Guilin

Introduction

Guilin

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Guilin (桂林) is a city on the banks of the Lijiang River in the northeast of Guangxi in southern China. It owes its name to the fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees in the city and literally means "forest of the Sweet Osmanthus".
For more information, also check the Guilin Tourism website by CTS.

Sights and Activities

• Jingjiang Princes City, Ming Dynasty Complex
• Reed Flute Cave

Weather

Guilin's weather mostly is relatively warm and humid, though winter temperatures can get quite low sometimes. Summers last from late May to early October when temperatures are averaging between 28 and 34 °C during most days. Nights are a balmy 20-25 °C. Winters are from December to early March, but with temperatures between 12 and 16 °C it is actually quite comfortable. Nights are 5 to 7 °C, so bring a sweater. Winters is also the dry time, with around 50-75mm of rain a month. From April to August it's very wet, with May and June having an average precipitation of around 350mm! Autumn (September-November) is a good time to visit.

Getting There

By Plane

Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) (桂林两江国际机场) is the nearest airport to Guilin and is about 28 kilometres (17 miles) from the city. This medium size airport serves almost every major city in China, including Beijing, Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Guangzhou. It also has limited international service to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Seoul, Taipei Hong Kong and Macau. The budget airline Air Asia has service to this airport (to/from Kuala Lumpur). The only way to reach the airport at this time is by taxi.

By Train

The train station is located in the center of town. This is a major train station with direct trains to almost every city in China. Remember that most trains might be filled by the time they reach Guilin, because most of the trains start in Kunming or in Shanghai, making standing tickets the only ones available during busy times. Also right outside of the train station there are direct buses to Yangshuo that start at 7:00am and end around 9:00pm.

By Bus

Buses serve main cities througout China, and many regional destinations as well, including regular services to Yangshuo and Longsheng (gateway to rice terraces, Dragon's Backbone).

By Boat

There are passenger services to/from Yangshuo, but mostly for tourists, as (mini)buses are much faster. Cargo services exist as well, but capacity is limited.

Eat

Like everywhere in China, food is all around. The best choice for any traveller is to taste the food in the local shops. Be sure to try out Guilin mifen (rice noodles), found in about every street in the city. Also, what is more fun than going into a local place, with nothing but Chinese on the menu, and to the point and be surprised trick. For western food, check out the youth hostels and some places near the walking street.

• Rosemary's, decent western food, in a side street of the main walking street.
• Little Italian, also known as Zheli bar (the Here bar). Good pizza's and pasta. In Binjiang Lu, next to the river, south of Jiefang qiao (liberation bridge).

Drink

Despite it's status as a tourist hotspot, Guilin does not have much of a bar culture. Western style bars and good live music are hard to find. If you are not fussy, and not too worried about your finances, try your luck around the walking street in the city centre. There are some bars and clubs. If you do want some quality, ask your guesthouse to direct you to a cool spot, or check out one of the following places:

• Le Feitz Irish Pub. Exiting place with live music and parties located in Guilin's universities area (100m near Guangxi Normal University campus).
• Kaya café & bar. Recently opened in a quiet street close to the centre, this bar is one of the few good drinking spots in the city. Very laidback atmosphere with regular concerts, parties or other activities (big screen movies, parties). It has another branch in Yangshuo. Zhonghua Lu 6 (from walking street walk north to solitary beauty peak, go right and first left again, 50m ahead.)
• Suan Le bar only opens for concerts and parties, but it is the the top spot for some great live music, mainly underground. At Jing Ji Lukou (Jing Ji crossroad with Liu He Lu), close to Guilin university of electronic technology.

Local drinks are Liquan beer and some local brands of Baijiu: ErHuoTou, SanHua for example. Guilin gets it's name from the fragrant Osmanthus tree, which is also used to make tea.

Sleep

Budget

Learn

• Guilin University of Technology
• Guilin Medical University
• Guilin Univeristy of Electronic Technology
• Guangxi Normal University

Keep Connected

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

China Post (中国邮政) is the official postal service of the People's Republic of China, operated by the State Postal Bureau of the People's Republic of China (website in Chinese only), and has more details about price to send letters, postcards and parcels, both domestically as well as internationally. The Chinese postal service is very good. Remember that in more remote places usually only one post office in a city can handle sending international boxes or letters. Also many times it might be worth having the name of the country you are trying to send to in Chinese characters. Post offices have a striking green logo and can easily be found everywhere in the cities. They are mostly open every day (including weekends!) from 8:00am to 6:00pm, though small offices might have shorter opening times, while the bigger ones in central and touristic areas are sometimes open during evenings as well.