Southern China · Guangxi · Gateway City
The saying that gave China its idiom for 'finest landscape under heaven' — karst peaks ring the city itself, and this is the first stop that makes sense of Guilin before the Li River carries you on toward Yangshuo.
Why it's special
Turning the saying 'Guilin's landscape is the finest under heaven' into something you can actually walk through in a day or two.
Guilin is the textbook example of karst scenery: the Li River runs straight through the city, and freestanding peaks like Solitary Beauty Peak, Elephant Trunk Hill and Fubo Hill rise right inside the urban core — you don't need to leave town to understand what "Guilin's landscape" means. It was also one of China's first cities opened to international tourism. From the Ming-dynasty Jingjiang princes who ruled here for 280 years to today's Two Rivers Four Lakes night cruise threading old walls and lightshows, historical depth and a modern tourism economy sit side by side in one compact city. Most visitors treat it as a changeover point before the classic stretch of the Li River at Yangshuo — but the city itself is worth a full day or more on its own.
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