【Location】Guilin City, Guangxi Province
【Type】Natural Landscape
【Rank】★★★★★
【Highlights】Li River, Yangshou, Elephant Trunk Hill
【Recommended Time to stay】3--5 Days

Guilin's limestone karst mountains and Yangshuo's laidback setting have long drawn backpackers and nature enthusiasts. With the Li River serving as a backdrop, the surrounding area is an emerald waiting to be explored.

"Guilin's scenery is the most beautiful under heaven", so goes a Chinese saying describing the immortal beauty of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's Guilin. Boats float down the charming Li River as limestone karst mountains jut from the ground like dragon's teeth. This immortal scenery can be seen on the back of RMB 20 notes.
While Guilin is far from the crush of other Chinese cities, it is becoming developed and is a major tourist destination, like many places in China, its history can be traced further back than many nations in the West. During the Han dynasty, Guilin became the political and economical center of Guangxi and continues to thrive today.

★ Main Scenic Spots in Guilin

Li River, the highlight of Guilin's attractions, is one of the most famous places in China for tourists. This section, the most beautiful of the entire river, is 83km long and flows from Guilin to Yangshuo. Its banks have hills, cliffs and caves that can be enjoyed from a bamboo boat ride down the river. The Lijiang River was described by famous poet Hanyu as "a blue silk ribbon and the mountains resemble emerald hairpins".

Yangshou has some of the most beautiful karst mountain landscapes in the world. Yangshuo is reached by most visitors by taking a cruise down the picturesque Li River. The area is filled with karst mountains. The views are nothing short of breathtaking. The atmosphere in Yangshuo is a unique one. The streets are usually filled with Westerners and most of the shops, restaurants, hotels, and bars are designed to cater to them. Each year approximately 100,000 westerners come to Yangshuo, making it a unique blend of cultures.

The West Street is at the center of Yangshuo. Its buildings were built in the style of traditional Chinese architecture. The street is lined with shops, hotels and restaurants. The shops offer many unique handicrafts and works of art. Yangshuo is extremely popular with Westerners and West Street is often referred to as a "Global Village".

Elephant Trunk Hill is situated at the junction of the Li River and Taohuajiang Rivers. Rising over 55 meters above the water, it is a spectacular limestone karst hill with a naturally-shaped cave at the bottom. The hill, standing majestically on the western bank of the Li River looks like a huge elephant dipping its trunk into the Li River to quench its thirst. At dusk, it looks extraordinarily beautiful. It is a masterpiece of karst landscape.

Seven Star Park is the largest and the most beautiful park in Guilin. The park got its name from the seven mountain peaks located in the park. The seven peaks resemble the seven stars that make up the big dipper giving the park its name. There are pavilions located on the hills offering wonderful views of the park and the surrounding areas. The park features a zoo which has two giant pandas residing in it. There are several garden areas and collections of bonsai trees and beautiful stones. The zoo features a children's area and a Buddhist temple built in the style of the Tang Dynasty. The Seven Star Park Cave is one of the most famous caves in Guilin and its stalactite and stalagmite formations are fantastic. The cave is cool all year and a visit to the cave is a wonderful way to cool down during the summer.

Transportation
As a world famous destination, Guilin has an extensive transportation system that allows visitors to conveniently get around Guilin and travel throughout the country. Guilin is conveniently connected to over 100 domestic and international airports, and is accessible from and to almost all the major countries in the world.

By Taxi:
The easiest means of getting around Guilin is by taking one of its many taxis. The drivers are always happy to give advice to visitors. The starting fee is 7rmb for the first kilometer and 1.6rmb for each additional kilometer. Visitors taking a taxi do not need to worry about not being able to get back to their hotel, because every hotel will offer its guests a business card written in Chinese and English that will instruct taxi drivers how to take you back to your hotel.

By Public Bus, or Sightseeing Bus:
There are public buses that travel throughout Guilin, and taking the bus would be the best and the most common method of getting around the city. The buses charge only 1.2rmb per ride. The exception is the 99 and 98 busses which have air conditioning and heat and are 2rmb per ride. All of Guilin's most popular sites can be gotten to by public busses. Note: exact change is required and drivers cannot give change, so keep extra change with you if you wish to take public busses.

Rent a Bicycle or Car:
The primary mode of transportation for locals in Guilin is still the bicycle. It is also a perfect way for visitors to explore this city. It offers visitors the chance to stop where they would like, for as long as they want. Renting a bicycle in Guilin costs 10 to 30 RMB, plus deposit. For visitors who are not using a tour company to visit Guilin, a car rental would be a nice option. Car rentals begin at 600 RMB for an 8 hour day.

Climate
Guilin has a subtropical monsoon climate with four distinct seasons and high humidity. Summer is humid and hot. Winter is cold and damp. Spring and autumn are short and warm. The weather is relatively mild and comfortable.

The annual precipitation is 1926 mm (80 inches), spread unevenly through the year. The rainy season is early summer. May and June are the wettest months with about 350 mm (14 in) each. November to March is relatively dry with about 50 mm (2 in) per month. Snow is rare.

History
Guilin was named after the fragrance of the osmanthus tree (Gui means osmanthus and lin means forest). Its earliest recorded inhabitants lived in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). Guilin prospered and flourished during the Tang (618–907), Song (960–1279), Ming (1368–1644), and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties under patronage from successive emperors. It is currently home to 12 ethnic minorities.

Food
Guilin Rice Noodles are famous throughout China and can be found in places such as Shanghai and Hong Kong. Of course for the most authentic Guilin Rice Noodles, visitors must eat them in their hometown, Guilin.

The rice noodles are made from oil and rice flower. The noodles are cooked in broth and served in a bowl of soup made from pork, beef, garlic, peanuts, peppers, and radishes. The peppers are added by the diner, so visitors who do not like spicy food can simply not add it.

It is a staple of Guilin people's diet and is a wonderful and cheap dish. During meal times the many small rice noodle restaurants are always packed with diners.

Yangshuo Beer Fish is Yangshuo's most famous dish. It is made from fresh caught Li River carp. The fresh fish is fried in a wok along with beer, hot and green peppers, garlic, onions, celery, tomatoes, soy, and sugar. Visitors are amazed at how delicious the fish's skin is and how fresh and tender the meat is. Eating Yangshuo's beer fish will be an unforgettable culinary experience.Yangshuo's famous West Street has many restaurants serving this delicious dish. The Tao's Authentic Beer Fish, and The Older Sister of Peng's Beer Fish come highly recommended.

Griddle Cooked Beef Steak (Niupai ganguo) is one of Guilin's most well known local dishes. This kind of beef steak is cooked with different seasonings, such as chili, cassia bark, and fennel. It is similar to eating hot pot, except no broth is used in the wok. Diners can control the heat to cook the meat to their specifications.

The griddle cooked beef steak tastes spicy, and its flavor is unique. It is very different from that of a Western steak. If desired, diners can add some beer to the wok to make the steak even tastier. After the steak is finished, vegetables, bean curd, pickled cabbage, noodles and a bowl of broth can be added to the wok and cooked in the steak's juices. 

Fructus momordicae, called Luohanguo in Chinese, is primarily grown in southern China's Guangxi Province, with the majority coming from the mountains of Guilin. In China, traditional Chinese doctors have used Luohanguo as an expectorant, to fight heat stroke, acute or chronic throat inflammation, aphonia, and chronic cough for centuries.

The sweet compounds from Luohanguo is about 250 times sweeter than cane sugar and is extremely low in calories, so that it is a good natural sweetener for patients who suffer from diseases that forbidden ingesting sugar, such as diabetes, adiposity, high blood pressure, and cardiopathy.

Souvenirs
The South Sea Pearls in China have been well known all around the world for their fine quality and long-lasting luster. Hepu in Guangxi province produces the finest South Sea Pearls in China. Located in the North Guangxi province close to Hepu, Guilin is an ideal place to buy South Sea Pearls if you are not visiting Hepu.

Famed as the "most scenic place under Heaven", Guilin's landscape has been the subject of Chinese artists for thousands of years. In order to capture inspirations and get close to the natural beauty, many ink painting artists and institutions have settled down in Guilin. This makes Guilin an excellent place to buy fine ink painting works at inexpensive prices.

Guilin Local Specialties: The most famous local specialties in Guilin include Dry Sweet Osmanthus Flowers, Sugar Sweet Osmanthus, Dried Longan, Luo-Han-Guo Fruit. They are nutritious and healthy. Locals often use them as sweetener in cooking, or to make healthy drink or desserts.The most famous local fruit is Sha-Tian Grapefruit. It is kind of big fruit with soft, thick, and rough yellow skin matured during autumn. Its meat taste sweet with special fragrance.