Guilin-Yangshuo-Longsheng

6-Day Guilin, Yangshuo & Longsheng Tour: Karst Peaks, the Li River and Dragon's Backbone Terraces

Designed for American Travelers · 5-Star & Boutique Hotels · One Night in a Mountain Terrace Village · Private Li-River Cruise & Transportation · Dedicated English-Speaking Guide · No Shopping Stops

Float down the river that has shaped Chinese landscape painting for a thousand years, cycle through a countryside of improbable green peaks, and wake above 650-year-old rice terraces carved into the clouds. This unhurried Guangxi journey combines the classic Li River cruise, rural Yangshuo, quiet bamboo-raft drifts and a night in a Yao village above the Longji rice terraces.

Tour Highlights

• The Complete Li River Cruise Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo through the famed "hundred-mile gallery," past Nine Horse Fresco Hill, Yellow Cloth Shoal and the karst bend depicted on the back of the 20-yuan banknote.
• A UNESCO Karst Landscape The otherworldly limestone towers of Guilin and the Li River are protected as part of the South China Karst UNESCO World Heritage Site, extended in 2014 to include the Guilin cluster.
• A Night Above the Dragon's Backbone Terraces Stay inside the Longji terrace area, farmed by Zhuang and Yao communities for more than six centuries, and enjoy both sunset and the famous mirror-water sunrise.
• Quiet Rural Yangshuo Drift down the Yulong River on a hand-poled bamboo raft, ride an e-bike through the Ten-Mile Gallery, and photograph Xingping's iconic 20-yuan viewpoint in warm light.
• Guangxi Country Life and Cuisine Stay in a family-run hillside lodge, eat bamboo-tube rice and farmhouse chicken, and taste Guilin beer-braised fish and rice noodles.

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1 | Arrive in Guilin — Where Every Hill Looks Painted

• Meals: Dinner
• Overnight: Guilin, 5-star riverside hotel

Approx. 45 minutes from Guilin Liangjiang Airport to the city; check-in from 3:00 PM.

• Arrive in Guilin, the riverside city behind the famous saying, "Guilin's scenery is the finest under heaven." Your guide and driver greet you and transfer you to a comfortable riverside hotel.
• Evening: Take an easy walk along the Li River and see the twin Sun and Moon Pagodas, lit gold and silver over the water.
• Welcome dinner: Guangxi country cooking, including local beer-braised fish and Guilin rice noodles.

Day 2 | Full Li River Cruise to Yangshuo — The Hundred-Mile Gallery

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
• Overnight: Yangshuo, boutique riverside or countryside hotel

Approx. 4–4.5 hours by premium cruise; one-way downstream.

• Morning: After breakfast, transfer to the dock for the signature experience of the trip: a premium four-star Li River cruise winding downstream to Yangshuo.
• Settle into a spacious cabin with an open sundeck and buffet lunch as the river passes bamboo groves and tower after tower of karst limestone.
• Watch for classic landmarks:
  • Nine Horse Fresco Hill;
  • The mirror-still Yellow Cloth Shoal;
  • The river bend depicted on every 20-yuan banknote.
• Disembark in laid-back Yangshuo as cormorant fishermen head home for the evening.
• Check in to a boutique hotel, then wander lantern-lit West Street.
• Optional evening: Impression Sanjie Liu, Zhang Yimou's open-air song-and-light spectacle staged on the river against the real peaks.

Day 3 | Yulong River Bamboo Drift & the Ten-Mile Gallery

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
• Overnight: Yangshuo, boutique hotel

Approx. 2–3 hours of easy cycling; raft drift about 1.5 hours.

• Morning: Escape into Yangshuo's tranquil countryside and glide down the gentle Yulong River on a traditional bamboo raft poled by a local boatman. Pass ancient stone weirs, water buffalo and quiet villages — a greener, calmer landscape than the main Li River.
• Lunch: Countryside lunch near Yangshuo.
• Afternoon: Ride an e-bike, or travel by cart, along the Ten-Mile Gallery, a lane meandering between named peaks and lotus ponds, with stops at a farming village and a moon-shaped rock arch.
• Late afternoon: Drive to Xingping to photograph the iconic 20-yuan viewpoint in warm light. Add a short motorized bamboo-raft ride for a water-level view if you wish.
• Evening: Free for a relaxed dinner in Yangshuo.

Day 4 | Return to Guilin — Up to the Longji Rice Terraces

• Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
• Overnight: Longji Jinkeng Terraces, Yao family hillside lodge

Approx. 1.5 hours Yangshuo to Guilin; approx. 2–2.5 hours Guilin to Longji, plus the mountain shuttle.

• Morning: After a leisurely breakfast, drive back through the karst plain to Guilin, then continue north into the misty mountains of Longsheng.
• Arrive at the Longji ("Dragon's Backbone") Terraces, an astonishing network of paddies shaped along ridgelines by Zhuang and Yao farmers since the Yuan dynasty.
• Take the park shuttle up to Jinkeng Dazhai, the largest and most dramatic terrace zone, and check in to a wooden hillside lodge run by a local Yao family, with terraced views from your window.
• Late afternoon: Walk to West Mountain Music Terrace for sunset as light rakes across hundreds of curving contour lines.
• Dinner: A traditional hearth meal of bamboo-tube rice, chicken, cured pork and homemade glutinous-rice wine.

Day 5 | Sunrise Over a Thousand Mirrors — Return to Guilin

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
• Overnight: Guilin, 5-star riverside hotel

Approx. 2.5 hours Longji to Guilin; 1–2 hours of easy walking and steps at the terraces.

• Dawn: Rise early for sunrise over the terraces. In the water-filled weeks of late spring, every paddy reflects the sky and morning clouds; in early autumn, the slopes glow molten gold.
• Ride the cable car, or hike, to Golden Buddha Peak, the highest viewpoint, then walk back down through the village past the Thousand-Layer Staircase, meeting farmers heading to the fields.
• After a late farmhouse breakfast and lunch, descend the mountain and return to Guilin.
• Evening: Free for a riverside stroll, a traditional teahouse, or a last look at the Sun and Moon Pagodas.

Day 6 | Guilin — Departure

• Meals: Breakfast

Approx. 45 minutes to the airport.

• Enjoy a slow breakfast and, if time allows, a final walk through a local morning market or along the river.
• Transfer to Guilin Liangjiang Airport or the railway station for your onward journey.
• We suggest a flight departing after 11:00 AM.

You will carry home the images that have shaped how an entire civilization pictures beauty: a lone fisherman on still water, green towers rising into mist, and a mountainside turned into a staircase of mirrors by hands that have worked it for six hundred years.

What's Included

• Accommodation: 5 nights — 2 nights in a 5-star riverside Guilin hotel, 2 nights in a boutique Yangshuo hotel and 1 night in a Longji terrace-village lodge
• Daily breakfast and selected lunches and dinners as listed
• Premium four-star Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo with buffet lunch
• Yulong River bamboo drift, Xingping visit and Yangshuo countryside touring
• Longji Terrace entrance, park shuttle and Golden Buddha Peak cable car
• All private air-conditioned transportation, including airport and station transfers
• Dedicated English-speaking guide throughout
• 24/7 on-trip support
• No shopping stops

What to Know

• UNESCO status: The Li River's karst towers are protected as part of the South China Karst UNESCO World Heritage Site, first inscribed in 2007 and extended in 2014 to include the Guilin–Guangxi cluster. The Longji rice terraces are a protected scenic area and working minority farmland, but are not a World Heritage Site.
• Prices for reference: Li River premium four-star cruise approx. ¥360 (three-star approx. ¥215); Xingping bamboo raft approx. ¥100–255 depending on route; Yulong River drift approx. ¥160–250; Longji entrance approx. ¥80 (valid 3 days), mandatory mountain shuttle approx. ¥40 round trip, Jinkeng cable car approx. ¥100 round trip. All listed activities are included in your package; figures may vary by season and water level.
• Best times to visit: For the terraces, choose mid-May to early June for flooded "mirror" paddies or late September to mid-October for golden harvest. The Li River is scenic year-round, with misty ink-painting atmosphere in spring and clearer light in autumn. Avoid the October 1–7 national holiday when possible.
• The terrace night: Mountain lodges are simple rather than luxurious, English is limited and cash is useful, but staying overnight is the most reliable way to see both sunset and sunrise. The terraces sit around 800–1,100 m and can be 5–10°C cooler than Guilin; bring a light jacket and non-slip shoes, as stone paths are slick when wet.
• Rafting notes: Bamboo rafts have height and age restrictions and are generally unsuitable for children under about 1.2 m or guests over 70. Rafts may pause in very low water or storms; the premium Li River cruise remains a comfortable, reliable alternative in all conditions.
• Walking level: Easy to moderate. Yangshuo cycling and rafting are relaxed, while Longji involves stone steps, uneven village paths and short uphill walks. The cable car reduces climbing at Jinkeng.
• Optional add-ons: The Impression Sanjie Liu evening show, a cormorant-fishing photo outing, the quieter Ping'an Zhuang village, or an extension into Guizhou minority country. High-speed trains also connect Guilin and Yangshuo with Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
• Weather: Guangxi is green and humid, with river mist common in spring. Bring light rain gear, sunscreen, insect repellent and protective covers for cameras or phones near the rafts.