Start here
Use Guilin for arrival and city sights. Use Yangshuo for the landscape. Add Longji only when you have a fourth or fifth day.
Gateway, not the whole trip
Choose it for the airport, railway, city lakes, Elephant Trunk Hill and a first bowl of rice noodles.
Where the scenery slows down
Choose it for cycling, bamboo rafts, climbing, village lanes and waking up among karst peaks.
Best for early river light
Stay for the ¥20-banknote landscape and a quieter old town. Yangshuo Railway Station is nearby, not in Yangshuo town.
A separate mountain day
Add one night for terraces and village paths. Distances are slow; travel light and expect stairs.
The full handbook is part of the paid series
You have read the free preview — the introduction and the route map. The complete handbook adds the day-by-day plan, tickets and transport, culture and etiquette, food, useful Chinese, and the dated source list.