桂林市

Why this place

Guilin is the karst landscape of the Chinese twenty-yuan note and of a thousand paintings — limestone peaks rising out of a flat plain, with the Li River winding between them. The city is the base for river cruises to Yangshuo and for the terraced rice fields of Longji.

What to see

• The Li River cruise to Yangshuo — four hours through the best of the karst, the classic trip
• Elephant Trunk Hill and the city's own peaks
• Reed Flute Cave and the Seven Star Park
• Longji (Dragon's Backbone) rice terraces, two hours north, with the Zhuang and Yao villages
• Yangshuo — cycling and rock climbing in the karst, and the Yulong River

What to eat

• Guilin rice noodles (Guilin mifen) — the city's breakfast, with braised meat and pickles
• Beer fish (pijiu yu) in Yangshuo — river fish cooked with beer and tomato
• The local 'oil tea' of the northern Guangxi hills

How to plan

Four days: the Li River cruise down to Yangshuo, two nights there, then back via the terraces.

Best time

April–May and September–October; summer is hot and wet, winter can be raw and misty

Practical tips

• The Li River cruise boats are slow and crowded — the first-class deck is worth the money, or take the smaller bamboo rafts from Yangdi instead
• The 20-yuan note view is at Xingping, downstream of Yangshuo