Guilin is an ancient city near Nanning

[BillV 8-16-2004]

Guilin is an ancient city on the shore of the mesmerizing Lijiang River in northeastern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Guilin has always been famous for its scenery and culture. Guilin’s scenery bests all others in the world.” Its shapely-rising limestone towers and crystal-clear waters are often portrayed in Chinese artworks. Adding to its natural beauty are many fascinating caves. My wife tells me this is a beautiful place to visit not far from Nanning, my wife is from Zhanjiang which is near by. I would like to visit Guilin my next trip to China, I know there are a lot of you with your SO living or have come from Nanning have any of you or others visited this city and what is your opinion of this ancient city? I collect Chinese watercolors and my wife tells me they remind her of Guilin.

Edited February 18, 2006 by BillV 8-16-2004 (see edit history)

[Guest pushbrk]

Guilin is an ancient city on the shore of the mesmerizing Lijiang River in northeastern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Guilin has always been famous for its scenery and culture. Guilin’s scenery bests all others in the world.?Its shapely-rising limestone towers and crystal-clear waters are often portrayed in Chinese artworks. Adding to its natural beauty are many fascinating caves. My wife tells me this is a beautiful place to visit not far from Nanning, my wife is from Zhanjiang which is near by. I would like to visit Guilin my next trip to China, I know there are a lot of you with your SO living or have come from Nanning have any of you or others visited this city and what is your opinion of this ancient city? I collect Chinese watercolors and my wife tells me they remind her of Guilin.

192005[/snapback]

Guilin is not to be missed. Even in December when it was pretty cold, the attractions were packed. I would recommend spending some time in Yangshou as well. If you take the Li River cruise, you end up there anyway.

 

Speaking of which, I have what I'm sure is a wonderful DVD from the nightime cruise around the city but it's in PAL instead of NTSC. Anyone know what it takes to rip it and convert it for viewing on a US TV?

[Randy W]

Speaking of which, I have what I'm sure is a wonderful DVD from the nightime cruise around the city but it's in PAL instead of NTSC.  Anyone know what it takes to rip it and convert it for viewing on a US TV?

192006[/snapback]

 

 

A region-free player that also converts PAL to NTSC. There were some links posted to these in a recent thread.

 

Or, if you have a DVD burner on your PC, there is plenty of shareware that will do the conversion.

Edited February 18, 2006 by Randy W (see edit history)

[johnxiaoying]

My wife is from Guilin and it is a beautiful area and close to Nanning in distance but still a slow 5 hour train ride away but there is a lot of nice scenery on the way.

 

My first time in Guilin we took the big tourist boat (about 75 passengers) that generally runs from Guilin to Yangshuo. Being November the water level was quite low and we able to only go about 15 miles down the river and then turn around. It can be challenging on a full boat to get good positioning for photos.

 

My wife located a gentlemen in Yangshuo who takes us (only us) down the river for about $12 for 1 - 1.5 hours. We call him up everytime we are there. He took quite a few good photos of us for our quest to Guangzhou.

 

Last time we were in Yangshuo my wife began negotiating with a woman in the trinket area near the water for a boat her family owned. When she realized that my wife was with a foreigner the boat suddenly became unavailable, they want more money if there is a foreigner present. So, hide while your SO closes the deal.

 

Be sure and take a 3 wheel motorcycle taxi for a tour around the Yangshuo area, my wife negotiated about 30 yuan for about 3 hours.

 

Of course smaller boats and motorcycle taxis are dependent on the weather.

 

There is a covered outdoor market in Guilin about 5 miles from the city center that has a lot of beautiful rock and wood carvings, junk, and some art shops. We purchased a 5' X 3' oil on canvas of the Lijiang for about $45.

 

If you have a week spend some time in Guilin, if you only have a few days spend them in Yangshuo.

[warpedbored]

I love Guilin. My wife is from Nanning so we took a very comfortable 5 hr bus ride there. The bus had movies and snacks on the way. While there I met my wife's cousin who lives in Guilin. She told me they have a saying in Guilin that "since Chinese people don't make a lot of money and can't afford to travel abroad much they tried to make Guilin as beautiful as possible so they don't have to go anywhere." I enjoyed Yangzhou too, it is a charming tourist village. If you go to Guilin make sure to take a stroll along the river at night. They have lights in the trees along the river and play bamboo flute music over loud speakers. One of the most romatic strolls I have ever taken.

[skibum]

When I was there, there were different boats for foriegners and Chinese. Guess which was more expensive. We went with a load of people from Taiwan.

The cave we visited had a small railroad in it to give you an idea of the size. There are girls in native dress in the cave that you can have your picture taken with.

Guilin is also a good place to see the cormorants fishing for their owners.

The river was very high when I was there.

[mercator]

Yeah there is a weiguo surcharge on everything in China.

 

Guilin was one of our choices for my trip late next month, but it looks like Beijing is going to win, even if it is going to be cold for my GZ lao po.

[pkfops]

Meet your SO in Nanning and take the train.

 

Spend a few days in Guilin and the plan a few

days in Yangshou. Travel by river.

 

Go here to plan your trip.

http://english.ctrip.com/

[Dennis143]

Take Pete's advice. You won't regret it.

 

 

(I doubt that you will mind where you are, as long as you are with her though. )

[chef4u]

Wow...Just thinking of Guilin and Yangshou with my SO brings a big smile on my face. We went there from Nanning via the bus as mentioned above. We were there in the middle of last December. It was a bit chilly. But, having your SO next to you, takes that chill away!! While in Yangshou we rented a bike for two and had a tour guide take us to the river to ride these bamboo rafts. Wow, that was great!! Then this tour guide took us to see a cave.....not good!! Unless you enjoy crawling on your belly navigating through this cave. It was a rip off!! Anyway, it did not distract from the wonderful time we had together. I really thought that Guilin and especially Yangshou to me a romantic adventure. I highly recommend you do this trip!! I have posted in the CFL Gallery our trip to Guilin and Yangshou.

Edited February 22, 2006 by chef4u (see edit history)

[Guest pushbrk]

Wow...Just thinking of Guilin and Yangshou with my SO brings a big smile on my face.  We went there from Nanning via the bus as mentioned above.  We were there in the middle of last December.  It was a bit chilly.  But, having your SO next to you, takes that chill away!!  While in Yangshou we rented a bike for two and had a tour guide take us to the river to ride these bamboo rafts.  Wow, that was great!!  Then this tour guide took us to see a cave.....not good!!  Unless you enjoy crawling on your belly navigating through this cave.  It was a rip off!!  Anyway, it did not distract from the wonderful time we had together.  I really thought that Guilin and especially Yangshou to me a romantic adventure.  I highly recommend you do this trip!!  I have posted in the CFL Gallery our trip to Guilin and Yangshou.

192692[/snapback]

Also, if you go to both places, do your shopping in Yangshou. The prices are much more reasonable.

[pkfops]

Couple of things to add:

 

Guilin:

At night; walk around the river/lake area and take the night cruise

(about 2hrs). Also there is a song and dance show at a "minority village"

on the edge of town that features a famous chinese actress. I forget the

name of the place but your wife should be able to find it in one of her chinese tour books.

 

A tip for day touring; there is a tourist shuttle bus that goes to the major

in town attractions, again I forget the bus number but it is well marked on the bus stops.

 

Yangshou:

Don't be shy about hooking up with a local guide. We took a bike tour

down to the river for a ride on the bamboo raft; picked up our bikes

at the end and then went to Moon Hill and a cave tour.

The guide only wanted 20 yuan, a very nice girl.

[nygatl15]

I have heard about Guilin. We plan to visit when I go to Nanning. I understand Bill Clinton visited there when he was in China. I will look forward to this part of China. Nothing is settled in regards to plans, but this was definetly a place Xuemei insisted on taking me for a few days.

[chef4u]

Wow...Just thinking of Guilin and Yangshou with my SO brings a big smile on my face.  We went there from Nanning via the bus as mentioned above.  We were there in the middle of last December.  It was a bit chilly.  But, having your SO next to you, takes that chill away!!  While in Yangshou we rented a bike for two and had a tour guide take us to the river to ride these bamboo rafts.  Wow, that was great!!  Then this tour guide took us to see a cave.....not good!!  Unless you enjoy crawling on your belly navigating through this cave.  It was a rip off!!  Anyway, it did not distract from the wonderful time we had together.  I really thought that Guilin and especially Yangshou to me a romantic adventure.  I highly recommend you do this trip!!  I have posted in the CFL Gallery our trip to Guilin and Yangshou.

192692[/snapback]

Also, if you go to both places, do your shopping in Yangshou. The prices are much more reasonable.

192693[/snapback]

I also, forgot to mention that you must try the Beer Fish in Yangshou. It is a local favorite and it was very good!! However, I have no clue why they call it Beer Fish. Finally, they have many Chinese Watercolor paintings in many of their shops along West Street.

[pkfops]

Wow...Just thinking of Guilin and Yangshou with my SO brings a big smile on my face.?We went there from Nanning via the bus as mentioned above.?We were there in the middle of last December.?It was a bit chilly.?But, having your SO next to you, takes that chill away!!?While in Yangshou we rented a bike for two and had a tour guide take us to the river to ride these bamboo rafts.?Wow, that was great!!?Then this tour guide took us to see a cave.....not good!!?Unless you enjoy crawling on your belly navigating through this cave.?It was a rip off!!?Anyway, it did not distract from the wonderful time we had together.?I really thought that Guilin and especially Yangshou to me a romantic adventure.?I highly recommend you do this trip!!?I have posted in the CFL Gallery our trip to Guilin and Yangshou.

192692[/snapback]

Also, if you go to both places, do your shopping in Yangshou. The prices are much more reasonable.

192693[/snapback]

I also, forgot to mention that you must try the Beer Fish in Yangshou. It is a local favorite and it was very good!! However, I have no clue why they call it Beer Fish. Finally, they have many Chinese Watercolor paintings in many of their shops along West Street.

192762[/snapback]

The Famous Beer Fish Resturant:

 

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/47aba/f2ab2/2/