Guilin Travel Advice

[andy_fussell]

<p>I am travelling to the Guilin area for 3 weeks for my first time. I am a photographer so i am looking for any advice on this area and wether 3 weeks is too long? Thanks in advance.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Is three weeks too long? Well we all like photographing different things, but having been there and to at least some places in the surrounding area it would be a lot too long for me. Here's why.</p>

 

<ul>

<li>The sorts of river views you see on the internet of still rivers with reflections of Karst scenery in the water and a few cormorant fishermen with lanterns floating about are actually quite rare and often staged by photo groups. The chances of you stumbling across that at dawn are quite remote I'd suggest. Unless you fix this up don't bank on seeing it.</li>

<li>For most of the daylight hours the regular passage of tour boats between the port a little south of Guilin and Yangshuo means that the river is unattractive photographically. I didn't find it possible to photograph anything more than snapshpts from the boats.</li>

<li>The city/town of Guilin and Yangshuo are pleasant enough but didn't make me want to photograph much. There are places you can go from both locations at dawn to get nice shots of recessions in the karst scenery with a pink sky. But you can't do that for three weeks or IMO even for one week. Two or three days of early mornings like that are enough. </li>

<li>Places like Reed Flute Cave and Elephant trunk hill are pleasant enough but IMO not major photo opportunities. Depending on when in the year/week you go you can also expect them to be busy. This is not a deserted/wilderness area. When I was there in October a flotilla of 25 boats left the Guilin end once every half hour to sail downstream to Yangshuo. </li>

</ul>

<p>I am assuming that you'll want to get to the Dragons Backbone rice terraces near Longji and the Yulong River as well as getting to riverside villages such as Xingping and Fuli. On that basis the area might be worth a week IMO. But China's a big place and internal travel isn't so expensive. Its not like you don't have other options. </p>

<p> My frustrations in the area obviously included missing out on good river shots despite the fact that I had been in conversation on this issue with a Guilin based travel agent for months, including emailing pictures to them. The problem is that as non photographers they really didn't see the difference between what I'd sent them and what was on offer. Equally they didn't tell me about the dawn balloon flights from Yangshuo, which looked as though they'd be very good.</p>

<p> </p>

[allenahale]

<p>Some people spend three weeks touring all of China. I have been to Guilin and based upon my experience I think that 3 to 4 days is more appropriate. I recommend the remainder of your time be spent touring other areas. The Dragons Backbone is a great place as well as some of the smaller ancient towns in the area.</p>

[Craig_Cooper11664875449]

<p>I have been there twice myself and would concur that you really need no more than a week. Furthermore, as much as people refer to the city as Guilin, do yourself favour and base yourself in Yangshuo. Much cheaper and more to do from there. There are plenty of hotels in the main street (and Yangshuo is very small) White Lion Hotel is one I could recommend but there are many more.</p>

<p>http://www.whitelionchina.com/<br /> Good objective info: http://www.yangers.com/<br>

http://www.flickr.com/photos/craygc/sets/72157602142171000/</p>

[richard_crowe4]

<p>I spent a couple of days in the Guilin/Yangshuo area including a cruise on the Li River. I thought that the Li River was quite magical however, due to a drought at the headwaters of that river, the tour boat passage from Guilin to Yangshuo was not possible because the river level was too low. Instead of boarding the boat at Guilin, sailing down the Li River and disembarking at Yangshuo, we boarded the boat at a makeshift port of embarkation sailed down the river partway and then returned to our original boarding point. Our tour traveled by bus from Guilin to the boat and by bus again from the boat to Yangshuo. This shortened my time in Yangshuo and I was not able to shoot the cormorant fishermen.<br>

By the way, the best way to get images of those fishermen is to take a special evening boat cruise from Yangshuo. The tour operators pay the fishermen to congregate around the boat giving photographers the best opportunity to shoot. No one will ever know that the images were "staged".<br>

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with my photographic efforts on the River. It was misty and foggy throughout the trip. This was in the second week of April 2010. It was still beautiful but, not as it could have been had the weather cooperated. Ironically, a few weeks after my visit the area was hit by heavy floods.<br>

I had the opportunity through the tour company to take a tour into the farmlands around Yongshuo and to visit a family living in a 300 year old farm house. That was one of the highlights of the visit.<br>

Yongshuo has a night extravaganza that was originated by the director of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. I did not attend this because it was raining.<br>

Yangshuo has a rather touristy, but interesting night market.<br>

I would not travel down the Li River on a big tour boat but, hire a tour raft from which I could control where I shot.<br>

<a title="Triple deck tour boat..." href="http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/CHINA-FOCUS-TOUR-2010-LI-RIVER/12169704_oEg43#866422355_MQbho-A-LB"><img title="Triple deck tour boat..." src="http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/CHINA-FOCUS-TOUR-2010-LI-RIVER/0892-tour-boat-large/866422355_MQbho-L.jpg" alt="Triple deck tour boat..." /></a></p>

<p>If you have time, visit the terraced farms but, that is a full day's trip.<br>

Time was a scarce commodity on my tour because we visited 9-cities during the 13 days I was in China.<br>

I would love to go back to China. I never had as much fun shooting as I had in that country. The people are hospitable and gracious and have no problems being photographer. China is very safe and I had no problems with the authorities regarding taking pictures. Obviously, I did not photograph any military installations. I would certainly want to have more time in every city I visited.<br>

See my China galleries including a gallery from Yangshuo and the Li River at:<br>

http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/</p>

<p> </p>

[andy_fussell]

<p>Thanks for your input and the time youve taken to respond. Its incredibly helpful. I do want to spend a bit of time in the area to experiment with different light etc but based on your comments I might fly into Beijing and visit the wall etc and make my way down at a slightly more sedate pace. Keep the ideas coming... thanks again!</p>

[stemked]

<p>I would say that there is more around generally than the other posters have noted. I spent a few days down in Yangshuo and a couple in Guilin. There is a lot to see in Yangshou. Rent a bike and really explore. Head back up the river to a small river town, walk up Half-Moon Hill, take in the water buffalo and the local scene. Yangshou is also a good place to get a fisherman with Cormorant shot (I know it has been done a thousand times before, but it is one reason you came, right?<br>

From Guilin you can take a trip up to the famous rice paddy terraces (I didn't make it there myself), there is lots of beautifully carved limestone tablets, walks up to fantastic vistas, etc.I only stayed a week in the area and wish I had stayed longer. There is lots of tackiness too, gaudy cave lighting, huge tourist stores (Guilin is famous for certain types of food and shopping in China), a hotel that has a waterfall, the Gold and Silver Pagodas. Three weeks maybe a bit long, but that depends on how adventurous you are; we had a 1 year old with us at the time. It certainly was my favorite part of China (I'm a naturalist though).</p>

[jeff_delisio]

<p>We also found Guilin to be a very over touristed spot, but you are in Guizhou at that point - head N. and W. and you have many beautiful villages, architecture, ethnic groups - Dong, Miao and almost no cement factories.<br>

Some photos from that region - http://www.flickr.com/photos/4ntraveler/sets/72157600169353836/</p>