Guilin was part of a 22-day private tour of China, all arranged by Travel China Guide. Sally Si was our consultant and patiently worked with us to build an itinerary designed just for us.
Sam was our guide in Shanghai, and we had made contact with him through the app WeChat prior to our arrival.
We traveled from Hangzhou to Gulin by flight. It was delayed, but Sam and driver were waiting patiently at the airport. We really liked Sam, he’s quietly spoken and balanced very well when to talk to us explaining things, and when to give us time on our own to appreciate the scenery. We spent a lot of time in his care, and he put a lot of extra hours in to accomodate everything we wanted. He was totally committed on ensuring we had a great time. Without a guide we would certainly not been able to achieve all we did.
We first visited the Reed Flute Cabe and Sam escorted us through. I had though this might be a bit cheesy - lights in a cave - but I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it,
We then went to Elephant Trunk Hill. It was very crowded as it’s very famous in China. Not overly spectacular, to be honest. But we did climb the hill for the views.
That evening we walked around the lake, and visited the Sun and Moon pagodas. Wow! The whole area is colourfully lit. It’s immaculately clean and tidy. Very impressive and alone is worth the trip to Guilin. We felt very safe and comfortable.
The next day we went on the Ali river cruise, with Sam accompanying us and the driver taking the car ahead. You certainly felt like a tourist, with our boat being one of 5 travelling in a chain. However, you can see past it, and the boat had a top deck which we stayed up on for almost the entire cruise taking in truely spectacular scenery of the mountains range. Truely unique.
At Yanshou we checked in and Sam took us out for a walk in the countryside. We interacted with a couple of friendly farmers, and visited one of the villages where Sam told us about how they lived, and how things were changing. The villages all seems friendly, creating us with smiles and certainly an element of curiosity.
That night we went (escorted by Sam) to the Yangshuo Impression Sammie Liu, which is a show on a lake with the mountains all lit up in the background. The show has many actors, all locals. It was a good show, on an amazing backdrop. Unfortunately you have to be tolerant of hundreds of phones in the audience beginning held up recording and photographing - some with their torch on and flash activating. I struggled with it as I found it overly distracting.
That night we toured the town, enjoying the atmosphere and great foods. There were certainly a lot of Chinese tourists there, notably younger ones. They rip around on electric scooters, and get dressed up for photographs in the scenery.
The next day we visited Xingping Ancient Town. Sam lead us up the Laozhai Mountain hike, which I think is meant to be closed to visitors so we appreciated Sam doing it. He told us we were the first tourists he’d taken up there for years. It’s quite a step hike, but fine if you have some fitness. Just very hot! Bey the view from the top is absolutely fantastic. Something I will always remember.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visits to Guilin and heading out to Yangzhou. It’s a must-do of China. Very unique and stunning scenery.
We highly recommend Travel China Guide. It would have been very difficult without them. We fitted so much in, and everything was done for us. Sam was fantastic. We felt a little guilty about how much he did for us!