Guilin (桂林)

Attractions in Guilin

Li River cruise, Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave, Longji Rice Terraces, Yangshuo West Street, Fubo Hill, Seven Star Park, Two Rivers and Four Lakes.

Popular Routes

Day 1: Li River cruise to Yangshuo → West Street; Day 2: Longji Rice Terraces Ping-an or Dazhai; Day 3: Reed Flute Cave → Elephant Trunk Hill → Two Rivers and Four Lakes.

Food & Dining

Guilin rice noodles mifen, Beer fish from Yangshuo, Stuffed Li River snails, Lipu taro pork, Oil tea, Rice dumplings, Yangshuo chestnut cake.

Shopping

West Street Yangshuo, Zhengyang Pedestrian Street, Guilin North Station commercial area, Longji Rice Terraces handicrafts, Reed Flute Cave souvenir shops, Sanli shop.

Local Vibe & Fun Facts

Local Vibe: Guilin is where China switches to cruise mode. Life moves at the pace of the Li River, locals start the day with a bowl of rice noodles, and retirees practice tai chi under karst peaks that look like a watercolor painting. The city is laid-back, proud of its scenery, and quietly confident that it has the best landscape in the country.

Fun Facts:

• The name Guilin (桂林) literally means "Forest of Sweet Osmanthus" — the city is named after the fragrant trees that once blanketed the streets.

• The 20-yuan Chinese banknote features the Li River scenery near Xingping, just downstream from Guilin.

• The karst mountains around Guilin are over 300 million years old and inspired countless traditional Chinese landscape paintings.

• Yangshuo, a town near Guilin, became famous after the movie The Painted Veil (2006) was filmed there.

Speak Like a Local

Guilin locals speak Guilin dialect, a branch of Southwest Mandarin that sounds melodic and easygoing. Mandarin works everywhere, but a few local phrases win smiles:

吃米粉 (chī mǐfěn) — "Eat rice noodles" — the local greeting-equivalent for breakfast.

好耍 (hǎo shuǎ) — "Fun" — Guilin people use it the way others say "cool" or "nice."

慢点 (màn diǎn) — "Slow down / take it easy" — perfectly matches the riverside pace.

Famous People

• Li Zongren — A Guilin-born general and vice president of the Republic of China, whose former residence is now a museum in the city.

• Liu Sanjie — Legendary Zhuang folk singer from the Guangxi region; her story is celebrated in the nightly Impression Liu Sanjie show on the Li River near Yangshuo.

• Bai Juyi — The Tang-dynasty poet who served as an official in Guilin and wrote some of his earliest poems about the region's landscape.