5 Days Tour to the Rice Terrance and Li River

Day 1

Arrival Guilin
Arrive in Guilin, a small city with great natural beauty of south China. Be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. Free at leisure for the rest of the day.
Meals: No meals
Accommodation: In Guilin

Guilin is world-famous for its serene landscape, Karst limestone formations, mist-covered hills and bamboo groves. It is home to more than ten ethnic groups, including Han, Zhuang, Miao, Yao, Hui and Dong. On the way from the airport to your hotel, you will see dozens of pretty hills everywhere in the city of Guilin. It is a city of hills and green trees and boasts one of the most photographed areas of China.

Day 2

Guilin    Longsheng    Guilin
In the morning, you will take about 2.5hours driving to Longsheng, for your today highlight tour to Longji Rice Terrace and Pingan Zhuang Village. Be transferred back to Guilin after the visits. 
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Guilin

Longji Rice Terrace are reached from Guilin by mountain roads amid spectacular scenery.  With a history of more than 700 years, the area is still being used for growing premium quality rice by Yao and Zhuang villagers. The rice terraces are built into the hillsides and look like great steps cut into the slopes as they wind around the mountainsides. This ingenious construction makes best use of the scarce arable land and water resources in the mountainous area.

The Rice Terraces are much prettier after the rain, as the morning fog is clearing or while rice is being harvested. If you like to paint or photograph dramatic, beautiful landscapes, this would be a superb destination in which to practice your art; or come here anyway just to look, gaze in awe, and take it all in; it is a Guilin must-see!

Ping'an is a Zhuang minority village high up in the mountains at Longji. The village is only accessible by foot, and from across the valley, the visitor has a first impression of entering another land as the buildings, clustered around the hillside, are all two story wooden structures resembling a European Alpine village. This is the traditional Zhuang style house and among them there are excellent guest houses that can cater to all your practical needs. Pingan is surrounded by beautiful terraced rice fields. From a distance, the terraces look like contour lines on a topographical map, texturing the ridges, mountainsides and valleys.  It is a charming environment that will have the most demanding photographer constantly busy and wearing a slightly demented grin.
 

Day 3

Guilin      Yangshuo
In the morning you will be driven to the Pier for the Li River Cruise (about 4 hours, lunch served on board). Savour the fairy-tale scenery while cruising down the meandering river to Yangshuo. After disembarkation, have a walk along the famous West Street. In the evening you can enjoy the optional night show of Impression of Liu Sanjie.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Yangshuo

In the morning, be driven to Pier for your Li River Cruise. A double-decker river boat is waiting for you. The landscape from Guilin to Yangshuo is truly a masterpiece of nature. The crystal waters, straight-out-of-a-painting mountains, peaceful farm fields, hard-working-but- ever-smiling fishermen and wandering water buffaloes inspire poetic musings of Guilin charming life. Under the blue sky, your river boat transports you in an unending daydream.

You will end up your cruise in Yangshuo, is a small oriental but Western-influenced town with a history of 1000 years. The West Street in the town earns its name since almost every one in West Street can speak fluent English and every restaurant or bar offers menus in several languages. You will feel no borders or distance here and will soon fall under the spell of this charismatic, welcoming small-town atmosphere. Moreover, West Street is flanked by fascinating little shops and vendor stands selling a broad variety of superior quality souvenirs, perfect gifts for friends and relatives. West Streets charms increase when night comes; countless bars, cafés and bistros open till midnight with dynamic music and live bands to ensure you can have a really memorable night with your new-found friends.

Some guests may also hear about the night show- Impressions of Liu Sanjie performance. The site is only one mile from West Street in the world largest natural theatre which utilizes the waters of the Li River as its stage, flanked by twelve mist shrouded hills and the heavens as its backdrop. Mist, rain, moonlight, the hills and their inverted reflections in the river all become the ever-changing natural background, so you will enjoy a unique experience each time you attend. In the 'Impressions of Liu Sanjie', you will be presented with stylized scenes and events from the daily life of the Zhuang people living around the Li River. From these pageants, you will gain a realistic sense of Sanjie's birthplace and appreciate the beauty of the folk songs. If you are able to take photographs under low-light conditions, you are assured of some stunning images from this performance.
 

Day 4

Yangshuo    Guilin
In the morning, have an excursion (if you are interested, can have a biking) in the countryside of Yangshuo to admire some of the most stunning scenery like the Moon Hill and the Big Banyan Tree. Drive back to Guilin after lunch.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Guilin

From Yangshuo, it is a short, pleasant drive to the aptly named Moon Hill, a great limestone peak with a naturally created moon-shaped cavern passing through just below its summit. If you get up to the top, you will find the landscape is stunning viewed from the very top; the skyline is lined with peaks of almost equal height – resembling a jumble of giant rock traffic-cones pointing skywards.

The Big Banyan Tree is said to have a history of nearly 1, 400 years and has survived centuries of wind and rain. The Big Banyan Tree is now 17 meters high, 7.1 meters around the main trunk, and spans an area of 1000 square meters. As a major tourist attraction, the enormous Banyan is famous for its age and towering beauty. It is also noted because the Chinese film 'The legend of Liu Sanjie' was partly shot here. The beautiful love story adds to the magic of this centuries-old tree.
 

Day 5

Departure Guilin
Before driving to airport for your flight to next stop, take a half-day tour in Guilin City of Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Cave where fantastic stalactite and stalagmite formations impress people as magic.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Elephant Trunk Hill, or Xiangbishan, is the symbol of Guilin. Observed from a distance, you will see an elephant-like form standing majestically at the confluence of the Li and Yang Rivers, with its trunk arching into the clear waters, a fantasy elephant eternally quenching a gargantuan thirst; lifelike in shape and energetic in posture.

Reed Flute Cave is named for the special reeds, used for making flute instruments that grow near the cave entrance. The caves are a feast for the eyes. The natural beauty of a profusion of stalactites and stalagmites, stele, stone pillars, stone curtains and stone flowers creating an infinite variety of extraordinary scenes, creatively illuminated, is bound to evoke gasps of admiration. It is fitting then, that Reed Flute Cave is commonly praised as Nature Grand Art Palace.

Service Ends