Guilin

Where "best under heaven" comes from

"Guilin's scenery is the best under heaven" (桂林山水甲天下) is the line that always comes up when China introduces this city. But the person who first wrote it was identified more recently than you'd think. In early summer 1983, two of Guilin's cultural heritage workers were sorting through rock inscriptions below Duxiu Peak (独秀峰), inside the old Wangcheng (王城) in the middle of the city. On the rock wall at a cave mouth they could make out something like a tablet, but years of seeping water had coated it in a thick layer of flowstone. After several days of clearing, the Southern Song reign name Jiatai (嘉泰) emerged, and with it those seven characters. In 1201, Wang Zhenggong (王正功), an official posted to Guilin, wrote two poems for a banquet to encourage the 11 men who'd passed the provincial exam, and the line opens the second of them. It was the 16th day of the ninth lunar month, an autumn night under a full moon. Duxiu Peak rises alone from flat ground, and inside Wangcheng you can still go and find the inscription yourself.

The Li River: 83 km between the peaks

From Guilin to Yangshuo, the Li River runs about 83 km. Cruise boats leave from Mopanshan Pier (磨盘山) and head downstream to Yangshuo. Between Yangdi (杨堤) and Xingping (兴坪), the river bends back and forth, and strange peaks reflect upside down in clear water. Peaks and rocks along here all have names, like "Carp Leaping over the Dragon Gate" and "Beauty Looking in the Mirror," but what stays with you is less the names than the mountains mirrored on the water. On a day when the rain has just stopped, clouds can snag on the peaks' flanks so the hills seem to stack in layers. Instead of a big boat, you can also take a raft down just one stretch. Sitting closer to the surface makes the peaks look taller, and you hear the water lapping right against the raft.

Xingping: the scene on the banknote

Xingping (兴坪) is an old riverside town between Yangdi and Yangshuo. Near the town, where the mountains reflect in the river, is Yellow Cloth Shoal (黄布倒影) — the scene on the back of China's 20-yuan note. On the bank, you'll often see travelers pull a note from their wallet and hold it up to the ridgeline. It's a way of checking for yourself the moment the peaks on the paper line up with the real ones. Early in the morning, when the wind dies down, the surface goes mirror-still and the reflected peaks barely move. From a cruise boat, this view slips past quickly, so if you want time with it, stay in Yangshuo and come back on your own.

Yangshuo: Yulong River rafts and rice-field lanes

Yangshuo (阳朔) is where the Li River cruises end, and it's a good base for a few days of getting around. West Street (西街), the main street in town, stays lit with restaurants and shops until late, and one block off it you'll see peaks right over the rooftops. By day, head out to the Yulong River (遇龙河). It's the longest tributary of the Li within Yangshuo, known as the "little Li River" (小漓江). Sit on a raft as a boatman poles it along the riverbed, and there's no engine, just the sound of water. The moment the raft's nose slides down over a low weir is this river's small thrill. Bamboo groves, lotus ponds and rice paddies pass by on either side, and egrets lift off from the banks. Once you're off the raft, rent a bike and ride the country lanes along the river. It's flat between the peaks, so there's hardly a climb, and small villages and bridges come up one after another.

Night: twin pagodas on the lake, a stage on the river

When the sun goes down, people in Guilin gather by the water. The two rivers and four lakes around the city center are known together as Liangjiang Sihu (两江四湖), and in the evening, boats cruise these waterways. When the Sun and Moon Pagodas (日月双塔) standing side by side on Shan Lake (杉湖) light up, their reflections stretch long across the lake. A short walk along the riverside path brings you to Elephant Trunk Hill (象鼻山), shaped like an elephant dipping its trunk into the river to drink. If you're staying in Yangshuo, the evening show Impression Liu Sanjie (印象·刘三姐) is worth seeing. Since its first performance in 2004, it's been staged on the Li River every night, passing 8,000 shows by early 2024. The real river and the peaks behind it become the backdrop, and when the lights pick out the peaks in the dark, their outlines appear as part of the stage.

Mifen for breakfast, beer fish for dinner

Mornings in Guilin start with a bowl of mifen (米粉). Round rice noodles get a pour of lushui (卤水), a sauce simmered with spices, then crispy fried pork, roasted peanuts and pickled long beans go on top, and you mix it all and eat it dry first. About halfway through, you add bone broth and finish it as a soup — that's how it's done here. In Yangshuo, try beer fish (啤酒鱼). River fish is seared in oil, then braised in beer with tomatoes and chilies. Stuffed dishes, niang cai (酿菜), are local too. The best known is tianluo niang (田螺酿): river snail meat mixed with minced pork and packed back into the shells. Chilies, eggplant and tofu get stuffed as well. Lipu taro kourou (荔浦芋扣肉), a banquet dish, is soft, floury taro and pork belly layered and steamed.

Suggested 3-night, 4-day itinerary

Day 1 — Arrive in Guilin → find the "best under heaven" inscription at Wangcheng and Duxiu Peak → Elephant Trunk Hill → evening Liangjiang Sihu boat and the Sun and Moon Pagodas lit up Day 2 — Li River cruise from Mopanshan Pier → arrive in Yangshuo, stroll West Street → evening Impression Liu Sanjie Day 3 — Yulong River raft → bike the rice-field lanes → afternoon in Xingping's old town and Yellow Cloth Shoal Day 4 — Back to Guilin for Reed Flute Cave (芦笛岩), a limestone cave nicknamed the "State Guest Cave" (国宾洞) → airport

What to eat

• Guilin mifen (rice noodles mixed with lushui)
• Beer fish (Yangshuo's river fish braised in beer)
• Tianluo niang (river snails stuffed with pork)
• Lipu taro kourou (taro and pork belly, steamed)

Handy tips

• The airport bus (CNY 20) leaves from outside Gate 6 of the T2 arrivals hall on the first floor. It stops near Gate 3 of Xiangshan Park (象山公园), where Elephant Trunk Hill is, and at Central Square, so if you're staying in town, it's all you need.
• Elephant Trunk Hill hasn't charged admission since 2022, but entry is by real-name advance booking. You'll need your passport details, so book before you go.
• Li River cruises are one way. It's about 3.5 hours from Mopanshan Pier to Yangshuo, depending on the boat, and about an hour back to Guilin by road, so staying at least a night in Yangshuo keeps things from feeling rushed.