Guilin

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Guilin (桂林) is a city in Guangxi, China.

Looking down from Diecai Shan

[edit] Understand

Guilin has become more of a new residential construction area and small manufacturing area than a tourist destination over the past few years, except for the river and city-moat/artificial lake area in the center of town. Guilin itself is pretty enough, but from the tourist point of view the main reason for going to Guilin is to get to Yangshuo, the even more scenic town downriver.

Apparently it was a strong communist stronghold during the revolution and even had more residents back then, but recently the population may have increased. There are several non-Han cultural groups in this area.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

There are daily flights to Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou (RMB 660 one-way before taxes and service charges as of Nov 2006), Hong Kong, Macau, Bangkok, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, etc.

[edit] By train

Guilin has two train stations. Guilin station (Guilin Zhan) is in the centre of town on Zhongshan Nanlu while Guilin North station (Guilin Bei Zhan) is far away from downtown area. Most, but not all, trains which originate/terminate in Guilin go to or come from Guilin North while trains which come through Guilin from elsewhere usually only go to Guilin station and not Guilin North.

There are trains from North (Beijing, Changsha, Wuhan, Shanghai, Xian), West (Kunming), South (Liuzhou, Nanning, Zhanjiang), and East (Guangzhou, Shenzhen).

To/from Beijing: If for some reason you need to rush from Beijing to Guilin or vice-versa, three trains on either direction. To Beijing, trains depart from Guilin (not Guilin Bei) at 0059 (train from Zhanjiang), 1506 (from Nanning) and 1930. Journey time is between 22 hour to 30 hours, with the 1506 train being the fastest.

To/from Guangzhou and Shenzhen: Two trains to Guangzhou daily, leaving at 1804 (from Liuzhou) and 2000. The latter goes all the way to Shenzhen.

To/from Hong Kong via Guangzhou: It is relatively easy to book a train ticket to either Shenzhen or Guangzhou on KCR, however note that if going to Guangzhou there are two stations in this city, the KCR trains terminate in "Guangzhou Station" and the domestic trains depart from the other "East" station which is on the other side of the city and a fairly long metro ride (English is on the Metro ticket machine). There is a metro entrance in the train station when you arrive in Guangzhou, and its a bit of a pain to find, just look for the stairs going down in a corner of the station. The tickets to Guilin are sold around the corner from this exit, you have to go outside the station and you'll see another set of ticket stalls. Whether there will be tickets available depends on how early you are booking, don't expect to get them for the day of travel.

To/from Kunming: The fastest trains to/from Kunming are those which go via Nanning and the scenic Nankun railway, taking around 20 hours. Those going via Guiyang take at least 28 hours. To Kunming, trains depart Guilin at 0546 (from Zhengzhou via Guiyang), 0852 (via Nanning), 1334 (from Nanjing via Guiyang) and 1900 (from Shanghai via Nanning).

To/from Nanning: There are around 10 trains to choose from if coming from Nanning (5 to 6 hours). From Guilin (not Guilin Bei) to Nanning, trains depart at 0013 (train from Xian), 0622 (from Nanchang), 0748, 0809 (train from Zhengzhou), 0826, 0852 (train to Kunming), 1436 (train from Beijing), 1613 (from Wuxi), 1605, 1900 (from Shanghai to Kunming). The fastest train is the 0826, taking just 5 hours. All these trains stop at Liuzhou (2 hours from Guilin). One way hard seat ticket cost RMB 65.

[edit] By car

There are some expressways locally and in the province, but to any distance it is a 2 lane road.

[edit] By bus

• To/from Yangshuo

Minibuses (RMB 10) depart when full from the square in front of the Guilin railway station. Although the signs are written in Chinese, there are always conductors yelling out "Yangshuo". As the buses pick-up and let down passengers along the way, the journey time can take anything from one to one-half hours.

Express buses (RMB 15) depart from the Xiangzhou (Guilin) bus terminal off Zhongshan Nanlu, several hundred metres north of the railway station (and on the same side of the road as the station). Buses depart about every half hour from 0700. Buy tickets from counters in the bus terminal.

• To/from elsewhere

Buses link Guilin with a multitude of destinations, including Nanning, Kunming, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and further afield. Buses depart from the Xiangzhou (Guilin) bus terminal on Zhongshan Nanlu, several hundred metres north of the railway station.

[edit] By boat

You can get to Guilin by cargo boat from Guangzhou to Wuzhou and Than Guilin. But there are no passenger boats to Guilin anymore. There are boats to Yangshuoyangshuo hotel.

[edit] Get around

[edit] See

Guilin itself is like most other medium size Chinese cities, other than it has a large amount of western-style hotels, tourists and is relatively free of air pollution. Many Chinese domestic tourists also flock to this area. What makes it special is its proximity to many picturesque limestone mountains and formations.

Most travellers to this area will take a river trip down the Li River on tourboats. These boats are frequent and easily organised by any hotel in Guilin. Most will go from Guilin to Yangshuo (a very picturesque village downstream). The river winds through some truly spectacular limestone formations and a slow boat trip there and back (with a stop in Yangshuo) will take a whole day.

It is also well worth booking a tour to the terraced rice fields about an hour outside of the city.

A boat ride around the main attractions is now available at night (approx Y200). Everything is lit up by neon lights, and the boat traverses the waterways joining the main attractions. It's a bit eerie to see limestone lit up in bright blue and green, but this is quite popular with Chinese tourists.

[edit] Do

Getting a local map from a tourist guide or shop is a good idea. Many city parks and river spots can be accessed easily by bus. There are limestone caves and even a Buddhist temple and bulk-banana storage site in caves near 7 star park if you know how to find them. Many peaks have trails to the top or to a hole or cave-like spot. There are many good restaurants and some art shops.

All the buses starting with 5# are free. A useful one is bus no.58 which runs from the train station (& bus station) to many of the attractions. The entrance fees to the attractions are now fairly exorbitant, but it's still worth checking out one or two that take your fancy.

[edit] Learn

[edit] Work

traditional landscape painting, osmanthus tea.

[edit] Eat

The local delicacy is Guilin Rice Noodles (Gui Lin Mi Fen), also available as stir-fried (Chao Fen). This is served everywhere, but try to avoid the joints near the train station. Traditionally the noodle and the topping is first eaten without soup, and once the topping has run out there is usually a pot of soup to add flavour to the rest of your noodles. There are also various pickles and condiments that you can add to your noodles.

A local snack is "Horse hoof cake" (Ma Ti Gao), which is a crumbly cake stuffed with red beans filling. Another delicious breakfast item is sweet tofu infused with a certain flower. Look for roadside vendors adding orange-coloured liquid to a steaming hot bag of tofu, which you then drink with a straw.

[edit] Budget

[edit] Mid-range

• Rosemary Cafe, Good coffee and western food. Located in the pedestrianized area near Jiefang Qiao.

[edit] Splurge

[edit] Drink

Liq beer and osmanthus tea

[edit] Sleep

[edit] Budget

There is a international YHA across the road from the main train station, which has clean dorm rooms for Y40. Http://www.yhaguilin.com

[edit] Mid-range

[edit] Splurge

• Da Pubu Dajiudian (Big Waterfall Hotel), The most ostentatious place to stay in Guilin, it features a man-made waterfall.

• Sheraton Hotel

• Hotel of Modern Art, Approximately 30 minutes drive from Guilin this hotel is set inside Yuzi Paradise, a park full of stunning modern art in a remote rural location.

[edit] Contact

[edit] Stay safe

• Watch your pockets in the central city.

• Also, be careful with the beggar children in the city parks as there are rumours of them claiming assault if you do not buy flowers from them. The parents apparently act as "witnesses" to the assault.

[edit] Cope

[edit] Get out

It is well worth heading out of Guilin, and staying in the friendly and picturesque town of Yangshuo.

Taxis can easily be hired from the airport that will take you straight there (around 90 mins drive depending on traffic), or if you arrive in Guilin by train you can take a taxi from there, or go across to the buses across the square from the station's main entrance. The bus fare should be around Y10 per person. There are also boats going to Yangshou.

WikiPedia:Guilin

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