Guilin (桂林), in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
(廣西壯族自治區), is one of China's most popular tourist destinations.
Situated on the banks of the Li River (漓江), Guilin is home to incredible natural
scenery with amazing karst formations. It is often said that "Guilin's
landscape is the best under heaven" (桂林山水甲天下). Yangshuo (陽朔) is a county
under the jurisdiction of Guilin City. Surrounded by karst peaks and
bordered by the Li River (漓江) and Yulong River (遇龍河), Yangshuo is sometimes said
its landscape is the best in Guilin (陽朔山水甲桂林).
Getting there ...
We continued our China trip from
Huangshan on 11/22 by high-speed train, from Huangshanbei
(12:17PM) to Shangrao (1:05PM) and Shangrao (2:03PM) to Guilin (8:19PM).
I planned this China trip (Huangshan
and Guilin) through
Mercier Zeng Photo Tours as my first
real "photo centric" trip (a private photo tour just for two of us).
Day 1 (11/23) ...
We were picked up by our Guilin guide Top at 4:30AM from the hotel in Guilin,
and headed south to a scenic point along the Li River for our first photo
session in Guilin before sunrise.
- Li River (漓江)
The Li River , running 83 km from Guilin to Yangshuo,
is one of Guilin's most celebrated natural features. Known for its emerald
water and limestone peaks, the river section is a highly concentrated
example of karst terrain. We hired a fisherman (a 77-year-old retired
fisherman) as a model to photograph his bamboo raft and cormorants with the
calm Guilin karst landscape as backdrop. It was like we were living
through the old-time fisherman and reproducing the National Geographic photo
moment.
After the photo session, we continued to drive to
Yangshuo, where we would stay for the next 3 nights. When we got to the
hotel (Yunwu Hotel
(云舞), Apsara Lodge) at about 10AM, our room was not ready yet and we were
given a cute smaller room (but
still very spacious) to rest for the day until the room is ready in the
afternoon.
- Ten-Mile Gallery (十里畫廊), Yangshuo (陽朔)
We went out at about 3PM to
have an easy stroll along the picturesque Yulong River (遇龍河), a section
generally called Ten-Mile Gallery (十里畫廊).
- Cuiping Wuzhi Mountain (翠屏五指山)
We went up (700 steps) to the Cuiping
Wuzhi Mountain (翠屏五指山, Five-Finger Mountain) for sunset. The sun set
behind the karst mountains, farmlands, and small streams. It was a
perfect ending for our first full day in Guilin/Yangshuo.
Day 2 (11/24) ...
- Xianggong Mountain (相公山)
It's another 4:30AM early morning call.
Woanyu decided not go out for sunrise with me today so she could get more
sleep. We arrived at the Xianggong Mountain (相公山) at about 5:20AM (10
minutes before the gate opened), and there was already a line of people
queuing at the entrance gate. There were about 400 steps to climb up
to the viewing platforms. Although we were not the first ones to enter
the park, with our steady pace, we were the first ones to reach the lower
platform to secure a good spot for my tripod. It indeed got very
crowded a few minutes later since it was such a popular location to
see/photo sunrise.
- Zhuang Yuan Bridge (壯元橋)
We then went to a rural place (not far from
Guilin) to capture the images of a buffalo farmer on an ancient stone bridge
in a village, with stunning mountains in the background. The backlit
late morning light made the silhouette of the farmer and buffalo with
multiple layers of mountains.
- Yulong River (遇龍河) Sunset
Day 3 (11/25) ...
Today was a free day: no specific photo sessions for early morning or
late afternoon. We were just normal tourists around the town. We
booked full-day time for our driver (who had been driving us around for the
past two days) to take us to various tourist locations and restaurants.
-
Yulong River (遇龍河) Bamboo Rafting
Taking a bamboo raft along the Yulong
River is one of the most popular (and also most relaxed) ways to have a real
close-up to the hills and waterscape. We chose the longer 6-km
(90 min) route to fully enjoy the serenity of the landscape. Taking
the traditional non-motorized bamboo raft steered by the boatman, floating
down to see the reflection of the rising Karst mountains on the narrow and
mysterious mirror-like stream with layers of ripples, it was truly enjoyable
moments to lay back and immerse into the infinite joy and peace.
Woanyu put on the
mask we got
from our Huangshan guide April who bought the mask for us and had it
delivered to our hotel in Yangshuo yesterday.
- Gaotian (高田) Market & Lunch
- Ruyi Peak (如意峰)
Rising above the skyline of Yangshuo, the Ruyi Peak
Cable Car Scenic Area amazes visitors with its "three peaks and two valleys"
of karst wonders. It has a few special tourist attractions: the
sightseeing cable car ride spanning approximately 2km (~10 minutes), slowly
revealing ink-painting like landscape when climbing up with panoramic views;
the 138m-long transparent glass
walkway (玻璃棧道) is attached to the rock cliff wall with a deep valley
below and continuous peaks at eye level; the 246m-long
forest walkway (林中漫步道) winding
between peaks and valleys is 32.5 meters high at the center; the
Ruyi Suspension Bridge (如意索橋),
where the 140m bridge body flies through the air, bringing a heart-pounding
thrill with a height of 58m from the valley floor;
Ruyi Yunding (如意雲頂), the highest
point of Ruyi Peak with a 360° obstruction-free viewing platform.
We
stayed at the top platform until as late as possible (we went down from the
platform at ~5:30PM and got down to the lower cable car station after 6PM)
to enjoy quiet moments and beautiful pre-sunset light.
- Impression Sanjie Liu (印象 劉三姐)
Impression Sanjie Liu (印象 劉三姐) is a
large-scale outdoor performance in Yangshuo, directed by Zhang Yimou (張藝謀),
that uses the Li River and the surrounding karst mountains as its stage. The
show is a musical, dance, and light spectacle with over 600 performers and
is based on a legend about the ethnic minority groups. The show
was premiered on March 20, 2004. By 2025, Impression Liu Sanjie had been
performed 92,142 times, attracting 31.2 million viewers and generating 6
billion yuan. The show was so unique (for both its scale and setup)
and it would be impossible to reproduce anywhere else.
Day 4 (11/26) Going Home ...
We left our hotel in Yangshuo for Guilin at 7:30AM to catch our flight back
to Taiwan (KWL @10:20AM to FOC @11:55AM, FOC @ 6:20PM to TSA @7:45PM).
Although it has a long 6.5-hour layover, we found a simple coffee shop to relax
(had coffee and many pieces of pineapple cakes) and go through some of my photos
after lunch at the FOC airport. Guilin and Yangshuo's unique karst
mountain landscape is really the best of the best (桂林山水甲天下, 陽朔山水甲桂林). With
a 3-day short trip, we could only visit a few iconic places and still missed a
lot of amazing places. Although we were exhausted from this trip (Huangshan
and Guilin) because of many days of sunrise and
sunset (and also many steps of staircases), we appreciated the chances we had to
experience the beauty of nature and culture in China (while we were still
"young" enough to meet the physical challenges...). I hope we will visit China
more frequently and regularly (since we do not have any language barrier) to
embrace more of its nature wonders and culture legacies.
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