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DESPITE our protests, the taxi driver charged on in the wrong direction: he wasn’t happy with our hotel plans. “Why do you want to stay there?” he yelled hysterically, “I’m going to take you to Lifeng Hotel, much newer and cheaper!” We watched helplessly as our hotel passed by, and only managed to stop him after shaking his shoulder quite roughly.
At such moments it’s hard to imagine ancient Chinese poets feeling inspired by modern-day Guilin. Legendary for its colourful limestone peaks—called karsts—and misty rivers, Guilin is now overrun by tour buses, diesel smoke and far-too-savvy locals like our neighbourhood taxi driver. Mainland tourism is at an all-time high as China’s growing nouveau riche look for an escape from the urban bustle, and only looks to increase.
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Still, Guilin is a charming city of unique natural formations, lots of shopping and its proximity to the scenic and far more appealing town of Yangshuo. Guilin is changing the fastest though, so pay a visit before this growing city of one million becomes a mini-Shanghai. And don’t even bother carrying the US dollar; some of the farmers we met were trying to get rid of theirs. Chinese Renminbi can be exchanged at the airport, hotel, or at the many banks and currency exchange stalls (US$1 = Rmb7.4).
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| Cormorant fisherman/ photo: Chris Stowers |
March and April are the best—and busiest—months for travel to Guilin and Yangshuo. This is right after the winter rains and the air is clearest. Between July to September, temperatures can run up to 38 degrees Celsius and you’ll be swatting mosquitoes with a vengeance. On then to our Guilin guide.
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Getting to Guilin
Dragonair and Hong Kong Airlines fly directly from Hong Kong, and there are other choices from Beijing and a number of cities within China. The Guilin Liangjiang International Airport is sleepy and friendly with English subtitles everywhere. The same level of English fluency can’t be said for most of the staff, however.
The airport also has a small business centre where an hour of Broadband costs Rmb100. If you have time for a nap, checking into the VIP lounge with complimentary refreshments and big leather couches will set you back Rmb80. Ceiling-to-floor windows in the departure gate overlook a line of karst formations. From the airport you are a 40-minute and Rmb80 cab ride away from Guilin’s city centre. The driver will—as all of ours did—try to sell you tickets to various attractions and hotels. Unless your mandarin is savvy enough to bargain, politely decline.
Head to a local CITS (www.cits.net), the largest network of English-speaking travel agents in Guilin and its surrounding towns. Practically every English-speaking guide you meet on this trip belongs to CITS. Agents here can almost always get you a lower rate than any officially listed for hotels and tourist attractions. Twenty-eight-year-old Jerry Yen has supposedly been in the business for 10 years and is certainly knowledgeable enough (mobile tel: [86-773] 381-4035, jerrytour@hotmail.com).
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| Sheraton Guilin/ photo: hotel |
Guilin hotel guide
Guilin hotels are cropping up everywhere but only a few are of the four or five-star standard. The five-star Sheraton Guilin Hotel is still the only international chain hotel in Guilin, for now. Location can’t be beat: one side faces the Li River boardwalk, the other side faces the Guilin Centre Square (see attractions) which combine blocks of shops, bars and cafés. The Sheraton’s high-ceiling lobby and coffee shop, contemporary décor and well-appointed rooms with marble bathrooms look no different from any other Sheraton in Asia. There’s a mini-bar, Wifi and weighing scale for good measure. But what seems underwhelming compared to Shanghai’s top hotels is already far from the madding crowd. Plus, after the standoffish treatment we received at several places, we were taken aback when the Sheraton doorman opened the door for us on our way in. This is far and away one of the best Guilin hotel choices.
Down the road there’s the popular three-star Hotel Universal, where communicating in English is challenging. Rooms are basic but clean and spacious with complimentary tea and coffee. The “mini-bar” is a small basket of non-perishables like a mini bottle of Dynasty wine for 30 yuan. You’ll discover free Broadband in each room, although the “English-speaking” receptionist won’t be able to explain this to you.
Guilin’s self-titled “best” hotel is the ostentatious Lijiang Waterfall Hotel. The name comes from the 72m man-made waterfall that flows from the top of the hotel to a ground-level pool and, in 2002, flowed straight into the Guinness Book of World Records. At the Lijiang you can make an educated guess of the owner’s favourite colour: gold. It’s everywhere. Lijiang caters to wealthy mainland businessmen by the looks of the clientele milling around in its enormous lobby, with a feng-shui-friendly centrepiece in the doorway. Standard rooms here are bigger than most and come fitted with beige or gold décor, a mini-bar and safe. There’s a lavish suite ‘for the president’, and a separate bed and suite ‘for the First Lady’. Interesting.
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| Guilin Bravo Hotel/ photo: hotel |
Situated a stone’s throw away from the Lijiang and likewise surrounded by bodies of water is the more modest Guilin Bravo Hotel. The lobby is impressively high with massive windows and friendly English-speaking staff. On sunny days the lobby turns off its lights, allowing sunlight to serve its purpose. Rooms are decorated in faux-European furniture, but there’s free Broadband, mini-bar and weighing scale.
The Lijiang and Bravo hotels are good choices if you want parks outside your doorstep rather than city bustle. But if you prefer a good mix of buzz and peaceful Li River views, check into the Sheraton or Hotel Universal. Or ask your neighbourhood taxi driver for some advice. He’ll give it anyway.
Guilin attractions, sightseeing, cafes
Enough yakking about hotels—you’re going to Guilin to spend your time outdoors, right? There are options to suit all sorts, be it the mid-range shopper, café yuppie or sedentary stroller. For the latter Guilin is filled with quaint parks and lakes that begin to look indistinguishable after a while. Start at Elephant Hill Park along the famous Li River, where you can walk through a massive structure resembling an elephant and visit a pagoda on top. Bring small notes for the Rmb25 entrance fee.
Then stroll down the Li River boardwalk, a wide stretch of pavement offering grand views of the city and its karst hills backdrop. As you gape at your surroundings, watch out for slow walkers, small tai chi gatherings and badminton matches. Tummy rumbling? Step off the boardwalk at any point and walk cross Binjiang Nan Lu. This sidewalk is filled with cafés, restaurants and bars. Guilin’s signature dish is Guilin mi fen, where a smorgasbord of flavourful toppings is thrown on top of a mound of white rice noodles.
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| Yangshuo rafting/ photo: Sara Yin |
Cafes with free Wifi are everywhere. The homey Gourmets Coffee Café (tel: 210-6880, 18 Binjiang Nan Lu) is operated and serviced by Milton, a Taiwanese-American who is generous with his advice of things to do and see. Try his club sandwich with homemade honey mustard for Rmb28. Nearby you can saunter through a well-lit Chinese bookstore called Dao Feng Bookstore (tel: 288-3817) that plays quaint European tunes in the background.
Walk one block West of Bin Jing Nan Road and you’ll hit the ever-crowded Guilin Centre Square, with hundreds of small shopping vendors, mini-malls and ice cream stands. A bit of car honking too. Don’t expect anything high-end here however: it’s not far off from what you may see along Hong Kong’s youth-friendly Granville Road or Bangkok’s MBK—at a fraction of the price, of course.
Back on the boardwalk? Mid-way through you can cross a bridge to the east bank, a residential area lined with bourgeois townhouses. Hop into a cab to the Seven Star Park, a 298-acre plot filled with hills, caves, relics and streams. The Hua Bridge inside is a 1,000-year-old stone walkway with five giant arches underneath. Well worth a stroll. Your kids might drag you through a tired-looking zoo and Children’s Amusement Park, though. General admission starts at Rmb35.
The Reed Flute Cave is a six-kilometre drive from the city centre and its gorgeous multi-colour stalagmites often grace Guilin brochures. But we found it turned really “photogenic” once the artificial lights came on. Still, it’s a pretty site and an easy 240m walk, if you don’t mind all the artifice.
Getting to Yangshuo
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| Prams, Yangshuo style/ photo: Sara Yin |
After you’ve had your fill of Guilin’s honking cars, it’s time to escape 20km south to the backpacker town of Yangshuo. Yangshuo has been carefully preserved by the government to retain its high tourist appeal. For instance buildings cannot be higher than six stories lest they block the karst landscape and, best of all, no taxis are allowed in.
The journey can be a worthy tourist attraction in itself if you go with a four-hour cruise down the Li River. The boat drifts at a snail’s pace, so bring a book if you’re the restless sort or just plant yourself on the top deck for spectacular, close-up views of limestone outcroppings. Tickets are Rmb400 through CITS for the ‘English-speaking floor’, really meaning the top deck, or Rmb245 for the economy level underneath. Mediocre lunch included.
Many first-time travellers coming from Guilin take the boat one way and a bus back (or vice versa). The Yangshuo to Guilin bus route is clean, cheap and bumpy. Buses depart every fifteen minutes and take no longer than 45 minutes to complete the journey. Alternatively a cab ride from the Guilin International Airport to Yangshuo costs about Rmb200 or more.
You can even bypass Guilin completely by taking a sleeper bus from Guangzhou, Hanoi, Chengdu and a few other small cities. But despite the pretty photos of the bus interior, don’t expect to get a good night’s sleep. Beds are small and cramped, and the roads leading to Yangshuo are often very bumpy. Tickets for a 10-hour ride from Guangzhou start at Rmb160. Try booking through Rainbow Travel (tel: [86-773] 886-3191, www.yangshuotravel.net).
Yangshuo hotel guide
Because of Yangshuo’s reliance on backpackers, accommodations come in either cheap hostels or ‘luxury’ three to four-star hotels. Whichever route you go, bear in mind that rack rates are always the most expensive. Depending on the season you can press for less than half the listed rate by simply walking into a hotel or dealing with a local travel agent in Guilin or Yangshuo.
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| Paradesa Resort Yangshuo/ photo: hotel |
Top of the list in our Yangshuo hotel guide is the Paradesa Resort Yangshuo, a newly renovated four-star compound of villas. Paradesa is conveniently located on one end of West Street and next to the bus station, but far enough from West Street to block out the pulsating music that switches on at night. Rooms are spacious, clean and bright with beige hardwood floors and light-coloured furniture. No mini-bar, safe or in-room Internet connection. However there is a tiny business centre with an ancient looking PC and fax machine. Also within the Paradesa is a local food restaurant, art dealer and fitness centre. You can get a foot massage in your room for Rmb100 an hour—about twice the price of outside establishments.
Across the street is the more Oriental-looking, exclusive Regency Holiday Hotel. Rooms here are modern and spacious too. The Regency also contains a tiny business centre to make up for the lack of in-room Internet connection. Though there are a couple restaurants inside, venture right outside the lobby doors for hawker stalls.
The Tangrenjie Hotel is a 500-room luxury hotel with ancient Chinese influences everywhere. A 15-minute walk from West Street, Tangrenjie is a tranquil option overlooking a quieter part of the Li River. Peer out the window for breathtaking views of the Li River and karst landscape. Rooms are airy and clean and come equipped with Broadband, mini-bar, safety box and staple amenities. The upscale Victoria West Restaurant stands next door (see Yangshuo dining).
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| River View Hotel/ photo: hotel |
Down the road from the Tangrenjie stands the Sovereign Hotel. This standalone four-star is a 10-minute walk from West Street and oddly located on the corner of a busy (and noisy) intersection. Still, standard rooms here come with a cosy balcony overlooking the Li River. You can dine at the Western or Chinese restaurant within.
A less-expensive but very nice Yangshuo budget hotel option is the sleepy guesthouse, River View Hotel, and its slightly more deluxe sister, the River View Grand. Together the two-storey inns contain less than thirty private rooms and there’s an affordable coffee shop downstairs. Yes, both are genuine Yangshuo river view hotels facing the Li River. On then to our Yangshuo guide.
Yangshuo guide – wet and wild outdoors
Deciding where to go in Yangshuo is one of the toughest decisions you’ll ever make, given that the entire town caters for tourists. There are “attractions” everywhere. How to chose between intriguing names like Xiongsen Bear & Tiger Mountain village or Moon Hill Town or the Shangri-La park?
One of the best ways to see Yangshuo’s sprawling countryside is by purchasing a map and renting a bike (Rmb20 for a day) or a scooter (Rmb 120) from one of the ubiquitous travel centres on West Street. You’ll find fields of oranges, cotton, peanut and rice, depending on the season. For those hoping for a glimpse of Yangshuo’s famously verdant rice paddy fields, ask your travel agent beforehand when the rice is harvested: this is done twice a year and the fields turn brown and weedy after the rice has been plucked.
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| Li River Yangshuo/ photo: River View hotel |
Yangshuo’s many stunning rock outcroppings and serene bodies of water offer ample opportunities for the outdoor enthusiast. Finally, here’s your chance to go rock climbing, kayaking, rafting, canoeing, caving, mud bathing and more. Or, if you’re feeling indulgent, drift away in a hot air balloon for an hour (Rmb1,300 per person). Hobbyists may also delight in the variety of quick classes you can take, such as calligraphy, cooking and even acupuncture with Dr Lily Li (lily_li89@hotmail.com). Or watch the fishermen trawling for catch at night, aided by their sharp-eyed accomplices – cormorants. The birds certainly know a thing or two about fishing.
The Real Water Cave is Yangshuo’s answer to the Reed Flute Cave in Guilin (or is it the other way around?) Why is it ‘real’? A big warning sign greets you at the entrance, ‘IMPORTANT! There are many Fake water caves…” with eerie-looking photos of pasty bodies covered in mud (part of the mud bath option you’ll see later). Tours are two-and-a-half hours long, or you could spend the entire day underground with prices starting at Rmb220.
Decline the woman at the entrance insisting you need to rent ‘water shoes’, which are actually flimsy rubber sandals. Unless you’re in stilettos, you’re safer in your own shoes. After all you’ll be walking three kilometres of narrow, rickety bridges, slippery rocks and occasionally ducking low ceilings. Like ancient poets, the tour guide pauses every now and then to point out the ‘dragons’ and ‘Buddhas’ among the rock formations. Mid-way through you can opt for a splash in the natural mud pool, which we avoided.
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| Yangshuo West Street/ photo: Sara Yin |
Yangshou’s Night Impressions Show is a surreal experience. The stage is the Li River while flashing neon lights are projected onto surrounding karsts for dramatic effect. Performances include hundreds of singing, torch-bearing children, or a long line of fishermen waving red banners. Hard to believe it was directed by Zhang Yimou, one of China’s most famous directors. The show gets tons of publicity though, so if you’re unsuspecting you’ll probably wind up in the outdoor amphitheatre among thousands. There are several ticket prices but the cheap ones are farther back and offer a more panoramic view of the strange hour-long show.
Grab a bike or scooter to Moon Hill Park, where you can view a unique karst formation that appears to have a natural half-moon carving underneath. Adventurers can even climb on top. Directly underneath Moon Hill is a ‘traditional’ village— catering for tourists—with lots of outdoor fruit vendors, touts and restaurants. Moon Hill Café is slightly off the beaten path and serves up tasty café lattes and stir-fried snake. If you have an hour and a half take a cooking lesson. If you’re the planning sort, all these classes and outdoor excursions can be booked through your hotel or the many touts that greet you at the Yangshuo bus station. Or call Linna, a chipper young local girl currently studying tourism at a local university (mobile: [86-773] 735-1481 or zhanghaili888@163.com).
Yangshuo dining options
West Street, the biggest street in the town centre, is a chameleon of a strip. By day you can trawl through its many vendors and European-style cafes that often double up as hostels and travel agencies. Food options are dizzying, and every establishment appears to serve an American breakfast (eggs, waffles, Bloody Mary…), Yangshuo’s signature ‘beer fish’ and a medley of Chinese and Western staples. Among the shops here you’ll find fake Prada, paintings, cheap jewellery and Hard Rock Café t-shirts (though Yangshuo doesn’t have a HRC). Don’t buy anything for more than half the original price offered.
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| River View Hotel room/ photo: hotel |
West Street completely changes at night. The laidback cafes transform into live music venues or discotheques, which can’t be easy on the hostel guests upstairs. Discover the meaning behind Hard Seat Café where pulsating ’90s tracks beckon you off your seats. Or dine alfresco at Jimmy’s Café where you can get a huge plate of beer fish for Rmb30. Bellevue Café & Restaurant borders a quiet part of the Li River and offers spacious patio seating with a decent meal for about Rmb30. Global Café & Bar is a popular two-floor establishment with tables that spill out onto West Street. Great for people watching. A Chinese cover band plays here every night at 9.30pm. With your beer in hand you can do anything here from going online to playing pool upstairs to booking tours through in-house agents, Ruby and Paul (86-773-8822004, ruralboycycle@hotmail.com).
Cloud 9 is a traditional Chinese sit-down place which serves beer fish, while the West Street Hotel Café next door is a more relaxed ambience with beer fish for just Rmb45. Le Votre on West Street is standout for its large, candlelit outdoor seating area and homemade beers. The in-house Jin Pin costs 20 yuan for a bottle, while a French “steak frites” costs no more than 70 yuan.
If West Street’s blaring lights begin to irritate, head North to the next parallel street, Die Cui Lu. What Die Cui Lu lacks in shops it makes up in dining options. Chez Kelly is a two-table hole-in-the-wall that serves a mean club sandwich for Rmb15. Too wholesome? They also serve mojitos. If your whole trip begins to feel a bit pork-and-fish-heavy, step into Pure Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant on Die Cui Lu for fancy Chinese vegetarian food. As upscale as it looks a large plate of mushroom and chestnut stir-fry will set you back a modest Rmb20. And that pretty much concludes our Yangshuo guide.
By the end of our trip, we agreed with our Guilin tour guide and practically every traveller we met, all exhorting us to simply pass through Guilin, but spend time in Yangshuo.
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