4 Days Guilin Scenic and Ethnic Discovery
Guilin offers a timeless beauty belonging to a time long past: small villages set among craggy limestone pinnacles in the peaceful countryside, where locals and water buffaloes graze work in the paddy fields. Our 4 days Guilin tour including Yangshuo and Longsheng's rice terraces allows you to see Guilin's most beautiful scenery and explore its minority culture.
Our tours are very flexible, and with our tips to tailor-make your tour, you are encouraged to make it unique.
Highlights
- Enjoy the scenery of the rice terraces from the best viewing spots.
- Visit a local’s wooden house, and enjoy her stories of cooking bamboo rice.
- Try some farm work in the fields with the locals.
- No hurrying from one place to another: flexible and at your own pace
- Private, no big bus, no strangers travel with you
780+ Excellent Reviews
Yangshuo was a pleasant area to stay in and after the hustle and bustle of the city’s it was much appreciated change of environment. — David from UK
Day 1 — Guilin Arrival | Free to Explore
Welcome to Guilin!.
With buildings surrounded by mountains and rivers, Guilin might strike you as a small laid-back town yet its charm calls out to you to explore it.
Upon arrival in Guilin, you will have a lot of free time to discover the city on your own.
Tips to tailor-make your tour:
As most flights from big cities, such as Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai, land during the afternoon, the rest of the day is left free for you to spend at your leisure.
Reed Flute Cave, Li River Stone Drawing, and walking along Binjiang Road are good ways to spend your time if you’d rather go out and explore.
- Lijiang Waterfall Hotel (5-star location and facilities, 4-star service)
- Shangri-La Hotel Guilin (best in Guilin)
Day 2 — Guilin–Longsheng | Rolling Mountains in Longsheng
Meals provided: breakfast and lunch
After breakfast, start exploring Longsheng. Usually, it takes 3 to 4 hours to get there on the mountain road. You will travel on the highway instead, to shorten the journey to 2½ hours.
Arriving at the famous terraced rice fields, you can either walk up or take an electric buggy to get to the top.
The Longji Rice Terraces are known widely for the awe-inspiring view, particularly when they turn golden during autumn.
With autumn undoubtedly being the best time to get perfect photos, the other seasons also boast unique beauty, too. Standing on top of such a huge man-made wonder is itself an extraordinary experience.
When you get back down, you will enjoy lunch with a Yao family who invite you into their home. First, you will learn how to stuff and cook rice inside a bamboo tube.
Then you will sip the freshly-extracted oil tea that keeps the farmers warm in harsh winters. You will return to Guilin by the evening.
Day 3 — Guilin–Yangshuo | Scenic at Every Turn
Meals provided: breakfast and lunch
Listed as one of the world’s 15 best rivers for travelers by CNN, the Li River presents itself differently in each season and there are different ways you can appreciate it.
You will enjoy the most classic way: a cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. To maximize your experience, we will arrange a 4-star cruise for you, which is the highest level. It offers better facilities and a buffet lunch.
The entire journey starts with a smooth transfer from your hotel to the pier. Staggering limestone formations are scattered along the riverbanks and the scenery changes from a cityscape to rural tranquility as you approach Yangshuo.
Take a short break after checking in at your hotel in Yangshuo. Meanwhile, your private tour guide will prepare the bikes or electric scooters for you (a private car is also available if you prefer).
After your break, it’s time to ride along the country roads. As China is developing at full speed, pastoral lifestyles can rarely be seen elsewhere.
Yangshuo’s countryside is one of the handfuls of places left that reminds you of nature’s quietness and pureness.
Enjoy a relaxing night in Yangshuo.
Tips to tailor-make your tour:
Yangshuo offers a relaxing atmosphere and various activities: a cooking class, a tai chi lesson, a farming experience, and even rock climbing.
- Yangshuo Mountain Retreat (boutique hotel with great location by riverside)
- Yangshuo Ancient Garden Boutique Hotel (5 star, one of the best in Yangshuo)
Day 4 — Yangshuo–Guilin | Until Next Time, Guilin!
Meals provided: breakfast and lunch
Unlike most Western countries, agriculture in China depends greatly on manual work rather than machinery and some traditional farming methods have been passed down for generations. Check them out during your last day in Guilin.
Pay a visit to a local farmer’s house in Gaotian Village. The host will walk you around his/her fields and brief you about the work that needs to be done during the day.
Spend a couple of hours helping out, either in the fields or in the backyard barn, ploughing, harvesting, and stocking, to name a few of the farming activities.
Sit down with the family for a home-cooked lunch and exchange your life stories.
Nothing could be more meaningful than getting a glimpse of people’s lives from a totally different culture while yours is also being shared. With great memories, you will leave Guilin in the afternoon.
