Best Under the Heavens – Lessons Learned in Guilin

桂林山水甲天下 (Guìlín shānshuǐ jiǎ tiānxià)

Everywhere I went in China, people repeated this phrase to me when I mentioned my intentions to travel to Guilin Yangshuo next. “Guilin’s mountains and water are the best under the heavens”. Guilin and Yangshuo are two different cities but are usually packaged as one; together representing the mythical karst landscapes that epitomize the region. Karst refers to limestone topography that has eroded over millions of years to form grotesque and magnificent stone structures sprawling across Guangxi.

My first trip to Guilin Yangshuo was unquestionably beautiful, but I never quite felt like I got the hang of the area. Much of my time was spent dodging tourist traps or struggling to figure out the logistics involved in visiting these amazing sights. I know I’ll have to return again sometime, armed with the knowledge that will make my next experience all the more enjoyable. Guilin is like an uncut gem; sift through the dirt to uncover a glorious emerald.

Avoid the City of Guilin

Guilin and its little brother Yangshuo are located in the Guangxi province of China (about 16 hours southwest of Shanghai. I want to blatantly foreshadow this relative distance for a future post). I traveled here by overnight train from the Yellow Mountains, and when I exited the sleeper, I was instantly cognizant of a change in culture. No longer was I the curious anomaly but instead a delicious commodity. Taxi drivers shouted at me in English. Tour guides handed me pamphlets advertising all-inclusive tours. It had been more than a week since I’d spoken any real English, and suddenly I was accosted by linguistic reminders that before me came many Western predecessors. The hostel in Guilin was also stuffed with English speakers, and I felt myself desperately fighting to maintain language immersion.

It was at the hostel during check-in that I realized I might have made a mistake. When I told the staff I had booked a room for a week, they incredulously repeated back, “A whole week?”. I had heard so much about Guilin that I assumed one week would be a good starting point, and then I could possibly extend my stay after that. Turns out while Guilin as a general region holds countless natural beauties, the location itself is really more of an industrial, tier 3 city – homogeneous with countless other concrete behemoths across China.

The main attractions in Guilin are the Sun and Moon Pagodas (modern construction – flamboyant but culturally insignificant), Elephant Trunk Hill, and Seven Star Park.

Elephant Trunk Hill is extremely overrated. It costs 55 RMB (about $8) to enter the area to see a rock that looks a little bit like an elephant.

The government blocks off the entire encompassing block with fences and barbed wire so that no one would dare get a glimpse of the nature for free. In reality, traveling outside of Guilin to the neighboring city of Yangshuo unlocks countless more impressive karst formations within a stone’s throw of your scooter!

Seven Star Park was the highlight of my time in Guilin. While this expansive city park is the same price as the Elephant Trunk Hill, it houses several natural and man-made attractions, including a zoo (at extra cost).

In actuality, I spent the majority of my time playing with the monkeys! The park is home to around two hundred monkeys, dashing and wrestling and shrieking. Needless to say, the fruit bag I brought along was inevitably discovered and meticulously devoured. Soon I found myself sitting in quiet awe, carefully observing the frantic antics of my furry ancestors. In the distance, a stoic man sat under a pagoda playing an Erhu as high-pitched notes floated around us. The younger monkeys crept up to me and cautiously picked the remaining fruit from my hand. It was a meditative experience!

How to Commute to Paradise

By asking around, I soon discovered that the real star of the region is Yangshuo. I wanted to leave Guilin as soon as possible and make my way south, but my hostel was already booked for a week.

Luckily, I was staying in the best hostel I’ve ever encountered while traveling. The Wada Hostel is a wonderful stay. For $5/night, you receive a super clean dorm bed with fast wifi, a privacy curtain, a locker, and access to a washing machine. The staff is extremely helpful and professional, and because they have locations in Yangshuo as well, they allowed me to transfer the remainder of my stay to that location. I will definitely stay with them again!

Many tourists travel via riverboat or ferry to Yangshuo from Guilin. This is a very overpriced option, and from what I’ve heard, the plethora of photo snappers makes the ride a bit claustrophobic. I opted for the cheap bus to Yangshuo. One thing to note is that the bus is very informal, and I was quoted three different prices for the ride depending on which staff member I talked to (and how gullible they thought I was). I refused to pay more than the local passengers and after a little standoff, they reluctantly obliged. In the sprawling lush greenery that surrounds Yangshuo, the best way to traverse the area is by bicycle or electric scooter. In fact, Yangshuo is a bicyclist’s paradise! All the roads are excellently paved, and they wind and curve around turquoise rivers, neon green farms, and of course, the hundreds of karst obelisks that dominate the horizons.

Join me next time when I cover my Do’s and Do Not’s for Yangshuo, the better half of the iconic region.