Home › Guilin › Yangshuo County
Yangshuo County, Guilin - Things to Do at Yangshuo County

Things to Do at Yangshuo County

Complete Guide to Yangshuo County in Guilin

About Yangshuo County

Yangshuo County sits 65 kilometers downstream from Guilin. Arrive and you instantly grasp why Chinese painters have fixated on this Li River stretch for a millennium. Karst teeth erupt from rice paddies. Mist coils at dawn. Limestone drinks late light and throws back gold. Water buffalo wallow in the Yulong. Cormorant fishermen pole bamboo rafts at dusk. Lanterns glow. Cicadas roar in bamboo groves. The county town is small, walkable, unapologetically touristy along West Street. Grilled beer fish scent mingles with charcoal smoke. Bass thumps from backpacker bars. Step three blocks off the drag and Yangshuo hushes fast. Courtyard houses drip persimmons from eaves. Old men slap xiangqi pieces under banyan trees. Noodle shops serve Guilin mifen for less than a coffee back home. Some call West Street touristy. I call it touristy for good reason. The real Yangshuo starts beyond the last souvenir stall. The surrounding countryside hooks visitors for round two. Cycle the Ten Mile Gallery beside the Li River. Drift the Yulong on bamboo. Climb Moon Hill at sunrise when limestone flames orange. These scenes linger. Peak season brings crowds, yes. The karst absorbs them. Wander twenty minutes down any lane. You will own a rice paddy view.

What to See & Do

Yulong River

The Yulong is the Li River's quieter cousin. It winds through Yangshuo's most photographed countryside. Bamboo rafts glide past karst reflections in glassy water. Occasional splashes mark weirs. Early mist clings until 9am. Photographers love this hour. Water stays shallow in spots. Wade if you like. Cool, silty, perfect.

Ten Mile Gallery (Shili Huahang)

Ten kilometers of road between Yangshuo town and Gaotian village equals a moving postcard. Pavement hugs the Li River. Karst formations crowd both banks. Locals have named the stars: Frog Crossing the River, Eight Immortals. Ride electric scooter or bicycle. Late afternoon light turns amber. Tour buses have vanished.

Moon Hill

A limestone peak with a natural arch. It looks like a moon. Not forced. Not cheesy. The climb takes 30 minutes up uneven stone steps. Rest pavilions appear. Elderly women sell cold water and palm-leaf fans. The top view sweeps rice paddies, the Yulong River, and a sea of karst fading into haze.

Xingping Ancient Town

One hour upriver, Xingping is the town on the back of the 20 yuan note. The panorama looks down the Li River bend. Old lanes are cobbled. Ming-era wooden shopfronts lean together. Noodle stalls simmer broth since before breakfast. Bamboo rafts launch here for the most scenic Li River stretch. Yangshuo-to-Xingping is dull by comparison.

West Street (Xi Jie)

1,400-year-old stone-paved main drag. Bars, souvenir shops, beer fish restaurants line it now. Loud, neon, red lanterns, buskers. Delight or horror, mood decides. Visit once. Sip Liquan beer. Eat the fish. Then move on. Flagstones are worn smooth and slippery in rain. They are old. The buildings above often are not.

Practical Information

Opening Hours

The county never closes. Cycle, raft, wander at any hour. Specific sites vary. Moon Hill opens roughly 7am to 6pm. Xingping bamboo raft piers run 8am to 5pm. Li River cruises depart Guilin between 9am and 1pm. West Street wakes at sunset. It stays loud until around midnight.

Tickets & Pricing

Most Yangshuo magic is free. Rice paddies, karst views, country roads cost nothing. Moon Hill charges a small entry fee. Yulong River Park and Guilin Romance Park do too. Bamboo rafts on the Yulong run mid-range per two-person boat for 90 minutes. Upper section costs more than lower. Full Li River cruise from Guilin is a splurge. Lunch included. Beer fish at a West Street restaurant lands mid-range. Cheaper than Guilin city.

Best Time to Visit

April to October is the sweet spot. Each window has trade-offs. April and May bring lush green paddies and mist for photos. Rain is frequent. Cooking classes, tea ceremonies, Impression Liu Sanjie fill rainy days. September and October serve clear skies and golden harvests. July and August are hot, humid, packed. Winter is cool, quiet, bare. Grey skies suit crowd-averse travelers.

Suggested Duration

Three full days minimum for Yangshuo justice. Day one: Li River and Xingping. Day two: cycle Yulong and Ten Mile Gallery. Day three: Moon Hill plus cooking class or rock climbing. Five days let you slow down. Explore Fuli and Liugong villages. Survive the inevitable rain afternoon. Day trips from Guilin feel rushed. Countryside rewards mornings and evenings. Midday bus stops miss the magic.

Getting There

Touch down at Guilin Liangjiang International Airport and hop the shuttle direct to Yangshuo. Ninety minutes door to door, easiest ride you will find. From Guilin city itself, the Li River cruise steals the show. Four lazy hours downstream, karst scenery on parade, boat docks right in Yangshuo. It costs more. But the memories justify the splurge. Want cheap and fast? High-speed train from Guilin North to Yangshuo station clocks 25 minutes. Grab a taxi or local bus for the last hop into town. Budget travelers swear by the regular buses from Guilin's main station. Ninety minutes, all day departures, pocket-friendly fare. Once you are in Yangshuo, rent wheels. Electric scooters and bikes rule the backroads. Rental shops crowd West Street, and every hostel has a contact who delivers to the door.

Things to Do Nearby

Xingping
The 20-yuan-note viewpoint plus an older, moodier old town than Yangshuo proper. Pair them for one crisp morning. Add the bamboo raft to Nine Horses Fresco Hill and call it a perfect half-day.
Fuli Ancient Town
Fifteen minutes downriver sits Fuli, revered for hand-painted paper fans. Tuesday market crackles with life. Elderly Zhuang women hawk vegetables, bundles of herbs, and the odd live chicken. Combine it with a Yulong River raft. The put-in points sit nearby, so you save time and fuel.
Longji Rice Terraces
Drive three hours north and the Dragon's Backbone terraces flip the script. Tiered rice paddies climb the mountains like green staircases, no karst in sight. Give it two full days. Day tripping from Yangshuo just chews the clock.
Guilin City
Reed Flute Cave and Elephant Trunk Hill headline Guilin brochures. Most travelers shrug and move on. Use Guilin as a transit hub. Land, bolt straight to Yangshuo. Circle back only for the airport ride home.
Yulong River Park
Gongnong Bridge has a polished slice of the Yulong. Paved paths, marked viewpoints, raft docks every few meters. Good for travelers who crave scenery without wrong turns. You lose the thrill of discovery you get on a random scooter detour.

Tips & Advice

Rent an electric scooter, about 100 RMB-equivalent per day from West Street shops. Skip the bicycle if you plan to link the Ten Mile Gallery and the Yulong in one outing. The road climbs more than it looks. Pedal power will gas you before lunch.
Book the Yulong bamboo raft straight with the pilot at Yima or Jinlong Bridge. Skip the hotel markup. Prices drop fast. You can also haggle over which stretch of river you float.
Beer fish, pijiu yu, is the dish everyone tries. Most West Street kitchens serve a version. The good ones hide a few alleys back. Follow the Chinese tour groups, not the English menus flapping on the sidewalk.
Avoid weekends and Chinese public holidays, Golden Week in early October. Country roads morph into scooter gridlock. Raft queues stretch past 60 minutes at popular launches.
Carry cash for villages and roadside stops. WeChat Pay and Alipay rule, yet a 100 RMB-equivalent note rescues you when the signal vanishes among the karst towers. It will vanish.

Tours & Activities at Yangshuo County

Didn't see anything interesting yet?

Browse Viator's full catalog of tours, day trips, food experiences, and private guides in Yangshuo County.

See All Yangshuo County Tours on Viator