The Li River cruise runs one way, Guilin to Yangshuo, and takes most of a day. Every sensible itinerary in Guangxi is built around that fact.

What follows is the shape it forces: arrive in Guilin, take the boat downstream, and spend the rest of the trip in Yangshuo, which is both closer to the scenery and a far better base than the city you flew into.

Day 1 — Arrive in Guilin

Guilin is where the airport and the main rail stations are. It is a pleasant enough city with karst peaks rising inside it, and it is not why you came. Treat day one as arrival plus an afternoon.

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    An afternoon in the city

    Elephant Trunk Hill is the postcard and takes twenty minutes. The Two Rivers and Four Lakes waterway, lit at night, is the better use of an evening. Reed Flute Cave is a large illuminated limestone cave on the edge of town and divides opinion sharply.

    Do not over-plan this day. Its job is to put you within reach of the pier transfer in the morning.

Book tonight’s hotel near the transfer, not the sights

Cruises leave from Mopanshan pier, roughly forty minutes outside Guilin, at around 09:20–09:30. That means leaving the city centre well before 08:30. Check whether your cruise ticket includes the coach transfer and where it collects from.

Bamboo overhanging the Li River with karst peaks in the mist beyond
Licensed photograph. China Routes Guide has not travelled the Li River.

Day 2 — The Li River cruise

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    Mopanshan pier to Longtoushan, Yangshuo

    Four to five hours downstream through the karst, past the stretch at Xingping that appears on the back of the CNY 20 note. Take your luggage — you are not returning to Guilin.

    Distance
    About 83 km
    Duration
    4 – 5 hours
    3-star
    About CNY 215 adult · CNY 108 child
    4-star
    About CNY 360 adult
    Departure
    Around 09:30 (3-star) · 09:20 (4-star)

    Checked 13 Aug 2026 As published by current Li River cruise operators. Lunch is typically extra on 3-star boats at around CNY 30–50. Sailings depend on water level and weather.

  2. Short transfer from Longtoushan pier into Yangshuo town
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    Yangshuo, late afternoon

    Check in, then walk. West Street is the tourist spine and is exactly as commercial as its reputation suggests; the town two streets back from it is much better. Climb Xianggong Hill or the town’s own viewpoint for sunset if the light is holding.

Day 3 — The Yulong River by bicycle

This is the day most people remember, and it costs almost nothing.

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    Cycling the Yulong valley

    Flat lanes through rice fields between the karst peaks, with the Yulong River — smaller and quieter than the Li — alongside. Bicycles and e-bikes are rented everywhere in town by the day. Bamboo rafts operate on this river in short sections and are a genuinely pleasant hour; they are not the Li River cruise and should not be confused with it.

    Effort
    Flat, easy
    Time needed
    Half to a full day
    Also on this route
    Yulong Bridge, Moon Hill

Yangshuo is also one of the world’s established rock-climbing destinations, with hundreds of bolted routes on the limestone. If that is your sport, this is the day to give it.

Day 4 — Xingping, or the rice terraces

Two very different final days. Pick one; both are full.

Option A — Xingping and the CNY 20 view

A short trip upriver from Yangshuo to the village of Xingping, from which a walk leads to the viewpoint printed on the note. Quieter than the cruise, and the same landscape from the bank rather than the deck. Half a day, easily extended.

Option B — Longji rice terraces

Two hours or so north, and a completely different landscape: terraced hillsides carved over centuries, best in late spring when they are flooded and mirror the sky, or in autumn just before harvest. It is a long day from Yangshuo and better as an overnight if you can spare it.

Do not attempt Longji and Xingping on the same day. They are in opposite directions.

What four days costs in headline tickets

The cruise is the only large fixed cost: about CNY 215 to 360 per adult depending on the class. Cycling, walking and the countryside cost bicycle hire. Guilin’s city sights and the Longji terraces carry their own modest entry fees.

Guangxi is, by Chinese scenic-area standards, inexpensive — the contrast with Zhangjiajie is sharp.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Basing yourself in Guilin for the whole trip. The scenery is downstream. Guilin is where you land, not where you stay.
  • Booking a Guilin hotel for the night after the cruise. The boat is one way.
  • Assuming a bamboo raft is the cruise. Different river, different length, roughly a tenth of the price.
  • Leaving the cruise to the last day. Sailings are suspended in flood conditions and low water changes the route — leave yourself a spare day.