Guilin to Yangshuo

Li River Cruise

There are many boats leaving each day from a wharf just outside Guilin and go to Yangshuo. Many visitors to Yangshuo take this option. The Li river cruise is very beautiful and these boats are the only authorised boats that can take tourists along the Li River on this section

These boats depart from 8.30am to 11am each day. To arrange a trip on one of these boats, you can buy a ticket through any travel agency or hotel in Guilin. The ticket price should include the transfer from your hotel in Guilin to the wharf. Please note that there is no flight that arrives early enough for you to go straight from the airport to the wharf and board a boat. There are some trains that do arrive early enough however

The trip takes anything from 4 to 6 hours depending on how fast the River is flowing. Also please note that during the dry winter months and up till Chinese New Year, the boats cannot make it all the way to Yangshuo as the water level is too low. At these times you will be dropped off at Xingping. If you have booked the trip through a major hotel in Guilin or a good agency in Guilin then they will also include the bus transfer to Yangshuo

By Bus from Guilin to Yangshuo

There are two types of buses that go from Guilin to Yangshuo

1. The express bus - This bus leaves from the Guilin bus station. They begin operating at 8am till 8pm and buses leave every 20-30 minutes. You buy tickets from the ticket counter at the entrance to the bus station. Seats are numbered and you can see on the ticket which seat is yours. The journey takes about an hour and 20 minutes. The buses are great because they are non-smoking, air conditioned and the only time they stop is once they have reached Yangshuo's bus station. At the moment, the price is 15 yuan per person. There is good room for your luggage on these buses

2. The 'local' bus - These buses leave from the train station. They begin operating any time from 6.30 am till 11pm. They leave the train station every 10-30 minutes. Seats are not numbered so you can take up any available seat. The total time of the journey can take anything from an hour and half to over 2 hours. If the bus is not full, then it will drive around Guilin slowly trying to fill up. These buses charge 14 Yuan a person but try to charge foreigners anything they can get away with. There are also pickpockets on these buses and they try to drop foreigners off on the outskirts of Yangshuo where touts get unsuspecting visitors and take them to their hotels. Some of these buses are non-smoking