessary when travelling to a new place. Shangshui Snack Street lies on Zhengyang Walking Street. Creative delicious snacks here including pan-fried bun stuffed with pork, potatoes in cheese, and hot and sour rice noodles can stimulate your taste bud, giving you a brand-new taste experience.
Zhengyang Walking Street
9. Mirage Acrobatic Show (山水间)
Mirage Acrobatic Show describes the natural beauty in Guilin from a special perspective, applying the world-class stage-craft. Through two years of creative planning and hard-training, it finally hit the stage in 2012.It combines the local singing and dancing performance with excellent acrobatics in a comprehensive performing art form. The show comprises four acts, “Green Hills”, “Clear Water”, “Unique Caves” and “Amazing Stones”. Among the four acts, the most impressive is the ballet show performed by a group of female impersonators. To start with the song of “Gulin, My Destination” along with magma-like flame pouring out,it takes the audience into a mystical cave at the same time.
Actors interact with the audience during the show. Mirage Acrobatic Show not only introduce the natural beauty to the audience, but also get them acquainted with the ethnic culture in Guilin.
Mirage Acrobatic Show
10. Guilin Night Markets (桂林夜市)
There are several night markets in Guilin. The most famous is Zhengyang Night Market situated on Zhengyang Road. Kind-hearted vendors offer various kinds of handicrafts. It’s good to visit it after you wander around Zhengyang Walking Street at night.
Xiangshan Night Market, the second famous night market, lies on Xicheng Walking Street, connecting “Two Rivers Four Lakes” Scenic Area and the business circle of the downtown. It provides tourism crafts, jade crafts, apparels, accessories, children toys, the Chinese painting and calligraphy,instruments and so on. They will broaden your horizon on the Chinese art craft and culture. You could get some knowledge on the Chinese culture as well.
Enjoying the local snacks is indispensable when paying a visit to a new city.At night, food is the richest to taste. Shangshui Snack Street is the most recommended in Guilin.
Guilin Night Market
Best time to visit Guilin
The best months to visit Guilin are from April to October with May and June being the rainy season and July to August, the summer months.
How to travel to Guilin
There are several airplanes to Guilin from the main cities around China, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Xiamen, Ningbo, Changsha, Hongkong, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Guiyang, Nanning, Hangzhou, Xi’an, etc. There are some direct trains to Guilin from Xi’an, Kunming, Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, Guiyang, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hongkong, Nanning, etc. Please get to Guilin by air or by train based on your schedule. Find out more about how to travel to Guilin.
Interested in visiting The Top 10 Things To Do In Guilin on a Tour?
Wendy Wei Tours offers a variety of different packaged tours as well as custom tours in Guilin, among other cities and areas. To find out more, please visit our Tours page or Contact Us directly to find out more.