People’s HospitalHOSPITAL
(人民医院; Rénmín Yīyuàn GOOGLE MAP ; 70 Wenming Lu; 文明路70号 )
This large, well-equipped hospital is a designated International SOS service provider, and the teaching hospital of several universities in Guǎngxī.
Public Security BureauPOLICE
(PSB; 公安局; Gōng’ānjú GOOGLE MAP ; %0773 582 3492; 16 Shijiayan Lu; h8.30am-noon & 3-6pm Mon-Fri)
Visa extensions. Located by Xiǎodōng River and 500m south of the Seven Stars Park. A taxi from downtown will cost around ¥20.
8Getting There & Away
Air
Buy air tickets from www.english.ctrip.com or www.elong.net; tickets can also be purchased from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; 中国民航; Zhōngguó Mínháng GOOGLE MAP ; %0773 384 7252; cnr Shanghai Lu & Anxin Beilu; h7.30am-8.30pm). Direct flights from Guìlín Liǎngjiāng International Airport (两江国际机场; Liǎngjiāng Guójì Jīchǎng) include Běijīng (¥1700), Chéngdū (¥900), Chóngqìng (¥600), Hǎikǒu (¥1040), Guǎngzhōu (¥860), Hong Kong (Xiānggǎng; ¥1800), Kūnmíng (¥580), Shànghǎi (¥1600) and Xī’ān (¥1000).
International destinations include Seoul, Korea (Hànchéng; ¥2000), and Osaka, Japan (Dàbǎn; ¥3200).
Bus
Guìlín’s main bus station (桂林汽车客运总站; Guìlín Qìchē Kèyùn Zǒngzhàn GOOGLE MAP ; %0773 386 2358; 65 Zhongshan Nanlu; 中山南路65号 g3, 9, 10, 11, 16, 25, 51, 88, 91, 99) has regular buses to the following destinations:
ABěihǎi ¥230, seven hours, one daily (11.30am)
AGuǎngzhōu ¥140, 9½ hours, 10 daily
AHuángyáo ¥61, five hours, two daily (9am and 1.30pm)
ANánníng ¥110 to ¥125, five hours, every 15 minutes
ASānjiāng ¥43, four hours, hourly
AShēnzhèn ¥250, 12 hours, two daily (6pm and 9.20pm)
AYángshuò ¥25, 1½ hours, every 15 to 20 minutes
The North Bus Station (桂林汽车客北站; Guìlín Qìchē Běizhàn 76 Beichen Lu; 北辰路76号 g18, 32, 99, 100) has buses to Zīyuán (¥31, every 20 minutes, 6.40am to 5.50pm).
Buses to Lóngshèng and the Lóngjǐ Rice Terraces depart from the North Bus Station (¥34, two hours, four daily, 9am, 11.10am, 11.30am and 2.30pm) and Qíntán Bus Station (琴潭汽车站; Qíntán Qìchē Zhàn 31 Cuizhu Lu; 翠竹路31号 g2, 12, 26, 32, 85, 91) (¥34, two hours, every 40 minutes, 6.10am to 7pm).
Train
Few trains start in Guìlín, which means it’s often tough to find tickets, so get them a few days in advance. Most trains leave from Guìlín Station (桂林站; Guìlín Zhàn), but some may leave from Guìlín North Train Station (桂林北站; Guìlín Běizhàn), 9km north of the city centre.
Direct services include:
ABěijīng West 1st/2nd class ¥1250/806, 10½ hours, two daily (10.35am and 12.07pm)
AChóngqìng ¥280, 20 hours, two daily (12.50pm and 1.13pm)
AGuǎngzhōu 1st/2nd class ¥165/138, three hours, regular
AKūnmíng ¥280, 18½ to 24 hours, four daily (11.21am, 1.22pm, 3.50pm and 4.10pm)
ANánníng 1st/2nd class ¥130/108, three hours, regular
AShànghǎi G-class train 2nd/1st class ¥660/1049, 9½ hours, one daily (11.44am)
AXī’ān ¥367, 27 hours, one daily (7.10pm)
8Getting Around
To/From the Airport
The airport is 30km west of the city. Half-hourly shuttle buses (¥20) run from the CAAC office between 6.30am and 9pm. From the airport, shuttle buses meet every arrival. A taxi costs about ¥120 (40 minutes).
Bicycle
Guìlín’s sights are all within cycling distance. Many hostels rent bicycles (about ¥20 per day). For decent bikes, head to Ride Giant (捷安特自行车; Jié’āntè Zìxíngchē GOOGLE MAP ; %0773 286 1286; 28 Dongjiang Lu; 东江路28号 per day ¥70, deposit ¥500; h9.30am-9pm).
Bus
Buses numbered 51 to 58 are all free but run very infrequently. Regular buses cost ¥1 to ¥2. The following are the most useful:
ABus 2 Runs past Elephant Trunk Hill and Folded Brocade Hill.
ABus 51 Starts at the train station and heads north along the length of Zhongshan Lu to the Bird Flower Market and beyond.
ABus 58 Goes to Elephant Trunk Hill, Seven Stars Park, Wave-Subduing Hill, Folded Brocade Hill and Reed Flute Cave.
Around Guìlín
Jiāngtóuzhōu Ancient Town 江头洲
Jiāngtóuzhōu Ancient TownVILLAGE
(¥20)
The 1000-year-old village of Jiāngtóuzhōu is tucked away among farmland 32km north of Guìlín. There’s an unmistakable rustic charm, with cobblestone alleyways and weathered homes from the Ming and Qing dynasties, where blocks of tofu are laid out to set in the courtyards. Its residents are descendants of the philosopher Zhou Dunyi (周敦颐), who is famed for his essay on virtue, 'Love of the Water-Lily'. The flower is a decorative motif throughout the village and inside the ancestral hall.
Jiāngtóuzhōu is a two- to three-hour bike ride from Guìlín. Alternatively, take an orange minibus on the stretch of Zhongshan Beilu near Guìlín North Train Station to Língchuān (灵川; ¥3, 40 minutes). Get off at Tánxià Lùkǒu (潭下路口), zip across the road and change to a bus to Jiǔwū (九屋; ¥4, 45 minutes), from where it’s a 15-minute walk to the village. Buses stop running around 5.30pm.
Dàxū Ancient Town 大圩
%0773 / Pop 50,000
One of the four greatest ancient market towns in Guǎngxī, Dàxū (大圩; literally, 'Big Market') was founded in AD 200. The town's dusty streets run alongside the Lí River for 2km, flanked by one- and two-storey houses. Some of these are 'home offices' from which herbalists, barbers, cobblers and traditional craftspeople ply their trade. It's a leisurely place where doors are left open, children and chickens run freely, and corn is dried on the crooked banisters of an old stone bridge.
4Sleeping & Eating
Guǎngchāng MuseumMUSEUM, HISTORIC BUILDING
(广昌博物馆, Guǎngchāng Bówùguǎn 66 Minzhu Lu)F
The opulent residence and courtyards of Dàxū's wealthiest family, the Gaos (高), are lavishly embellished with ornate carvings and expensive classical furniture.
oAncient Town Fish RestaurantSEAFOOD$$
(古镇鱼餐厅; Gǔzhèn Yú Cāntīng %0773 635 2299; 69 Minzhu Lu; dishes ¥30-65; h11.30am-3pm & 6-8.30pm)
The kitchen of this excellent rustic place has cured pork hanging on white-tiled walls, fish swimming in tubs, and baskets of vegetables plucked from their plot. Sometimes the staff will let you go into the kitchen and choose your meal. Look for the door with a red sign that says 古镇旅社 (Gǔzhèn Lǚshè). Go through the lobby into a courtyard and you'll see the restaurant.
8Getting There & Away
The town is 15km from Guìlín. Six buses (¥10, 40 minutes) per day depart for Dàxū Zhèn (大圩镇) from Guìlín's main bus station between 7.30am and 4pm. Buses to Dàxū Zhèn can be found through the stone lions just south of the bus station in Guìlín – walk through the corridor to the bus lot at the end.
Zīyuán 资源
%0773 / Pop 167,000
About 107km north of Guìlín, Zīyuán County (资源), built around the pristine Zī River, is a gateway to geological gems of Dānxiá (丹霞) topography, such as Bājiǎozhài National Geopark and Tiānmén Mountain National Park.
The town of Zīyuán is a good place to base yourself to explore these two sites.
oBājiǎozhài National GeoparkNATIONAL PARK
(八角寨; Bājiǎozhài Meixi Xiang Fúzhú Village; 梅溪乡, 福竹村 ¥80)
This park is named after eight Dānxiá stone peaks that lie near the border with Húnán. Round, isolated, featuring ringlike troughs and leaning 45 degrees in the same direction, they resemble snails sunning themselves after the rain. The trail winds past steep cliffs, collapsed boulders, plunging gorges and bamboo forests.
Tiānmén Mountain National ParkMOUNTAIN
; (天门山景区; Tiānmén Shān Jǐngqū adult/child ¥60/30, cable car one-way/return ¥60/120; h9am-5pm, cable car 9.30am-4pm)
Tiānmén Mountain is home to proud cliffs, sharp ravines and dramatic waterfalls of Dānxiá topography, but also lush subtropical foliage, clusters of ash-brown dwellings and crumbling roadside shrines. There are multiple viewing spots along hiking trails in the park, including a U-shaped deck with a transparent floor. If you have time, boats are at hand to take you for a ride down the lovely Zī River.
4Sleeping & Eating
On the way up to the Bājiǎozhài car park, you’ll pass a few farm restaurants. The chicken hotpot (土鸡火锅; tǔjī huǒguō), made with freshly slaughtered free-range fowl and just-picked vegetables, is divine.
Shéngyuán HotelHOTEL$$
(盛源大酒店; Shéngyuán Dàjiǔdiàn sheng %0773 436 8988; http://glsydjd.com; 188 Chéngběi Kāifāqū; 城北开发区188号 s ¥330, tw ¥280-320, ste from ¥560; naW)
If you want a good night's sleep, this hotel in the northern area of the county is a very good choice. Rooms are spacious and the best ones overlook the river. The 8th floor is smoke-free.
8Getting There & Around
Buses leave Guìlín's North Bus Station for Zīyuán every 20 minutes from 6.40am to 5.50pm. Tickets are between ¥31 and ¥40 for the three-hour ride.
A car directly from Guìlín to Tiānmén Mountain or Bājiǎozhài National Geopark will cost around ¥650 to ¥750.
From downtown Zīyuán, you can hire a car to Tiānmén Mountain, 30 minutes away, for around ¥140, or to Bājiǎozhài National Geopark, 45 minutes away, for slightly more. The driver will wait for you to hike, but take their mobile number in case you need a long time. If you do both places on the same day, it'll cost you over ¥200, but you'll need to start off early (say, at 7am) and spend no more than four hours at each destination.
Lóngjǐ Rice Terraces 龙脊梯田
%0773
This part of Guǎngxī is famous for its breathtaking vistas of terraced paddy fields cascading in swirls down into a valley. For hundreds of years, the paddy fields of Lóngjǐ Rice Terraces (龙脊梯田; Lóngjǐ Tītián) remained unknown to travellers, then everything changed in the 1990s when a photographer named Li Yashi (李亚石) moved here. His images of the scenery amazed the world and put Lóngjǐ (literally 'Dragon's Back') firmly on the tourist trail.
You'll find the most spectacular views around the villages of Píng’ān (平安), a Zhuang settlement; Dàzhài (大寨), a mesmerising Yao village; and Tiántóuzhài (田头寨), which sits slightly further above Dàzhài.
Being the earliest to open to tourism, Píng’ān has the best facilities and it's the closest point of access to the standout Nine Dragons & Five Tigers Viewing Point that looks down on breathtaking terraced field views. Tourism is picking up at Dàzhài and Tiántóuzhài to the east and a cable-car service has been added to Dàzhài.
At the time of writing, sections of the area had been reduced to a muddy quagmire with roads being built, but the main sights were undisturbed. Expect increased transport infrastructure to bring in even more crowds in future, however. A further area of terraced fields just to the southwest of Píng'ān has also been developed, the Gǔzhuàngzhài Tītián (古壮寨梯田).
The best time to visit Lóngjǐ is after the summer rains in May, after farmers have irrigated and the fields glisten with reflections. The fields turn golden just before the October harvest, and snow-white in winter (December). Avoid early spring (March), when the mountains are often mist-shrouded; visitor numbers are way down.
1Sights & Activities
As hiking is a way of life here, bring a day pack and leave your luggage in Guìlín or in the main ticket office. Otherwise villagers will carry your bags for ¥50 apiece; there's a lot of hollering to provide this service.
You can take a number of short walks from each village to the fabulous viewing points, which are all clearly signposted. The three- to four-hour trek between the villages of Dàzhài, via Tiántóuzhài and Píng’ān is also highly recommended. However, get a local to guide you for around ¥100 or ask directions frequently along the way, as there are almost no signposts for this hike (astonishing considering the amount of money spent on new roads), and you will meet numerous sign-less forks in the path. Recent road construction has made it even more confusing (and muddy). To ask 'Is this the way to Píng’ān', show this to a local farmer: '去平安, 怎么走?' For Dàzhài, it's: '去大寨, 怎么走?' They will point the way. The path can be very slippery after rain, so take hiking boots with good grip – you can easily turn an ankle or take a fall.
Rice TerracesLANDMARK
(龙脊梯田; Lóngjǐ Tītián ¥100)
These are the clear standouts in the area. Rising to 1000m, they are an amazing feat of farm engineering on hills dotted with minority villages. One of the most sublime and beautiful images rewards the climb up to the Nine Dragons & Five Tigers Viewing Point (九龙五虎观景点; Jiǔlóng Wǔhǔ Guānjǐngdiǎn GOOGLE MAP ) with its astonishing, curvaceous layers of terraces. It's around a 30-minute walk above Píng'ān. The oldest field is over 700 years old; you pass it just before making your ascent to Dàzhài.
zFestivals & Events
Ghost FestivalCULTURAL
(鬼节; Guǐ Jié )
During the Ghost Festival, celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the Yao and Zhuang eat 'rice of seven colours' (七彩饭; qīcǎi fàn), which consists of white glutinous rice, and rice dyed naturally with maple (black), amaranth (red), sweet vernal grass (yellow), and a kind of berry (blue), and, artificially, with purple and green dyes.
Clothes Drying FestivalCULTURAL
(晒衣节; Shàiyī Jié )
One of the biggest Yao festivals is the Clothes Drying Festival, which falls on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. On that day, the women lay out all their traditional costumes under the sun. This serves the dual purpose of disinfection and allowing the ladies to show off. If it rains, they take their fashion spread indoors, leaving the door open.
4Sleeping & Eating
Nearly all guesthouses offer food, and most restaurants have English menus; dishes cost between ¥15 and ¥100.
Oil tea – fried tea leaves brewed and drunk with rice puffs and peanuts – is consumed for breakfast, as is egg in sweet wine (甜酒鸡蛋; tián jiǔ jīdàn), heated rice wine into which an egg is dropped. Another common dish is zhútǒng fàn (竹筒饭), glutinous rice baked inside bamboo sticks.
oLóngjǐ International Youth HostelHOSTEL$
(龙脊国际青年旅舍; Lóngjǐ Guójì Qīngnián Lǚshě GOOGLE MAP ; %0773 758 3265; [email protected]; Píng'ān Village; 平安村 dm/tw/tr ¥40/128/168; aiW)
One of the first accommodation options you find walking into Píng'ān, this thoroughly pleasant, friendly and amenable hostel has decent rooms in a kind of Twin Peaks wooden surrounds setting. Double rooms are comfortable and spacious enough, with views. The restaurant is also really good and the spacious bar is an excellent spot for drinking and chit-chat at night.
Dragon’s Den HostelHOSTEL$
(大寨青年旅舍; Dàzhài Qīngnián Lǚshě %0773 758 5780; www.dragonsdenhostel.com; Tiántóu Zhāi, Dàzhài Village; 龙脊梯田大寨村田头摘 dm ¥40-45, tw & d ¥90-120; naW)
With a cosy lounge and a children's library, this hostel has some rooms with sit-down toilets and air-conditioning; the rest have squatting latrines and the cool night breeze. Dorms are four- and five-bed rooms. It's a 40-minute climb from Dàzhài. When you see Mr Liao Cafe & Bar, turn right and go another 150m.
oPanorama House HotelHOTEL$$
(全景楼大酒店; Quánjǐnglóu Dàjiǔdiàn %136 1786 9898, 130 7764 6291, 0773 758 5688; www.quanjinglou.com; scenic spot no 1, Lóngjǐ Terrace; 龙脊金坑大寨瑶族梯田1号景观点 d & tw ¥880, tr & q ¥980, ste ¥1080-1888; aiW)
This excellent 100-room brick-and-concrete hotel near the summit of Dàzhài has a bird's-eye view of the fields. The rooms are sp
arkling, the restaurant is good (though pricey) and there are swings on the balconies. Ask for a room facing east, but rooms with views of the terraces are the priciest. Frequent discounts of around 60% or more.
oLóngjǐ Holiday HotelINN$$
(龙脊假日酒店; Lóngjǐ Jiàrì Jiǔdiàn GOOGLE MAP ; %0773 758 3545, 134 5731 8219; www.ljjrjd.com; d/ste ¥299/520; aiW)
This cosy place in Píng'ān is run by a pleasant Zhuang woman called Yanmei and her brother. Spacious tiled rooms sport sharp colour coordination, a display of Zhuang artefacts, pretty lights, sinks and showers, balconies and lovely views (especially on the upper floors). Stoves are in the pipeline. Yanmei also acts as a guide, charging around ¥300 for the walk to Dàzhài.
8Information
There’s nowhere here to change money, so bring enough with you, especially if you are going on to Sānjiāng, which has the same problem.
8Getting There & Away
Hotels in Dàzhài and Tiántóuzhài arrange direct shuttle services from Dàzhài to Guìlín (10am, 1pm and 4pm), and from Guìlín to Dàzhài (8am, 10.30am and 2pm) for their guests. The price is usually ¥50 per person. They also take other passengers if seats are available. Reservations are a must. All hotels in Píng’ān provide a similar service.
For public transport from Guìlín, head to the city's North Bus Station or Qíntán Bus Station. From there, take a bus to Lóngshèng (龙胜; ¥34, two hours, every 30 minutes, 7am to 7pm) and ask to get off at Hépíng (和平). From the road junction (or the ticket office three minutes’ walk away), minibuses trundle between Lóngshèng and the rice terraces, stopping to pick up passengers to Dàzhài (¥10, one hour, every 30 minutes, 7am to 5pm) and Píng’ān (¥10, 30 minutes, every 20 minutes to one hour, 7am to 5pm). Buses go via Èrlóng Bridge (二龙桥; Èrlóng Qiáo). If you have walked from Píng'ān to Dàzhài and want to take the bus back to Píng'ān rather than head to Lóngshèng, you need to take a bus (¥12) first to Èrlóng Bridge, then another bus (¥8) to Píng'ān. The same applies in the other direction.
Lonely Planet China Page 125
