Hiking Around Guilin

Your guide will pick you up from Guilin’s airport or high speed railway station according to your schedule, and then directly transfer you to Longsheng County. You will stay overnight at a hotel built on hillside before rice terraces. It takes 2 hours of drive. The rest of the day is free for you to explore surrounding area or just enjoy the magnificent view from the windows of your hotel. Sleep tight and be ready for the hiking the next day.

Friendly tip:
If you arrive in Guilin after 18:00, you can choose to spend tonight in downtown Guilin. Tomorrow, you will be picked up from hotel and directly transferred to the Longji Rice Terraces.

Hiking is the best way to admire the stunning beauty of endless rice terraces. Have a big breakfast and pack all your belongings. Your guide will accompany you to start today's adventure deep into Longji Rice Terraces, or Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces, to appreciate one of its essences - Jinkeng Terraced Fields in Dazhai Village. If you are energetic enough, we suggest you hike to the destination for about 5 hours single way to fully savor the landscape along the route, and take a sightseeing bus back. If 5 hours hiking is too long for you, you can take the bus both to and back from your destination. Please note that it is not allowed to get on or off the bus midway.

Jinkeng literally means gold crater in English. People named the field Jinkeng because it is a natural crater where people used to mine gold. It has the greatest spectacle of rice terraces here in Longsheng. There are many stone paths that can be used for hiking, each leading you to different perspectives of the terraces. As ethnic minority villages nestle here and there among the hills, you will also follow your guide to explore them during your tour. Appreciate up close stilt houses typical of local traditional architecture, and feast your eyes on the beautiful pristine rural scenery.

Lunch will be served at a farmhouse here to taste authentic local dishes, represented by Bamboo Rice, a traditional delicacy belonging to ethnic Zhuang people who are famous for their distinctive language system, music and dance, dress and food culture. Bamboo Rice has a unique taste and is simple to make - first put the treated bamboo tube on the charcoal fire to roast, then stuff washed rice in and seal it with banana leaves when the heat is just right, continue to roast for a while, before it comes out a rice dish with refreshing bamboo aroma. It’s very natural for locals to cook such food, since the weather conditions are especially suitable for growing bamboo. The dish is usually made with fresh bamboo tubes, which are often reused for firewood without making waste. Zhuang People usually enjoy Bamboo Rice at important festivals and celebrations and use it to serve guests. They see Bamboo Rice as a symbol of their love of peace, and bamboo tubes as a symbol of family unity.

After the hiking trip, take sightseeing bus downhill to the parking lot and then your driver will drive you back to Guilin.

Meals: Western style breakfast, Lunch

Today, we will transfer you to Yangdi Scenic Area, the golden section of the scenery along Li River, from where your bamboo rafting and later a hiking adventure begins. If you compare the entire length of Li River to a song, its climax unfolds right from this point. A bamboo raft will take you from a pier here to tour for 50 minutes passing by some highlights along the river, until you reach the Nine Horses Fresco Hill, the last highlight for your rafting tour. The renowned hill is drawing people from everywhere to appreciate its naturally sculpted hillside, into which nine horses seem to be carved. From here, you will get ashore to go on a hike to visit Xingping Ancient Town. In this tranquil 1,730-year-old fishing village, you will be greeted by its traditional buildings, moss-covered stone paths, and the simple folkways of the villagers.

As Xingping is also famous for its food stalls offering authentic local dishes, like Guilin Rice noodles and Oil Tea, you will have your lunch here, to get a taste of them.

After that, you will be driven to Yangshuo to check into the hotel. You may explore the West Street, the most bustling, inclusive ancient street in Yangshuo, where you can choose a good restaurant to have dinner by yourself.

► Dinner Suggestion:
In the West Street, Xie Sanjie Beer Fish (flagship restaurant) with a history of almost 30 years is always highly recommended by locals, and lots of celebrities and international guests have dined here. In the lower reaches of the Li River, where there is a special water environment, Xie Sanjie has contracted to build a 900-square-meter (1076-square-yard) ship cage fishing farm to supply her restaurant with fresh catches. So why not go and check out one of the popular Guilin specialties - Beer Fish - in this sought-after eatery for yourself? Here a meal costs about CNY 90 / USD 12 for each person.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

It’s well known in China, or even in the world, that views in rural Yangshuo represent the idyllic charm of Guilin. Today, we will rent a bike for you to have a round-trip biking tour in its countryside, to get close to its unique rural scenery and life. In front of your eyes might be the villagers working in the fields, their buffalos, rice paddies, etc., against overlapping grotesque karst hills in the distance. Don’t worry if you can’t bike or simply want to save energy. We can of course give you a car ride for you to enjoy those views.

After lunch, go on to take a hiking trip along the Yulong River for about three to four hours. Follow your guide to wander through farms, fields, orchards and villages, to witness some of the spectacular views the river has to offer on its banks. While nearby the river, you may even spot domestic cormorants, called fish hawks by locals, helping fishers catch fish! These magical, carefree moments will surely let you leave all your earthly cares behind.

As it’s getting late, we will take you back your hotel. Have a good rest!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

As your hiking tour in Guilin has reached its end, we have to bid farewell to you. Your guide and driver will escort you to Guilin airport and see you off. Safe travel!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast