Although Guilin's weather makes it suitable for traveling to all year round, the best time to visit Guilin is from April until November.
This period offers warmer weather, great views, and more opportunities for a variety of outdoor activities.
There are still going to be some slight differences in the best times based on your interests and needs. Our article gives you suitable travel-date options for different preferences and interests as well as seasonal travel tips.
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Best Time for Good Weather
If you are looking for less rain with hot-to-mild and often sunny weather, then the autumn months from September to November are the best choice.
Especially for couples, such good weather provides an excellent backdrop for celebrating your anniversary, birthday, or other significant milestones.
With this delightful weather, Yangshuo, in Guilin's countryside, is an excellent destination. There, you could admire the golden autumn paddy fields and cycle by them with the backdrop of the setting sun.
Enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner on a riverside lawn in the gentle evening breeze would be a wonderful ending to a day of sightseeing.
Discover real reviews of Highlights Travel Family's best-rated service across trusted platforms.
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Guilin 2024
We visited Guilin for 2 days and stayed in the Guilin Waterfall hotel. Guilin was absolutely beautiful! Our guide, William, was very knowledgeable and kind! He taught us so much about Guilin and the surrounding area! We really enjoyed trying the specialty rice noodles of Guilin. Our highlight was the Li river cruise. more
Feb 2024, Explore
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Excellent service
Amazing tour and the guide Mr. 贺霄 was very accommodating with our needs and request as we have bought our 2 years old with us. Well explained for all the place we visited. Any additional cost were informed well ahead and didn't felt any pressure if we opt not to go for additional detour. The trip was relaxing/ laid back/no rushing with zero shopping! more
Feb 2024, JJC
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Vincent was a fantastic guide !
Vincent was a fantastic guide !Vincent is a wonderful & warm guide. He is extremely knowledgeable and his explanations are excellent. He showed us around Guilin & Yangshuo. He attended to all of our needs and really made the tour very special more
Feb 2024, David
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Beautiful Yangshuo
Guilin, but mostly Yangshuo was at the tail end of our China adventure so there was a lot to live up to. Having a guide like Gary Wei meant that our trip ended on a high! We arrived in Guilin very late from an 11 hour train journey. Gary met us with gifts of fruit, sweet bread and cakes which was so unexpected and thoughtful.Gary's knowledge of the area was exceptional and his attention to us the same. He really took our children under his wing - even tuning in to annoying sibling rivalry and managing to keep the peace very well! Gary was our personal photographer at times and even our Taiji instructor, making a beautiful video of us all doing Taiji in a scenic setting :)The cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo is definitely worth taking and we enjoyed our few nights in the area, riding bikes along the river, doing a cooking class and enjoying the scenery more
Feb 2024, JenB
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Nice tour in Guilin
I have an excellent trip to Guilin and local guide Tony.Tony has a lot of information about the local history and culture.We enjoy the tour very much. more
Feb 2024, Chai Kiam leung
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Beautiful and Great Trip
Our guide Steven, is a local in the area and was very knowledgable, kind and patient. Our flight was delayed and came in late in the early morning. Everything was well accommodated for the delay. Also, he had great restaurant choices/recommendations and helped us take great photos. Overall, great guide and experience! more
Feb 2024, Karol
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Inolvidable viaje en Guilin con Alonso y China Highlights
Alonso cuenta con un manejo del espanol bastante bueno y muy profesional. Mis padres no hablan ingles y pudieron comunicarse con el directamente todo el tiempo. Tiene un elevado conocimiento de la cultura, la historia, la geogrfia y los sitios a visitar. Alonso ademas cuenta con un excelente sentido del humor, haciendo el viaje muy ameno y divertido. Se interesa genuinamente por la cultura latina y el viaje se convierte en un exquisito intercambio cultural. more
Jan 2024, eduardogor77
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Amazing trip in China
From the start until the very end our guides were very professional, helpful, knowledgeable and funny! We would not have had such an amazing time if we had done this on our own. We went to several cities, each city we had a new guide, who were from that area. Each guide made sure we were picked up in very nice van and delivered to each activity, safely and on time. They got us through lines quickly as well as showed us where to get the best views and pictures. Their knowledge of what they were sharing with us made the trip even more valuable. more
Jan 2024, Mary Ann Brady
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unforgettable Guilin
Lily Wong our guide at Guilin was wonderful. Along with all the good qualities like being punctual,courteous, organized,knowledgeable,hard working she is also caring.The scenaries at Guilin is second to none,Lily helped us to take lots of pictures to capture the scenaries as much as possible.With Lily's help I can enjoy the amazing cave and the rafting.At Yangshuo Lily also recommend a Light Show on the river.That was fantastic never saw anything like it. I must mention the unique hotel they put us in.Its called Yangshuo Moondance hotel.My wife is very happy with Lily because she took a lot of pictures for her and took her shopping for a new (Qie Pao,cantonese Cheung Sham). more
Jan 2024, Peter W
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Just wish I could stay longer!
Our guide Frank was fantastic. He was really knowledgeable about the region and the many different ethnic groups living here. He has contacts with local people who invited us into their homes. He was so high energy and kind. We saw many things in a short period of time from the pagodas, to history Duha (so?) street, to a beautiful relaxing cruise on a river….we also attended a spectacular cultural show in Yangshou. It wasn’t on the agenda but so glad we went. (Randomly called the Romance show). Frank also introduced us to local cuisine like Guilin noodles. We stayed at the Aspara Lodge for one night in Yangshou and seriously could have stayed for a few days if I didn’t have to go back to work. Travel advisor Liberman was a great resource as well and helped plan such a special trip. more
Jan 2024, Rosequarose
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Remarkable experience in Guilin
I have an excellent trip to Guilin and my guide, Gary Wei who works for China Highlights Tour was very professional and knowledgeable in regard to the history of the Guilin and Yangshuo. Gary was remarkable with his recital of a lot of ancient poems. Hence, I had such a good and memorable experience. I do highly recommend China Highlights Tour to anyone who wish to visit China. more
Jan 2024, Sooi C
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Don't Miss the Chinese Countryside!
Our guide William (Wei Jiyi) was exceptional. He made the utmost effort to accommodate our groups' additional requests and recommended restaurants, shows and attractions that were all of great interest. He ensured the already included items in the itinerary were entertaining to the whole group by providing expert opinions and answering all questions. more
Jan 2024, Diana G
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Well organised tour
We started in Guilin, our tour guide was Frank, Frank's knowledge of Chinese history is very good and he added in all the interesting historical facts along the way. On this part of the tour we were 14 people, including my 87 year old dad, and Frank was very patient with our group rounding us up and waiting for my dad as he was a bit slower. Some family members left Guilin at different times due to different travel arrangements, Frank and Carol arranged the necessary transfers and changed the tour schedule slightly to accommodate everyone as much as possible. more
Jan 2024, LC
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Greatest Asian Experience
All local guides, from Lena in Tokyo, Denis in Kyoto, Tom in Bangkok, Kai in Phuket, Martin in Hong Kong, William in Guilin, Linda in Zhangjiajie, to Jessie in Beijing, did their best to make sure everything went smoothly and to adjust to my teens' additional requests. more
Jan 2024, Diana Gadjanov
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Great China Highlights tour with Vincent
We had a great 4,5 days tour in Guilin with Vincent! Vincent has a lot of information about the history and culture of the area, he is always attentive to the details, proposes items originally not included in the tour but which might be of interest (like the show in Yangshuo, hiking routes, going to RUYI peak, tea party, etc.), considers individual diet requirements. In addition, Vincent's English is advanced and professional. more
Jan 2024, Ксения
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Beautiful place and amazing guide
We did a visit to Yangshuo with China Highlights. We really enjoy our visit, our guide, Gary Wei was so friendly and kind. Very good company on the River Li Cruise and on our visit to Guilin and Yangshuo. We did a very fun bike ride to the country side, visit the West Street and to the wonderful show. We really recommend all of this! more
Jan 2024, Journey44166757277
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Great experience in Guilin and Yangshuo
We visited Longji rice terraces, Li River cruise, Yangshuo impressions show and Yangshuo county ebike tour, spending 2 nights in Guilin and one in Yangshuo. Our guide Tony did a great job for our Guilin and Yangshuo tour, we would recommend this company. more
Jan 2024, Lee Fitzmaurice
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Extraordinary value of our 4-days trip
We reserved a 4-days trip with China Highlights for Guilin and Yangshuo. We normally travel only relying on our own, but this time we decided to apply to a local agency. It may sound pretty expensive, but we valued every moment. more
Jan 2024, Veronica P
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Guilin and Yangshuo with China Highlights!
We reserved a 4-days trip with China Highlights for Guilin and Yangshuo. We normally travel only relying on our own, but this time we decided to apply to a local agency. more
Jan 2024, Veronica Pesarasi
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amazing trip around Guilin
With our funny, storytelling, thoughtful first rate guide Steven we hiked, and biked around Guilin. The vistas, the encounters and discoveries were beyond our expectations. more
Jan 2024, Aude P
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Best Times for Natural Beauty
Guilin is a scenic city. Whenever you visit, you could enjoy beautiful landscapes of mountains, rivers, and countryside. However, if you want to see its top seasonal scenery, the best times are during spring and autumn.
In spring, with the drizzling rain and mist, the peaks, rivers, and villages along the Li River seem to be adorned with a thin pastel layer, having blurred outlines and soft colors and best resembling a traditional Chinese painting.
In autumn, the rice terraces at Longji Terraced Fields become a vast golden-tiered spectacle. Mature rice crops spread like waves across the terraces, shimmering in the sunlight, resembling a golden scroll painting.
Best Times for Family Travel
For families with flexible schedules, autumn and spring are the best times for travel. As mentioned above, during these seasons, you could enjoy beautiful scenery, pleasant weather, and plenty of outdoor activities for children. Additionally, there are fewer tourists compared to the peak summer season (apart from around the first week of October).
For families with school-aged children, your timing of vacations may be more fixed and the available options are limited.
Generally, a summer vacation is the most common choice. Guilin's hot summer offers kids cool and enjoyable outdoor activities, such as paddleboarding and cave exploration, along with numerous indoor cultural experiences, such as making paper fans.
If you choose to travel in the Christmas holiday season, Guilin also offers many activities. Hiking in the countryside, enjoying a city walking and food discovery tour, and taking cooking classes are all great experiences.
No matter in what season you visit, we would carefully customize your itinerary to balance the interests of your family and create quality family time without any hassles. Just contact us.
The Worst Times to Visit Guilin
The rainy season is a rather bothersome factor. Guilin is affected by early monsoon rains during the early summer, leading to the onset of the rainy season. May/June is the rainiest period.
When traveling during this period, a flexible itinerary is necessary because adjustments may be required due to unforeseen weather conditions.
If you prefer a quieter travel environment, you may need to avoid the Labor Day holiday (around May 1–5) and National Day holiday (around October 1–7). They are the peak tourist weeks in Guilin.
However, the issues encountered during the worst times can be minimized through flexible planning and enough knowledge of the destination. That's what we could do for you by creating your own hassle-free trip.
Guilin Travel Guide by Month
Our private tours offer you customized options and more personal space with a private guide who is only available for your family/couple/group. We provide a more in-depth and less-touristy experience as well as a worry-free tour. Just contact us to create a hassle-free trip.
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
Guilin in January
- Average daily temperature range: 7–13°C (45–55°F)
- Average rainy days: 11
- Average sunny days: 4
- Average cloudy days: 15
January in Guilin is cool and crisp, with occasional rain. This is an ideal time for those seeking a peaceful getaway with fewer tourists.
Take a leisurely river cruise along the Li River and visit an artist on the bank of the river to immerse yourself in the local culture, such as learning to make a paper fan and using Chinese painting skills.
Recommended China Tours
All of our tours can be adjusted or customized based on your requirements. Just contact us if you have a good idea about what you want to do. You could also start from one of our popular itineraries including Guilin: