Guilin & Yangshuo Tours & Travel Guide

The karst peaks around Guilin appear on the back of the 20-yuan note, which tells you how central they are to the idea of China. The Li River runs 83 kilometres through them, and the four-hour cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo is the single most beautiful half-day in the country.

Yangshuo, at the far end, is where people stay longer than planned. Bicycle routes between rice paddies, bamboo rafts on the Yulong River, rock climbing on the limestone, and a night market that stays open late.

Two hours north are the Longji rice terraces, cut into the hillsides by Zhuang and Yao communities over 700 years. This is the gentlest route we run, and the one we recommend most often to families travelling with young children or grandparents.

Guangxi cooking is lighter and less pork-dependent than Hunan or Sichuan, which makes halal eating easier here than in most of China. Guilin and Yangshuo both have halal-friendly restaurants — many run by Hui or Uyghur families — and we confirm each one in advance. Yangshuo's night market has grilled seafood, vegetable dishes and noodles that present no problem, and hotels will prepare a Muslim-friendly breakfast when we ask. On the Li River cruise we arrange a halal lunch box instead of the standard buffet.