Yangshuo: Guilin's countryside satellite

Yangshuo is located about 70 km south of Guilin. The most obvious way to get there is to take a Li River Cruise. Otherwise, it is possible to get to Yangshuo by road. It will take at least one hour twenty minutes from downtown to downtown by car; longer if you take public transport.

Guilin may be much larger than Yangshuo but the latter is much better at catering for adventurous foreign visitors. Certainly the countryside is much more easily reached from Yansghuo and, since the novelty of this is a great attraction for most, there are well developed facilities for hiking, biking and other means of visiting the local area - with or without a local guide.

Probably the most popular activity is to hire a mountain bike from one of the many providers and head off out for a few hours. Don't forget to take sun protection and plenty of water.

Hiking can be a bit more involved; you would be well advised to take a guide simply to help arrange transport at one end of the trip and therefore avoid the need to walk back the same way.

The Li River offers many options including shorter boat trips. Check what service you are getting as some boating options are deemed illegal.

Hot-air Ballooning is getting more popular. These trips need to be in the early morning or evening to avoid stronger air currents during the day time.

There are a number of caves in the area. You can choose between developed ones that allow you to enjoy the rock formations without getting dirty, and the more adventurous ones where mud is all part of the pleasure.

Our sister site Visit-Yangshuo.com offers more suggestions for what to see and do in and around Yangshuo.