One thing that has always fascinated me? In spite of Western social media like Instagram being officially banned in China, plenty of Chinese travel destinations have official presences on these platforms. Guilin, for example.
Indeed, perusing the @guilin_china account might lead you to believe that Guilin (population ~5 million) is a rural town with more rice paddies than people, more limestone karsts than skyscrapers. This, of course, could not be further from the truth.
Which leads me to the point of this post. Namely, that when deciding between Guilin or Yangshuo, you need to have a clear idea of what each place is (and isn’t).
Yangshuo is More “Guilin” Than Guilin
When I traveled to China’s Guangxi province for the first time, it was until I made the journey from Guilin to Yangshuo that I really started to feel excited. Prior to that time—in other words, traveling from Guilin Airport into the city, and then exploring the city—I felt like I could’ve been anywhere in China. It was smoggy and congested with architecture that, save a few exceptions, was totally anonymous.
Now, if I had done better preparation, I might not have been so surprised. It’s sort of like how you shouldn’t bet at Caesar’s without first reading a platform tutorial about how to do so responsibly. Extrapolating this, it really isn’t a good idea to go to Guilin (let alone Yangshuo) without first setting realistic expectations for both. Helping you do so is my main purpose in writing this post.
Ways to Compare Guilin and Yangshuo
Scenery
If you Google “Guilin,” you’ll see panoramic drone shots of endless, towering limestone karsts, including the famous Xianggong Mountain. However, keep in mind that these are in Yangshuo, not Guilin. Although you can see some of these mountains from tall buildings in Guilin-proper on a clear day, for the most part you will be completely oblivious to the surrounding landscape.
Ambiance
Which is not to say that comparing Guilin vs Yangshuo is like comparing a big city and a small town. To be sure, while not as built-up as Guilin Central Square, Yangshuo’s West Street is perhaps even more bustling and tourist-filled. The difference, of course, is that you can easily bike outside of Yangshuo in a few minutes and get somewhere bucolic, whereas this is impossible in Guilin.
Access
The good news? You can reach both Guilin and Yangshuo directly from Guilin Liangjiang International Airport. Most hotels in Yangshuo offer transfers directly from the airport, without having to stop in Guilin, while normal taxis can also do so if you speak Chinese, or use an app like WeChat or AliPay. Yangshuo is in a more rural setting than Guilin, but thanks to modern infrastructure is basically as accessible.
Hotels
As you can imagine, this is not a massive deciding factor between Yangshuo or Guilin. While there are obviously more tourist-oriented hotels in Yangshuo, I wouldn’t say that the quality is necessarily better. For example, the River View Hotel (where I stayed) was really more of a local guest house, while Guilin’s Li River Hotel ultimately felt much more luxurious (even though the surroundings were less picturesque).
Things to do
In Guilin, as far as I’m concerned, the only real attraction of note is the Sun and Moon Pagodas, which themselves are only really impressive after night has fallen and they light up. In Yangshuo, meanwhile, you can hike along the Li River Hiking Route, take a bamboo raft along the Yulong River or find a cormorant fisherman to photograph (even though, do be warned, these “fishermen” are usually just paid actors).
Is Guilin Worth Visiting?
Guilin is a pretty forgettable Chinese city, with some exceptions. Namely, the Sun and Moon Pagodas, which themselves are remarkable only when photographed mostly out of context. Like many “historical” sites in China, they are recent reconstructions, with older iterations having been destroyed many times, most notably during the Cultural Revolution.
To me, this is why the Yangshuo vs Guilin debate is even more important to have. When the vast majority of travelers plan a trip to “Guilin,” Yangshuo is the place they actually want to go. To put it another way, while I don’t think that there is anything wrong with spending a night in Guilin, it’s really only worth visiting if one does so in conjunction with Yangshuo, and not instead of it.
Other FAQ About Visiting Yangshuo and Guilin
Is Guilin or Yangshuo better?
If you’re looking for the scenery you’ve seen on social media, then you will definitely prefer Yangshuo (a small city set amid prominent limestone karsts) to Guilin, which is not dissimilar from most other Chinese cities when you’re exploring its urban core.
Is Yangshuo worth visiting?
Yangshuo is not only worth visiting, but essential to visit if you make the journey to Guilin. While you can visit Yangshuo without visiting Guilin, I think that it would be a grave mistake to come to Guilin but not Yangshuo, given that the latter is so much more reflective of why people come to this part of China.
How long to spend in Guilin and Yangshuo?
If you’re coming from elsewhere within China or Asia, I would recommend spending a minimum of 2-3 days between Guilin and Yangshuo, with the majority of your time in Yangshuo. If you’re coming from Europe or North America, make sure your trip to Yangshuo and Guilin is within the context of a China or Asia itinerary at least 2-3 weeks in length.
The Bottom Line
Is Guilin or Yangshuo right for you? To decide this, you need to do two things. First, you need to differentiate between the places in question. Guilin is a large (though admittedly, not as large as Beijing or Shanghai) and highly industrialized city whose surrounding landscape is largely invisible to those within its center, while Yangshuo is a much smaller agglomeration where limestone karsts are more conspicuous than any building. Secondly, you need to decide whether the built environment or the natural environment appeals more to you. Another way to optimize your trip? Hire me as your Travel Coach, and let me sweat the details.
