Guilin Best 1-Day Tour: Li River, Xianggong Hill and Yulong River
Description
Experience the peace and tranquility of the Li River as you glide from Yangdi to Xingping on an electric boat, immersing yourself in the breathtaking beauty of nature. From the summit of Xianggong Hill, you’ll be amazed by the stunning panoramic view of the Li River, surrounded by towering karst peaks. The Yulong River, one of Yangshuo’s most scenic waterways, offers a unique and unforgettable experience. Sit back on a bamboo raft and gently float along its clean, clear waters, soaking in the serene atmosphere. In the evening, don’t miss the chance to watch Impression Sanjie Liu, China’s first outdoor riverside night show, a mesmerizing performance that brings the river to life.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your driver-guide will pick you up at 9:00 am or at a time of your choice from the lobby of your hotel, Guilin Railway Station, Guilin Airport, Guilin city center, or any other designated location. Please let us know your hotel name, and we will pick you up from anywhere within 20 kilometers of Guilin city.
Yangdi Village, located in the southern part of Guilin, is home to approximately 3,000 residents. The most stunning and unique karst peaks can be found along the Li River between Yangdi and Xingping Village. In fact, most photos featured in guidebooks or online are taken along this stretch of the river. We will take a Eectric boat from Yangdi to Nine Horse Hill, a scenic cruise lasting about 1 hour. These smaller boats offer a more authentic experience, allowing you to get closer to the natural beauty of the area. Along the way, you’ll be treated to breathtaking views of towering peaks in various shapes, crystal-clear waters, lush green hills, bamboo groves, and more. Note: Each boat accommodates four passengers, and you will share the cruise with other tourists.
We will drive to Xianggong Hill, a perfect destination for those who want to experience the karst scenery up close. Climbing Xianggong Hill is a wise choice, as it offers one of the most stunning views in the region. The hike to the top takes about 20 minutes, and once there, you’ll be rewarded with a breathtaking panoramic view of the Li River and its towering karst peaks. This is truly one of China’s most spectacular sights and a must-see for any visitor.
The Yulong River offers a peaceful bamboo boat rafting experience, where you can sit comfortably on a raft and gently float along its clean, clear waters. This serene and idyllic ride is often the highlight of any trip to Yangshuo, providing a completely different experience compared to the larger boat cruises on the Li River. The tranquil atmosphere and natural beauty of the Yulong River leave a lasting impression on visitors. Note: Each bamboo boat accommodates two passengers, and you will share the rafting experience with other tourists.
Optional Tour: "Impression Liu Sanjie" is a spectacular musical production directed by the renowned filmmaker Zhang Yimou. Set on the world's largest natural stage, the performance spans a 2-kilometer stretch of the Li River and incorporates 12 majestic peaks as its backdrop. Centered around the legendary figure Liu Sanjie, the show seamlessly blends her timeless folk songs with rich cultural traditions. Featuring a cast of 600 performers, along with traditional bamboo boats and cormorant birds, this 70-minute spectacle is truly unforgettable. Alternatively, you can experience the "Guilin Romance Park" show, which vividly brings to life the historical culture and folk traditions of Guilin. This must-see attraction offers a variety of performing arts and high-tech presentations that are so captivating, you'll find it hard to leave.
After the show, we will provide transportation back to your hotel in either Guilin or Yangshuo.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We will have a sign of the traveler's name to meet at the lobby of hotel at 9:00 AM
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Kid below 1.0 meter is not availble for bamboo boat.
Reviews(9)
The tour was amazing. While most tours cover the cruise, this one includes the bamboo rafting in the Yulong river and a small electric boat ride in the Li river, which we felt were a better option than the 4-hour cruise. It also has other optional activities. Leo was a great guide. He picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel and suggested a few different ways to go about the day, tailoring to our preferences. Without Leo we wouldn’t have done any of these because of the large distances we covered, making this tour a must for us. Thanks Leo for the great day!
Thank you for your trust and for booking the tour with us. Both of you are very nice and friendly, which made the tour much easier for both of us. This is one of the best tours for travelers who only have one day in the area and want to see as much as possible, including the Li River, Yulong River, and a hilltop view. This tour offers you a different experience on each river. With over 15 years of travel experience based in Guilin, we focus on local tours in this area and can meet most of your needs and preferences while you are here. Welcome to Guilin! Joining our tour will never disappoint you. Enjoy the rest of your trip in China!
Stress free trip around the must see sites around the li river. Leo was a great tour guide, who offered great insight into the local area. This tour has been carefully created and well organised, with pick ups/drop offs to activities well timed. Leo was very accommodating and found a great restaurant for vegetarian food for lunch. Thanks to Leo for making us feel so welcome and giving us a great tour
Thank you for booking the tour with us—and for enjoying it so much! Both of you were very kind and friendly, and our driver-guide truly enjoyed accompanying you on the "Best of Guilin" tour, which included the Li River, Xianggong Hill, and the Yulong River. We carefully designed this itinerary to make the most of your limited time in Guilin, and we hope it has become one of the most memorable highlights of your trip to China. We also aim to recommend good restaurants to our guests. We can suggest Western, Chinese, or other types of dining to meet any special needs, as we believe food is an important part of the travel experience. Thank you again for your kindness—and we wish you a wonderful rest of your journey in China!
Highly recommend using him for your touring and travel. Picked us up exactly on time. Smooth safe driving to all of the sites. Lots of local knowledge. With us every step of the way.
Hello, Queenie, Thank you for booking the tour with us and for your kind feedback. It was a pleasure to have both of you on the tour — you were friendly, approachable, and wonderful to be around. As a local agency, we offer a variety of tours to meet different travel interests, and we are committed to fulfilling our clients’ needs. We truly appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. Your words will certainly help future travelers when choosing our guide services. Wishing you an enjoyable rest of your trip in China. All the best to you and your family!
Leo is a top-notch tour guide! We did several tours in Guilin and have to say Leo was exceptional. He had so much to tell us about Guilin, Chinese culture and tidbits about all the sights he brought us to. He made purchasing tickets very easy, and helped us take many beautiful pictures. The scenery on this tour was beautiful. Leo even suggested several stops along the way that were pretty photo spots and gave us a mini photoshoot! We opt to watch the show at night and for our free time between the bamboo river ride he recommended us to rent scooters to ride along the Yulong river with the locals for an hour during sunset. That wasn't even on the itinerary and might have been my favourite activity. The restaurants he picked for us were also super cool - lunch we went to a restaurant built in a literal cave and the dinner at the very traditional style, but beautifully decorated and clean restaurant. He was just a very nice man. All in all, can't recommend him enough!
Hello Irene Yan and Armon Molavi, Thank you for choosing our "Best of Guilin" tour. We are truly pleased that you took the time to share such a detailed, heartfelt, and positive review. It was a great honor for us to welcome such friendly guests as you, and we truly enjoyed showing you around our beautiful hometown and sharing stories about this area—and a bit of our own. You mentioned enjoying the guide services and the activities we arranged. As locals, we always strive to create the best possible experience for every traveler. We treat our guests with sincerity because many, like you, come from far away and may visit Guilin—or even China—just once in a lifetime. We never want anyone to leave with a sense of disappointment. As a small local team based in Guilin, we focus on offering private tours that provide meaningful and personalized experiences. We are confident that your kind review will help future travelers make a wise choice in touring with us. Thank you again for your warm feedback. Wishing you a wonderful time in Chongqing!
We were able to customize our tours based on our preferences and took two different tours with Sundy and it was well worth it! We would have been lost and would not have seen as much as we had if it wasn't for Sundy. Most importantly, he got us to our destinations safely in a timely manner. Highly recommend!
Thank you for your kind words about our Guilin private tours! We truly appreciate the opportunity to guide you during your time in the Guilin area. It would mean a lot to us if you could recommend our services to your friends. Thanks and hope to see you again soon.
Leo is an amazing guide and he does everything: replies to questions very quickly on the Viator app, drives, guides, and ensures we have the best experience. He also speaks very well English and we had great conversations. Leo knew exactly where to go to allow me to have the best experience without the crowds. We did Li River in the morning. I was on a 4-people raft. I didn’t see much other boats at all because we arrived after the crowds. So I got the chance to experience the river in a very peaceful way. Leo picked me up on the other side in Xingping. Since he knew I like to stay out of the crowds he took me to a lovely restaurant in a small village nearby for lunch. It was wonderful and very peaceful. Then I could see the river from the top of the Xianggong hill (impressive) and finally did the Yulong river. Leo found another woman to ride with me on the 2-people raft and picked me up at the end of the tour. Beautiful scenery. There were a few other rafts but they are all small rafts so it doesn’t matter and it’s actually pretty fun to watch all the rafts navigating down the river with you. I was worried it would be too crowded to enjoy but everything was perfect end to end and I thoroughly enjoyed both Li river and Yulong river. They both have their own charm and thanks to Leo I was able to enjoy them both in the best conditions. He also showed me other beautiful places before driving me to the airport. Leo is an exceptional guide, I cannot recommend him enough!
Hello, Celia, Thanks for your booking the tour with us in Guilin area. It is grateful that you rated 5 star review for us and you are very nice tourist. hope your detailed review will be helpful to our tours.
Great day with Leo! It was a fascinating day with Leo. He picked us up at the hotel and brought us safely back in the evenig. Our tour was great! Yery informative and highly recommended!
Thanks for your booking one day tour of longji rice terraces and happy with our tour services. We are appreciated your positive review. Your encouragement will make us keep our high-quality services to our future tourists and hope this will bring more and more tourists. Thanks for your time to review us and hope that you can use our services in the near future. Have a nice day.
The tour with Leo was great! Leo was a nice, polite and well informed tour guide. Without him we would definitely not have experienced this tour on our own. Our language skills were far too bad for that. Leo organized all the necessary tickets in a flash, so we didn't spend any time in queues. Leo picked us up from the hotel on time and brought us back safely in the evening. We can totally recommend this tour!
Thanks for your booking one day tour of longji rice terraces with us and happy with our tour services. We are appreciated for your positive review. Your encouragement will make us keep our high-quality services to our future tourists. Thanks for your time to review us and hope that you can use our services in the near future. Have a nice day.
Leo was a very nice guide and in a short notice he took me. He also helped me to get some cable for my apple phone, took me to a bank that accepted debit card for cash (very difficult to find one in China). Did a wonderful tour in the river, mountain, went to a restaurant that sold local typical great food. No doubt recommending Leo… also a very nice person and had a nice car like a Toyota Corolla
Thanks for enjoying the tour and your nice review. You review will make us keep our high-quality services to our future tourists and have to see you again in the near future. Have nice day.
