Guilin is a scenic city in North Guangxi, China and very well known tourist destination and starting point for the Li River cruise. Guilin means “Forest of Sweet Osmanthus”, owing to the large number of fragrant sweet osmanthus trees located in the city. We flew into Guilin city and stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel for a couple nights. Afterward we drove to Yangshuo to spend a few nights at Zen Garden Resort.
Andy of Yangshuo Private Tours was our driver and guide for the week. Andy put together a great itinerary for our Guilin and Yangshuo tour. We visited old Yao village and rice terraces, Reed Flute Cave, Yangshuo bike riding, Li River cruise, and much more.
Guilin and Longji Rice Terraces
Longsheng (Dragon’s Back) Rice Terrace
Our first stop was to a village known as the “Long Hair (Huangluo) Village” where the famous Yao ethnic group believe that women’s long hair can bring longevity, wealth and good luck, which means that the longer a woman’s hair is, the more luck she will bring her family.
Afterward we went up into the mountains for a hike around old rice terraces and villages.
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Wut?
This nice old lady said she made these. I think she mean to say that she "assembled" them because they are sold everywhere in the villages.
Yao lady unfurling her hair.
This lady offered to show off her long hair
Popular dishes are dry bacon and bamboo rice
In these shops you can see fresh tea leaves being processed
Girls dressing up for selfies
Undulating rice terraces on the mountain side
This man suggested to us that we should go into the village to try bamboo rice. The rice in put into bamboo tubes and cooked.
Fresh bamboo is good stir fried with pork strips and rice.
This is how the bamboo chicken and rice tubes are prepared.
BBQ or smoked sticky rice in bamboo tubes are very popular. We also had bamboo chicken which was delicious.
Fresh made hot sauces are quite popular and very spicy!
Reed Flute Cave in Guilin looks really cool with the colorful lights
Pagoda stalagmites in Reed Flute Cave.
Hiking path up in the rice terraces was easy once you climbed up all the stairs to the top.
Yangshuo
Yangshou is about an hour drive from Guilin and is not very big with about 30,000 residence. It’s very popular tourist destination and gets very crowded in the summer time. We enjoyed a few days of quite and beautiful scenery. I would totally go back for some R&R and again would stay at the Zen Garden Resort.
A short drive from Yangshou is the town Xingpingzhen which is where you can find the famous river scene depicted on the 20-yuan bank note. This part of the river is very popular for tourists to take short rides on the many motorboat-rafts.
ZOMG! The money-shot!
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ZOMG! The money-shot!
A boat ride down the Li River is a must do.
I tried some deep fried crabs and little fish. Meh, the oil tasted rancid.
Looking down at the Li River from one of the mountains on the 20 Yuan note.
Bike and scooter rides through the fields and mountains in Yangshou is quite fun
Off the beaten path we found this tranquil field
Popular, local dish called beer fish enjoyed along with local win.
Imagine having breakfast here.
View from our room at Zen Garden Resort, Yangshou
Famous Guilin rice noodles. I made mine too hot and it was great.
These old tractors were seen, and heard, all over Guilin area. They have a very interesting thumping sound.
Old Red Guard propaganda found in one of the old villages.
These men are continuing old tradition of training birds to catch fish.
These birds follow the raft and dive to catch fish.
Look, he caught one! But cannot swallow because a string tied around his neck.
It's a neat looking hole through the mountain and people hike up there to get nice views.
A kissing fish massage is ticklish as first then becomes rather comfortable. The fish nibble at your feet.
