Yangshuo: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Yangshuo lies among thousands of steep limestone peaks rising from rice fields along the Li River, a landscape that Chinese poets and painters have praised for over a thousand years and that has been a backpackers’ haven since the 1980s. China requires a visa for most visitors; check the rules for Israeli passports. A day on the river, starting at Yangdi.
The ten best sights in Yangshuo
1Bilian PeakThe peak above the river in town
2Impression Liu SanjieThe night show on the river
3Moon HillA peak pierced by a round arch
4Big Banyan TreeA riverside tree of film and legend
5Silver CaveA lit karst cave to the south
6Yulong RiverBamboo rafts between the peaks
7Jiuxian VillageOld houses by the river
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8Yulong Bridge
A Ming stone bridge of 1412
9Xianggong HillSunrise over the bend of the Li
10Twenty-yuan viewThe scene on the 20-yuan banknote
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Yangshuo →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Yangshuo:
Free walking tours in Yangshuo
The Li River
Yangshuo lies among thousands of steep limestone peaks rising from rice fields along the Li River, a landscape that Chinese poets and painters have praised for over a thousand years and that has been a backpackers’ haven since the 1980s. China requires a visa for most visitors; check the rules for Israeli passports. A day on the river, starting at Yangdi.
- Yangdi Pier · Where the bamboo rafts — now made of plastic pipes — set off down the most beautiful stretch of the Li, between peaks named for their shapes: the nine horses painted on a cliff, a snail, a carp.
- Twenty-yuan view · The bend of the river whose peaks and reflection appear on the back of the Chinese twenty-yuan note; everyone holds up a banknote to photograph it against the real view.
- Xingping Old Town · A river town of stone lanes, where old men still keep cormorants, birds trained to dive for fish with a ring around the neck so they cannot swallow them. Today most fish only for photographers, at dawn and dusk.
- Laozhai Hill · A peak above Xingping climbed by over a thousand steep steps to a small pavilion on the summit, with a view down on the hairpin bend of the Li.
- Xianggong Hill · A hill famous among photographers for sunrise, when mist lies in the valleys and the peaks rise from it in rows, with the river curving between them.
- Impression Liu Sanjie · In the evening, an outdoor show directed by the film-maker Zhang Yimou and opened in 2004, staged on the river itself with hundreds of local performers on rafts and twelve lit peaks as the backdrop, telling the legend of the folk singer Liu Sanjie.
The Yulong valley by bicycle
West and south of town the quiet Yulong River winds between peaks and rice fields, a landscape best seen by bicycle or electric scooter on the village lanes. A full day.
- West Street · The old main street of the town, its stone paving said to be some fourteen hundred years old, where in the 1980s the first Western backpackers arrived and locals opened cafés with banana pancakes; today it is busy with Chinese tourists.
- Jiuxian Village · A village of grey-brick houses of the Ming and Qing dynasties, with carved wooden windows, where the bicycle path along the river begins.
- Yulong River · A shallow river of weirs, where boatmen pole two-seat bamboo rafts slowly downstream and slide them over the small dams; the ride takes about an hour.
- Yulong Bridge · A high single-arch stone bridge built in 1412, under the Ming, one of the largest old arched bridges in the area, still crossed by farmers and buffalo.
- Big Banyan Tree · A banyan by the Jinbao River said to be over a thousand years old, where the 1961 film Liu Sanjie set the scene in which the singer throws an embroidered ball to the man she chooses.
- Moon Hill · A peak pierced by a great round arch, reached by some eight hundred steps; climbers have bolted hundreds of routes on the karst around it, making Yangshuo one of the rock-climbing centres of Asia.
Guilin
The city of Guilin, upriver, is where most visitors arrive, a city built around lakes and karst peaks. Half a day.
- Elephant Trunk Hill · A hill on the river whose arch looks like an elephant drinking with its trunk in the water, the symbol of Guilin.
- Jingjiang Princes’ City · The walled palace of a line of Ming princes, built from 1372, around Solitary Beauty Peak. On the peak, a poem of 1201 was found carved with the line every Chinese child knows: the landscape of Guilin is the finest under heaven.
- Reed Flute Cave · A cave named after the reeds that grow at its mouth, once made into flutes, lit in bright colours. On its walls are more than seventy inscriptions, the oldest from the Tang dynasty in 792; during the war it served as an air-raid shelter.
- Bilian Peak · Back in Yangshuo, the lotus peak rising straight from the river at the end of West Street, with a giant carved character on its face said to hide a whole poem within its strokes.
- Silver Cave · South of Yangshuo, a cave that passes through a whole peak, its formations glittering like silver under the lights.
- Yangshuo Station · The high-speed station opened in 2014, which brought Yangshuo within about twenty minutes of Guilin and a few hours of Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Getting to Yangshuo and getting around
- Yangshuo Station · High-speed trains; half an hour from town
- Yangshuo Bus Station · Buses to Guilin, about ninety minutes
- Yangdi Pier · Rafts down the Li to Xingping
Cheap eats in Yangshuo
Yangshuo’s dish is beer fish, a carp from the Li River fried and stewed in local beer with tomatoes and peppers; around it are Guilin rice noodles, served in broth with pickled beans and crisp pork, and tianluo niang, river snails stuffed with minced pork. A bowl of rice noodles costs about one or two dollars.
- West Street · Beer fish and noodle shops
- Xingping Old Town · Riverside snacks
- Jiuxian Village · Farmhouse lunch
Nature and day trips near Yangshuo
Thousands of karst peaks, rivers, caves and rice fields.
- Xianggong Hill · Sunrise in the mist
- Yulong River · Bamboo rafts
- Moon Hill · Climbing
Things to do in Yangshuo with kids
With children: rafts, glittering caves, bicycles and an elephant made of rock.
- Silver Cave · The glittering cave
- Elephant Trunk Hill · The rock elephant
- Yulong River · Raft over the weirs
Museums in Yangshuo
The history here is in old villages, a Ming palace and inscriptions in caves.
- Jingjiang Princes’ City · The Ming palace
- Reed Flute Cave · Tang inscriptions
- Yulong Bridge · The bridge of 1412
Nightlife in Yangshuo
Yangshuo’s nights are the river show and the loud bars of West Street.
- Impression Liu Sanjie · The show
- West Street · Bars and music
Frequently asked questions about Yangshuo
What is there to see in Yangshuo?
The top sights in Yangshuo are Bilian Peak, Impression Liu Sanjie and Moon Hill. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Yangshuo?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Yangshuo without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Yangshuo?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Yangshuo, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Li River.
How do you get to Yangshuo and get around?
The main ways are Yangshuo Station, Yangshuo Bus Station and Yangdi Pier. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Yangshuo, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Yangshuo that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Yangshuo for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.