Trip to Guilin and Yangshuo

Hey everyone,

I wrote a traveling guide for the trip from Shenzhen to Guilin to help my friend. I am pasting here and hope it can benefit more people in Shenzhen who want to take a trip to Guilin.

Guilin is my hometown and I am proud that I grew up in this beautiful place. I am not a professional writer or tour guide, but all of the following information is based on my own experiences in my home town. Hope it can help you.   

1. from Shenzhen to Guilin  

(1) Train

I recommend you to take the train in Luohu train station, because the public long distance buses are usually very dirty and not safe. For the train, You can buy the tickets in the nearby train ticket agent (火车票代售点). Don't forget to get beds硬卧 instead of the seats硬座, because it is a 13 hours night time trip. 

Train No :K952  and it leaves Shenzhen at 17:46 and arrive Guilin at 7:30 am the next morning. You can sleep on the train.  

Train number         Time                                 Ticket Price

(2) Flight:

I found some flight tickets with discount and the price is about 360rmb-460rmb. You can check here:http://flight.qunar.com/site/oneway_list.htm?searchDepartureAirport...

2. Trip in Guilin City

(1)    象鼻山公园（elephant nose mountain park） This is the place that you go to see the elephant shaped mountain. It is very close to the train station so you can just grab a taxi. 

 (2)  You can take a boat ride to travel 两江四湖(two rivers and 4 lakes, city canal system), night time views with the lights are more beautiful. You can buy the boat tickets: here :桂林国际旅行社一楼两江四湖营业厅(桂林滨江路11号) or other tourist agent.  

Food in Guilin: 
迷迭香Rose Mary  restaurant has great western food. it is in the 正阳街 central shopping street, near KFC.

椿记烧鹅 a good restaurant for eating goose. 

老山羊 a good restaurant for lamb hotpot. 

Don't forget to try the most popular food in Guilin: 桂林米粉，Guilin rice noodles, they are everywhere. The price is 3RMB. Also don’t forget to get some 油条 (You tiao!) :)

Living in Guilin:

A nice express hotel near Elephant Mountain: 

http://hotel.elong.com/Hanting_Express_Xiangshan_Road_Guilin-021010...

City convenient hotel near train station: 
http://map.baidu.com/?qt=inf&detail=hotel&from=alamap&u...

There are some hostels near 滨江路 Bing jiang road. See more information here: http://www.hostelworld.com/search?search_keywords=Guilin%2C+China&a...

2. Guilin to Yangshuo 

Take the bus to 阳朔Yangshuo in the big square in front of the Guilin Train station. It is a 1.5 hour trip and the Real Price for the bus ticket is 15rmb-20rmb. 

3. Trip in Yangshuo 

When you arrive Yangshuo, you will find that you are in a global village. People around are all from different countries and everyone comes here to experience the amazing Chinese natural views.Go have a walk through 西街 west street. There are tons of restaurants, bars and shops.

Bike ride: There are lots of places next to the streets for renting bikes. Don't forget to ask them for the locks, keys and owner's phone number. A ride along the 遇龙河(meeting dragon river) is the best routine.  

Bamboo Rafting:Go to the harbor near 遇龙桥 （meeting dragon bridge） to take a 3-4 hours rafting ride. For more details maybe you can ask the people in the hotel. I remember the price I got was 100rmb for renting one raft. The water is very clean and calm. The bigger river 漓江 Li river is also a great place for rafting. Li river ride is further and more famous. You can take the bus to 杨堤(Yang di harbor) to start your trip.

Food in Yangshuo：

红星特快Red Star restaurant near west street. The best food here is Red star pizza and Taco. 

The second floor of Global Cafe in West Street has good Lasagna. （意大利千层面）

Beer fish 啤酒鱼 is the most famous Chinese food in Yangshuo. 

恒河印象restaurant in West street has good Indian food. 

Kelly cafe near West Street has great western breakfast. 

Living in Yangshuo: 

There are lots of hostels and hotels here. Some of them are near mountains, rivers, and some of them are next to the streets. You can check the rooms in different hotels when you arrive and choose the best one. 

Check here for more info:http://www.hostelworld.com/search?search_keywords=Yangshuo%2C+China...

Party Time:

Monkey Jane:  Awesome roof top bar. Very famous, everyone knows, but the location is hard to find. Good luck.

If you like dancing, there are some dancing bars in west street,  Boys&Girls bar,Cavalier bar, Ding ding Bar…

We always end our party in Kaya bar since it is opening very late and it is a nice place for chatting. .

4. Other cool places near Guilin:

股东瀑布: Waterfall climbing park: 30 minutes bus away from Guilin city, In this park, your mission is to climb 9 waterfalls all the way from the bottle to the top of the mountain. Check here:http://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/asia-gudong-waterfall.html

冠岩: Crown Cave/ Colorful cave, 40 minutes away from Guilin city, you will take the mini train, boat and elevator cave when you are in the cave. http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/guilin/guilin-crown-cave.html

龙脊梯田: This place is far, about 2 hours from Guilin City, and it is in a big mountains area. The cool things to see here are the rice terraces. You will explore the real Chinese villages here, and the local people here are Chinese minority .Check here: http://www.at0086.com/LJTE/

 4. Guilin back to Shenzhen:

Train number         Time              Ticket Price

Or you can take a bus from Yangshuo Bus station back to shenzhen,  

Warning: Guilin and Yangshuo are tourist places. Maybe you will meet some strangers selling things to you. Don't talk to them and don't trust them. Hope you and your friends enjoy the trip!