6 Days Guilin Photography Trip

Our guide meets you at the airport (or train station) in Guilin with a sign bearing your name and takes you directly to the hotel in an air-conditioned vehicle. Rest at the hotel.

We get up early at 4:30am and uptop to the Yao Mountain. It is the highest point in Guilin and a good place to watch the sunrise in the smoky mountains.

Back to the hotel for breakfast and relax for a while. Then walk the lakeshore trail of Fir and Banyan Lake to meet the aged bridges, city wall gate, pagodas, rare flora species and excising locals. There are always interesting things to photograph in this garden-like city.

After lunch, we drive to Daxu Town in the outskirts. The old town was first constructed in 200 AD and became prosperous during Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) Dynasties. Over 10,000 people gathered at this town for trading at its peak time. Many beautiful houses on both sides of the streets were built and they are still well-maintained.

We will move to Xianggong Mountain and stay overnight there to ensure not late for the sunrise. Before coming to the hotel, we stop at Wulongquan for good sunset views with paddies and soaring mountains.

Xianggong Mountain is a hot destination for photographers and travelers tracing the incredible cloud sea, sunrise and sunset scene and panoramic view of the hills and the bend of Li River. Get up early according to the sunrise time and ensure a good point for the view. Afterwards, return to your hotel downhill to rest and for breakfast. Then we will take a two-hour spectacular and easy walk along the Bank of Li River, to Dahebei village in Xingping Town. This is an area has everything from beautiful countryside to river view, temple and ancient villages.

Lunch at Xingping town and take some photos of its streets with paved roads and aged buildings. The surrounding area is said to be the most beautiful part of Li River. For the energetics, we can take one more chance to catch up the sunset at Xiaomianshan. The evening highlight is a demonstration of cormorant fishing, a traditional way to catch fish.

Transfer to Yangshuo for overnight stay.

A day dedicated to the visit of Yangshuo. In the morning, we take an authentic biking trip deep into the rural of Yangshuo where you will be able to witness firsthand daily life of locals, beautiful countryside beauty and views of the flat Yulong River valley. We also take a bamboo raft on the Yulong River to photo from different angles.

In the afternoon, we spend some leisure time at West Street, the town center of Yangshuo. Apart from the shop and bars, it is also a good place to attend Chinese cuisine class. It is almost two hour class teaching some basic skill of making dishes like Beer Fish, Egg and Tomato. A chef will show you every step from picking ingredients from local farm market that is not far away. You will be able to enjoy the fruit of your labor afterwards and taste other dishes from your teacher for dinner.

Today we drive from Yangshuo to Dazhai in Longji Scenic area. The road journey is about 2.5 to 3 hours via Guilin. There are three main spots to view the cascading rice terraces fields in the area, and Dazhai is regarded the most authentic and magnificent part. Our base tonight is a wooden structure hotel with stunning views on one of the tops, Tiantou Village. Take photos of different hours on the day and especially don’t miss the scene at sunset or fields under moonlight.

Wake up to the song of birds and enjoy the sunrise moment. Drive back to Guilin (1.5 hours) for your transport to next destination.