Guilin



Guilin (桂林; Guì​lín) and the surrounding region are among the most scenic areas in China and the most popular tourist destinations both for Chinese travellers and the international backpacker set. Guilin is the hub for trips to the surrounding area's karst terrain, limestone mountains eroded into fantastic shapes. Apart from its sheer visual beauty that has inspired China's best painters for generations, karst terrain also provides many cliffs suitable for rock climbing and many caves.

There are many scenic places within short traveling distance of Guilin. These include Longsheng with its famous Longji rice terraces; the Lijiang River, a scene of which is printed on the back of ¥20 bank notes; and Yangshuo, a small county downstream from Guilin. This makes Guilin an excellent base for exploring the northern end of Guangxi Province.

Guilin is a beautiful city. The town center is surrounded by two rivers and four lakes and studded with sheer sided karst mountains. Outside the city center, the buildings are less well kept. The main industry in the city is tourism so the city is much cleaner than other Chinese cities.

Guilin is like most other medium size Chinese cities, other than that it has a large number of western-style hotels, tourists and is relatively free of air pollution. Many Chinese domestic tourists also flock to this area. What makes it special is its proximity to many picturesque limestone mountains and formations.

Understand
Separated from the center of China and the Yangtze River basin by the Nan Mountains, Guangxi has always been distinct from the rest of China. The Han Chinese empire first expanded into Guangxi in the 3rd century BC. The Ling Canal was cut around the time, allowing small boats to transit from the Yangtze to the south flowing Xi River via the Xiang River.

Trade grew along the canal and river routes. Guilin was founded as a trading post in the 1st century BC on the West bank of the Kuei River. During the Ming dynasty, a garrison was set up in Guilin and the surrounding area gradually civilised with the development of farmland. The city had a population of over two million at the time of the Second World War, but was utterly destroyed during the war. The population slowly recovered with post-war construction of several factories for the production of paper, chemicals and agricultural equipment. However, market forces have caused several of these industries to relocate out of Guilin.

Guangxi and Guilin are home to 12 ethnic minorities besides the Han Chinese. Guangxi is an autonomous region for the Zhuang ethnic group, rather than a province. See List of Chinese provinces and regions. Various other minorities, such as the Dong, are also found in the area.

Guilin is the third largest city in Guangxi, after Nanning and Liuzhou.

Get in
Visitors from ASEAN countries may visit Guilin for up to 144 hours (6 days) without a visa provided they join an approved group tour, enter and depart China through Guilin Liangjiang International Airport, and do not travel beyond Guilin, Yangshuo and Longsheng.

By plane


The airport bus into town is ¥20 but drops off just south of the city centre, after which a taxi should then be around ¥10 to most hotels. The bus only leaves when mostly full so there may be a wait as the bus fills up.

A taxi direct from the airport to a city centre hotel is about ¥100. Back to the airport, a hotel may arrange the trip for ¥80.

By train
Guilin has three main train stations. (Guilin Zhan) is in the centre of town on Zhongshan Nanlu while (Guilin Bei Zhan) is far away from downtown area whilst  (Guilin Xi Zhan) is even further from the city center! Most trains which terminate in Guilin go to Guilin North Station while trains which come through Guilin from elsewhere usually only go to Guilin Station and not Guilin North.

There are trains from North (Beijing, Changsha, Wuhan, Shanghai, Xi'an), West (Kunming), South (Liuzhou, Nanning, Zhanjiang), and East (Guangzhou, Shenzhen).


 * From Beijing &mdash; From Beijing to Guilin or vice-versa, there are three trains on either direction. To Beijing, trains depart from Guilin (not Guilin Bei) at 12:59 (train from Zhanjiang), 15:06 (from Nanning) and 19:30. Journey time is between 22 hour and 30 hours, with the 15:06 train being the fastest. HSR train G529 departs Beijing at 07:46 taking 10½ hours.
 * From Hong Kong — high-speed trains from West Kowloon take three and a half hours
 * From Shenzhen &mdash; there's a bullet train going to Guilin from Shenzhen which will take you there in about three hours. There are only three trains from Shenzhen to Guilin daily and they are sold out quickly on public holidays.
 * From Guangzhou &mdash; Lots of trains in between Guangzhou and Guilin.
 * From Kunming &mdash; There are 3 D trains between Kunming and Guilin: D3942 (07:38/15:35), D3944 (11:02/18:42), D3946 (15:25/22:49). The fare of second class ticket is ¥373.5. The conventional train T382 departs Kunming at 21:15, and arrive in Guilin at 15:19 in the following day. The fare of hard sleeper class is ¥261.5.
 * From Xi'an — D trains began to run between Xian and Guilin in early 2018, which takes nearly 11 hours. The fare of second class ticket is ¥544.5. The conventional train K318 is still in operation, which departs Xi'an at 19:07, and arrives at 21:18+1, 26 hours later. The fare for hard sleeper class is ¥343 per ticket (hard seat ¥201). The train's final stop is Nanning.
 * From Nanning &mdash; There are many high speed trains (under 3 hours) and a few conventional trains (4–6 hours). It is very convenient to travel between the two cities. One way second-class ticket of high speed train costs ¥108.
 * From Chengdu &mdash; In January 2018, D trains were launched between Chengdu and Guilin. There are 8 departures a day. More will be added in the near future. The travel time via high speed rail varies from train to train, around 7 hours. The original train K652 is not in operation anymore. The fare of second class ticket is ¥315.5.

Once you get out of the train station, you will be approached by cab drivers and other drivers. While their cab meters are trustworthy, they might use a few tricks to cheat you out of some yuan, for example, aggressively pushing tours or adding false charges to the tab.

If you want to avoid the taxis, keep walking past the touts to the public bus stop. From Guilinbei (Guilin North), bus 100 goes through the city center to the central/south train station and beyond. From Guilinxi (Guilin West) you can take bus 22. Cost is ¥2.

By car
There are some expressways locally and within the province, however for any long-distance journey, it is a two-lane road.

By bus

 * From Yangshuo &mdash; Minibuses (¥18) depart when full from the square in front of the Guilin railway station. Although the signs are written in Chinese, there are always conductors yelling out Yangshuo. As the buses pick-up and let down passengers along the way, the journey time can take anything from one to one-half hours. Express buses (¥18) depart from the Guilin bus terminal off Zhongshan Nanlu, several hundred metres north of the railway station (and on the same side of the road as the station). Buses depart about every 20min from 07:00. Buy tickets from the ticket office in the bus terminal.
 * From elsewhere &mdash; Buses link Guilin with a multitude of destinations, including Nanning, Kunming, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and further afield. Buses depart from the Guilin bus terminal on Zhongshan Nanlu, several hundred metres north of the railway station.

By boat
You can get to Guilin by cargo boat from Guangzhou via Wuzhou, but there are no passenger boats to Guilin anymore, except the boats to and from Yangshuo. You can take a cargo boat if you want to at almost no cost from Wuzhou to Yangshuo.

Get around
Getting a local map from a tourist guide or shop for ¥5 is a good idea. This will show the location of most of the sights as well as details of bus routes. Buses are an ideal way to get around Guilin on a budget. Many city parks and river spots can be accessed easily by bus. All the buses starting with 5# are free. A useful one is bus 58 which runs from the train station (and bus station) to many of the attractions. Bus fare are capped at ¥2 per trip.

Taxis are also inexpensive and easily hailed within the city. Usually hard to catch during peak hours (17:30-19:00).

Another inexpensive way for a day-trip to scenic spots in the city area of Guilin is to get a driver for a whole or half day. As of March 2012 (off-season) a whole day is about ¥100, half is ¥50. Most hotels or hostels arrange this service, also telling the driver where you want to go if one is not capable of speaking Chinese.

Talk
As anywhere in China, standard Mandarin is almost universally spoken as it is the language used in education and governance. Nevertheless, the local variant of Mandarin has a non-standard pronunciation characteristic of most regions in southern China and also exhibits influence from Cantonese. Some of the native Zhuang people speak their own language, which is co-official with standard Mandarin in the region.

English is not widely spoken but you can expect reasonable-to-excellent English from staff in most hotels and hostels (especially those popular among Westerners) and tourist shops. Elsewhere, English proficiency is none-to-limited, therefore it is recommended to have hotel staff write down your intended destination for taxis or to carry a bilingual map and phrasebook.

Landscape close to the city centre






Nearby towns and villages
Many of the towns around Guilin have an old district that is being slowly replaced by new buildings on the periphery. The old buildings have generally been left in place and remain in relatively good condition as of 2019, although a lack of visitors may mean a lack of incentive to maintain them long-term. These towns can be gorgeous to walk through, although most contain few attractions of note and only minimal tourist infrastructure. With all the other things to see around Guilin, these towns tend to see relatively few tourists and can offer a welcome change of pace.



Neighbouring towns and villages

 * The Guilin Merryland World Resort, located about 1 hour drive north of Guilin offers two attractions:
 * The Guilin Merryland World Resort, located about 1 hour drive north of Guilin offers two attractions:
 * The Guilin Merryland World Resort, located about 1 hour drive north of Guilin offers two attractions:
 * The Guilin Merryland World Resort, located about 1 hour drive north of Guilin offers two attractions:

Buy
There is a big underground bazaar running from the train station all the way to the bus station selling clothes, footwear, accessories, bags, and many more. The second underground market is located underneath the city center selling food, bags, mobile phones and other electronic devices. Remember to bargain if prices are not openly displayed.

Branded luxury goods can be purchased from the departmental stores near Cross Street. Suncome has many branches throughout the city selling everyday necessities.

There is also a street market set up along Zhongshan Lu at night selling typical tourist trinkets.

Local cuisine
Guilin cuisine is influenced by Cantonese and Hunanese styles, but with more use of fish and spices and often prepared using stir-frying or steaming. Restaurants often assume westerners do not like spicy food and will make your food bland as hell if you do not insist otherwise. Even then there is a chance they will not believe you.

Guilin has some distinct local ingredients used in a number of dishes.
 * Chilli Paste is a sauce used for local dishes and also sold to other parts of China and abroad. It is made from chilli, lobster, garlic and Sanhua Wine.
 * Fermented Beancurd has been made in Guilin for more than 300 years and is known to have a unique taste.
 * Fruits. Guilin is renowned for its fruit, especially shatian pomelo, arhat fruit and gingkgo

As many other Chinese cities, Guilin has its own snacks.
 * Horse hoof cake (Matigao) is a local snack. It is a crumbly cake stuffed with red beans filling.
 * Rice with Mung Bean Paste is made from steamed rice filled with mung bean paste or other. Often eaten for breakfast.
 * Sweet tofu infused with a certain flower is another delicious breakfast item. Look for roadside vendors adding orange-coloured liquid to a steaming hot bag of tofu, which you then drink with a straw.
 * Water Chestnut Cake made from rice flour, brown sugar, water chestnut powder and sesame powder.

A number of Guilin dishes are unique to the city or are especially wellknown here.
 * Daxu Clear Water Fish is a specialty from the ancient city of Daxu. The fish is cooked with salt and ginger.
 * Duck Wrapped in Lotus Leaf made from duck, dry lotus leaf, meat, bamboo shoots, ham, mushrooms, beans, shrimp and spices.
 * Fengli steamed, dried and fried rice paste with ham, celery, cauliflower or green garlic.
 * Nun Vegetarian Noodles this is a noodle soup boiled with soybean sprouts, mushrooms and bamboo shoots and served with. The soup is golden in color, sweet in taste, and has a mouth-watering smell. The noodles are first boiled and then put into bowls where the soup is added. It is served with Guilin Fermented Tofu, scrambled eggs, vegetarian ham, gluten flour and some spices. The fresh-cooked dish is very tasty, and the smell and color are pleasant as well. The Crescent Moon Building in Seven Star Park enjoys a great reputation for its Nun Noodles.
 * Old Duck Stewed with Gingko made from the famous Guilin gingko, duck and ham stewed in a steamer.
 * Rice Noodles (Mifen) is a local delicacy, also available as stir-fried (Chaofen). This is served everywhere, but try to avoid the joints near the train station. Traditionally the noodle and the topping is first eaten without soup, and once the topping has run out there is usually a pot of soup to add flavour to the rest of your noodles. There are also various pickles and condiments that you can add to your noodles. Servings are sold and priced in small, medium, and large. (一两；二两；三两) The small is more of snack, so start with the medium. There is a good spot in the street behind the Zhongshan Hotel.
 * Roasted Suckling Pig. The pig is fed with rice, roasted using special local methods, and then flavored with shallot, soy sauce and white sugar.
 * Snail made with sour peppers, shallot, ginger and sanhua wine.
 * Steamed Bake Meat with Water Chestnut made from peeled water chestnut, meat and spices.
 * Steamed Mung Bean and Meat Wrapped in Lotus Leaf. Home-style dish with streaky pork with skin, soy sauce, mung bean flour, lotus leaf, fermented tofu, and lots of spices.

Restaurant streets
Restaurants can be found throughout the city. There are various eateries near the train station selling cheap and simple but delicious local dishes. There are many restaurants around the main streets, Jiefang Road and along the river, but many of them are either overpriced chains and/or tourist traps and the food they serve is less than authentic. Do not be fooled by them being crowded, they are not worth the money. A better option may be to wander the side streets.

There are a few clusters of restaurants worth exploring.
 * Binjiang Rd (滨江路美食街; Bīnjiānglù Měishíjiē)
 * Food City (just to the east of the bus station)
 * Guilinren Wangjiao Food Street (桂林人旺角美食街; Guìlínrén Wàngjiǎo) at Zhongshan Middle Rd (bus 11,18, 100). This street has lots of snack vendors.
 * Jiefang West Rd (解放西路美食街; Jiěfàngxīlù Měishíjiē)
 * Nanhuan Rd (南环路; Nánhuán​lù) connects Zhongshan Rd with Elephant Trunk Hill. The street has a number of budget and mid-range local restaurants. Many of the restaurants show living animal out in the street to illustrate what is on the menu.
 * Putuo Rd (普陀路美食街; Pǔ​tuólù Měishíjiē)
 * Yiren Rd (依仁路; Yīrénlù) runs east–west on the north side of Central Square. The street has eateries ranging from buffet-style caferias to trendy cafes.
 * Ximen Bridge Area (西门桥周围; Xī​ménqiáozhōu​wéi) has a large number of Muslim restaurants.
 * Zhishan Rd (雉山路美食街; Zhìshānlù Měishíjiē; opposite Food City)
 * Zhongshan Rd (中山路; Zhōngshānlù)

Drink
Liquan beer and osmanthus tea.

Sleep
Guilin is a tourism city. There are many hotels, more than 30 five-star hotels, 100 four-star hotels, and 200 three-star hotels.There are plenty of B&Bs with great views to choose from. Whether you want to enjoy a magnificent sunrise or spend a peaceful weekend in a mountaintop homestay in the mountains, you will have plenty of options. You can choose a homestay nestled in a farmland on the outskirts of the city and soak up the peaceful countryside, or choose a homestay on the top floor of a high-rise building. Whether you prefer the tranquillity of nature or the bustle of the city, Guilin has a homestays waiting for you.

Budget

 * Ming palace hostel (桂林王城青年旅馆) No.10-3, Donghua Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin. (桂林秀峰区东华路10号王城青年旅舍（中华小学旁，王府花园对面）) dorm rooms from ¥16-30, clean rooms, very helpful staff, free washing machine, very close to west gate into solitary beauty peak walled area, river, tourist area. Offers the usual tours.
 * Ming palace hostel (桂林王城青年旅馆) No.10-3, Donghua Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin. (桂林秀峰区东华路10号王城青年旅舍（中华小学旁，王府花园对面）) dorm rooms from ¥16-30, clean rooms, very helpful staff, free washing machine, very close to west gate into solitary beauty peak walled area, river, tourist area. Offers the usual tours.
 * Ming palace hostel (桂林王城青年旅馆) No.10-3, Donghua Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin. (桂林秀峰区东华路10号王城青年旅舍（中华小学旁，王府花园对面）) dorm rooms from ¥16-30, clean rooms, very helpful staff, free washing machine, very close to west gate into solitary beauty peak walled area, river, tourist area. Offers the usual tours.
 * Ming palace hostel (桂林王城青年旅馆) No.10-3, Donghua Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin. (桂林秀峰区东华路10号王城青年旅舍（中华小学旁，王府花园对面）) dorm rooms from ¥16-30, clean rooms, very helpful staff, free washing machine, very close to west gate into solitary beauty peak walled area, river, tourist area. Offers the usual tours.
 * Ming palace hostel (桂林王城青年旅馆) No.10-3, Donghua Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin. (桂林秀峰区东华路10号王城青年旅舍（中华小学旁，王府花园对面）) dorm rooms from ¥16-30, clean rooms, very helpful staff, free washing machine, very close to west gate into solitary beauty peak walled area, river, tourist area. Offers the usual tours.
 * Ming palace hostel (桂林王城青年旅馆) No.10-3, Donghua Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin. (桂林秀峰区东华路10号王城青年旅舍（中华小学旁，王府花园对面）) dorm rooms from ¥16-30, clean rooms, very helpful staff, free washing machine, very close to west gate into solitary beauty peak walled area, river, tourist area. Offers the usual tours.
 * Ming palace hostel (桂林王城青年旅馆) No.10-3, Donghua Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin. (桂林秀峰区东华路10号王城青年旅舍（中华小学旁，王府花园对面）) dorm rooms from ¥16-30, clean rooms, very helpful staff, free washing machine, very close to west gate into solitary beauty peak walled area, river, tourist area. Offers the usual tours.

Stay safe
Guilin is quite safe by Chinese and international standards, but:
 * The number of Westerners has engendered resentment by many of the club staff—and they are often aggressive and even violent. In 2015, an Irish tourist was stabbed at Muse Night Club in downtown Guilin by a group of bouncers who beat him behind the club. He survived, but the group attack, stabbing, and police inaction show the vulnerability of the foreign traveler in overly-touristy areas.
 * Watch your valuables very closely in the central city (money belt), as in many tourist locations pickpocketing is a common occurrence. The bus station is the most dangerous place in the city. Keep on guard when boarding and disembarking your bus. Never carry your wallet in your pocket. Organized gangs of pickpockets operate in this area and they will focus on you if you are of non-East Asian descent.
 * Be careful of locals trying to sell "honey" at rest stops along the highway. They will have bags with honey smelling rocks and a part of a beehive and a knife with them and offer you a taste.  According to a local it is not real honey and can be impure, made with wax, and unsafe to consume, and will make you sick.
 * Western tourists may be approached by people who will introduce themselves as teachers, et al., but turn out to be selling tea or artwork.

Cope

 * Guilin Public Security Bureau:+86 773 282 3334
 * Guilin Tourism Bureau:+86 773 282 5890
 * Guilin Public Service Center:+0773 2823602

Go next

 * Yangshuo - About 1.5 hours by bus from Guilin is the friendly and picturesque town of Yangshuo. This used to be a popular backpackers town, but now is full of Chinese tourists. It sits in a beautiful karst landscape. The full-day boat trip along the Li River will finish in this town. Getting there by taxi or bus and is also an option.
 * Xingping - This town will probably become the next backpacker place, as Yangshuo becomes too commercial for backpacking types. It is a very peaceful, old town on the Li River's most beautiful landscape, halfway between Yangshuo and Guilin.
 * Longsheng- An area near Guilin with hills covered with terraced rice fields. There are many organised tours from Guilin, many of which will allow you to visit the nearby ethnic Zhuang minority villages. June and September are good times to visit when fields are flooded.
 * Chengyang - On the road towards Guizhou province, this mountainous minority village area is quieter and less touristy than Longsheng. Plenty of wonderful scenery with friendly locals, quaint bridges and drum towers. It is now accessible via a 30-minute high speed rail journey from Guilin to Sanjiang and then getting a minbus from there to Chengyang.
 * Vietnam - There is a sleeper overnight bus from Guilin to Hanoi. It costs ¥390 leaving in the evening every day and arriving Hanoi next day. Or catch the afternoon train to Nanning (2½ hr with high speed train), stay overnight in a cheap station hotel and get the early morning bus in Langdong bus station to Hanoi, arriving about 15:00 depending on traffic.