City guide · Guangxi

Guangxi travel guide: how to plan the loop, where the Dong villages are, and how to eat your way south

One autonomous region, a dozen landscapes — limestone peaks and rice terraces in the north, a Vietnam border and a warm gulf coast in the south.

  • Known forKarst, rice terraces, border, coast
  • Typical spend¥4,000–6,000 / person
  • Ideal length8–10 days
  • PaceSlow — long hops between set-pieces
Plan this trip Guangxi tours

Reviewed by our Beijing team Updated 2026-10-10

The short version

Guangxi is a 237,000 km² autonomous region in southern China, and the honest way to see it is as a loop of 8 to 10 days: Guilin and the Li River in the north, the Longji terraces, then south through Nanning to the border at Detian Falls and finally the sea at Beihai. It holds the Zhuang, China's largest ethnic minority, plus Yao, Miao and Dong villages, and the dry windows are April–May and September–November.

  • Think in a loop, not a stop: Guilin → Longji → Nanning → the border → Beihai covers the province.
  • The Dong villages around Sanjiang are the least-touristed big sight in Guangxi, now on the high-speed line.
  • The Zhuang are China's largest minority, about a third of the region's 50 million people.
  • Two rice noodles, two worlds: Guilin's fermented-broth noodles and Nanning's laoyou fen.
  • April–May and September–November are dry and clear; summer is hot, wet and typhoon-prone on the coast.

City guide

First impressions

Photographs from the coast, and what other travellers wrote afterwards.

The Chengyang wind-and-rain bridge, Sanjiang
The Chengyang wind-and-rain bridge, Sanjiang
Rice terraces stepped into the Longsheng hills
Rice terraces stepped into the Longsheng hills
The Detian Falls on the Vietnam border
The Detian Falls on the Vietnam border
The Gulf of Tonkin coast at Beihai
The Gulf of Tonkin coast at Beihai

Before I came I changed my status to 'I'm going to Nanning' and everyone asked me where Nanning was. I arrived expecting somewhere remote, and found an ink-wash world instead.

A traveller's note, 'Ink-Wash Guangxi'

There was more to Guangxi than a bowl of noodles and a stretch of mountains — and I had barely started looking.

A traveller's note, 'Guangxi: Beyond the Postcard'

Guangxi is the province everyone knows one photograph of and almost no one knows whole. The photograph is Guilin — the karst towers and the Li River, the scene on the 20-yuan note at Yangshuo. The province behind it is twice that size and far stranger: limestone in the subtropical north, a 1,000 km Vietnam border along the south-west, and a long, warm Gulf of Tonkin coast at the bottom, all threaded together by a high-speed rail spine that has changed how the region moves in a decade.

It is also the most plural corner of southern China. Guangxi is the Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Zhuang — around 16 million of them, China's largest minority — share it with the Yao, whose terraces climb the hills at Longji; the Dong, whose drum towers and covered bridges cluster around Sanjiang; and the Miao and others in the far north-west. Half the pleasure of the region is noticing how fast the language, food and architecture change as you move.

This guide is built as a loop, because that is how the geography wants to be travelled. Come in through Guilin, drift south through Liuzhou to the capital Nanning, swing west to the transnational falls and the old border pass, and finish at the sea in Beihai. The famous set-pieces — Guilin, Yangshuo, the terraces — are only the beginning; the places below are the ones that make the province feel like more than a postcard.

Guangxi

Don't leave without

Seven things that are worth rearranging a day for.

  1. Stand under the covered wind-and-rain bridge at Chengyang, near Sanjiang
  2. Drift a countryside lane in Mingshi, the 'little Guilin' near the border
  3. Find the Zhuang cliff paintings daubed on the Zuo River cliffs at Huashan
  4. Walk out through Friendship Pass and look back at the old gate
  5. Soak in a hot spring in the Longsheng hills after a day of terraces
  6. Eat a bowl of Liuzhou luosifen, the region's loudest, sourest noodle
  7. Sleep in a Yao or Dong village guesthouse and wake up to the hillside

Highlights

The province, in six pieces

The karst north

Guilin, the Li River and Yangshuo: limestone towers, river rafts and the 20-yuan view. It is the famous half, and it deserves it — give it at least three days and use it as the northern base.

The Longji terraces

At Longsheng, the 'Dragon's Backbone' terraces have been stepped into the hillsides for 700 years, around Yao villages whose guesthouse windows open straight onto the water or the rice.

The Dong villages

Around Sanjiang in the north-east, drum towers, covered wind-and-rain bridges and a whole architecture of timber — the least-touristed of Guangxi's big sights, and now on the high-speed line.

The Vietnam border

Detian Falls, the Zuo River cliff paintings at Huashan and the old pass at Friendship — the wild, sparsely visited south-west, where Guangxi turns from rice to sugar cane and limestone.

The Gulf of Tonkin coast

Beihai's 24 km Silver Beach and the volcanic island of Weizhou, with its coral, its crater park and a French church built from coral and stone. A different Guangxi: flat, warm and salt-aired.

The Zhuang and the food

China's largest minority shapes the region, and so does its table — the fermented-broth noodles of Guilin, the sour-spicy laoyou fen of Nanning, and the pickles sold at every corner.

Suggested routes

Two loops that cover the province

The full loop

9 days days

North to south, karst to coast — the shape the province is built for.

  1. Days 1–2

    Guilin and the Li River

    Land in Guilin and take the Li River between Yangdi and Xingping for the classic scenery, then the two-rivers-and-four-lakes circuit at dusk. Sleep in Guilin or push straight on to Yangshuo.

    Stops: GuilinLi RiverYangshuo

  2. Days 3–4

    Yangshuo

    Bamboo raft on the Yulong River, bicycles through the Ten-Mile Gallery, and an evening on West Street. This is the part of the trip to slow down.

    Stops: Yulong RiverTen-Mile GalleryWest Street

  3. Day 5

    Longji terraces

    Up to Longsheng for the terraces at Ping'an or the bigger Jinkeng, with a night in a village guesthouse. Add the Longsheng hot springs if the legs are complaining.

    Stops: LongshengPing'anJinkeng

  4. Day 6

    On to the coast or the capital

    Rail south via Liuzhou — either to Nanning first or straight through toward Beihai on the coast for the Silver Beach and seafood.

    Stops: LiuzhouNanningBeihai

  5. Days 7–8

    The border

    From Nanning, out by road to Detian Falls and the border, with the Zuo River cliff paintings and Friendship Pass. An overnight is better than a rushed day trip.

    Stops: Detian FallsHuashanFriendship Pass

  6. Day 9

    Weizhou Island

    Cross from Beihai to the volcanic island for the crater park, the coral and the church, and stay the night so you catch the quiet morning beaches.

    Stops: BeihaiWeizhou Island

The north-only week

6 days days

For a first trip on limited time — karst, terraces and Dong villages, all in the north.

  1. Days 1–2

    Guilin and the Li River

    The Li River from Yangdi to Xingping, then the city's lakes and the Song dynasty walls of the royal city.

    Stops: GuilinLi River

  2. Days 3–4

    Yangshuo

    Rafting, cycling and West Street; the village is the quiet, green heart of the karst.

    Stops: YangshuoYulong River

  3. Day 5

    Longji terraces

    A night in a Yao village among the terraces, with a walk between Ping'an and Jinkeng.

    Stops: LongshengLongji Terraces

  4. Day 6

    Sanjiang's Dong villages

    High-speed rail north-east to Sanjiang for the drum towers and the Chengyang wind-and-rain bridge, then back to Guilin to fly out.

    Stops: SanjiangChengyang

Sights

Beyond Guilin and Beihai

Dong village

Chengyang wind-and-rain bridge

The great covered bridge at Chengyang, near Sanjiang in the north-east — timber, without a single nail, sheltered and lined with benches, and one of the finest of its kind in China. Around it sit eight Dong villages, drum towers and rice terraces.

Where
Sanjiang county, about 20 km from Sanjiang town
Ticket
About ¥60 for the Chengyang scenic area
Getting there
High-speed rail to Sanjiang, then a short bus or taxi

Tip Chengyang is now a real village as well as a sight — stay a night, eat in a homestay, and the crowds you get at midday simply are not there at breakfast.

Ming-Qing town

Huangyao old town

A river-bend town in Zhaoping (Hezhou prefecture) that began in the Song dynasty and grew rich on the trade of the Yao mountains. Its flagstone lanes, old opera stage, temples and covered streams have made it a favourite of film and television crews.

Where
Zhaoping county, Hezhou, eastern Guangxi
Ticket
About ¥100
Getting there
Bus from Guilin or Hezhou to Huangyao, then walk in

Tip Go in the early morning before the tour groups arrive; the lanes and the riverfront are the whole point, and they empty right out.

Scenery

Mingshi countryside

The quiet 'little Guilin' near Daxin, on the road to the border, where the Buming River loops through sugar-cane fields and limestone hills. It is the south-west's answer to Yangshuo — smaller, softer and almost empty by comparison.

Where
Mingshi village, Daxin county, Chongzuo
Ticket
Scenic area about ¥60; boat trips extra
Getting there
About 40 minutes from Daxin on the Detian road

Tip Pair Mingshi with a stay in the village, and catch the mist over the river at dawn — this is a landscape that rewards being slow.

Bronze-age art

Zuo River cliff paintings

Huge figures daubed in red ochre across the limestone cliffs of the Zuo River, near Ningming — the largest concentration at Huashan, from a culture two thousand years old and still unexplained. A UNESCO site, and unlike anything else in China.

Where
Ningming county, Chongzuo, on the Zuo River
Ticket
About ¥80 including the boat
Getting there
From Nanning or Chongzuo, then a river boat from the wharf

Tip Ask at the wharf which cliffs have the densest figures — the boat can drop you closest to the best of them rather than a random stretch.

Border history

Friendship Pass

The old gate at Pingxiang, on the road into Vietnam: a fortress of a building with high walls and a round-arched passage, rebuilt many times and renamed Friendship Pass in 1965. It has been a border crossing for more than two thousand years.

Where
Pingxiang, Chongzuo, on the Vietnam border
Ticket
About ¥42
Getting there
From Nanning to Pingxiang by bus (about 3–4h), then a short taxi

Tip The border market just beyond the old town sells Vietnamese coffee, sandals and balm cheaply — a lively half-hour even if you are not crossing.

Waterfall gorge

Tongling Gorge

A deep, green gorge at Jingxi, south-west of the border country, whose single-drop waterfall plunges about 188 m — among the tallest in Asia — into a fern-hung cavern you can walk behind. The walk down is stepped and wet; the walk out is the workout.

Where
Jingxi, Baise prefecture, far south-west Guangxi
Ticket
About ¥115
Getting there
From Nanning or Daxin by road; easiest as part of a border loop

Tip Wear shoes with grip and take a light rain shell — the mist off the fall soaks you at the bottom whether or not it is raining.

Hot springs

Longsheng hot springs

The springs at Ailing, 32 km from Longsheng town, drawn from 1,200 m underground and set among forest — the reward at the end of a terraces day. The water is genuinely hot, the pools are outdoors, and the air is mountain-clean.

Where
Ailing, Longsheng county, about 2h from Guilin
Cost
Resort day passes and overnight rates vary widely
Getting there
Bus from Longsheng town; most visitors come with a car or a tour

Tip Combine it with the terraces in one two-night stop: walk the hills one day, soak the next, and leave with legs that still work.

Food

What to eat

Guilin rice noodles

The region's most famous bowl — rice noodles in a fermented-broth base, dressed with pickles, peanuts and braised meat. Genuinely best in Guilin itself, and cheap.

Laoyou fen

Nanning's signature: a sour, spicy soup of fermented bamboo and black beans with rice noodles and meat. The bowl locals miss most when they move away.

Liuzhou luosifen

The loudest noodle in China — snail broth, pickled bamboo and a smell that divides the room. Liuzhou is the place to try the real thing, not the instant packets.

Lemon duck

The region's great braise: duck cooked with pickled lemon and sour bamboo, sour and fragrant rather than heavy. A Guangxi table is not complete without it.

Suan ye

Pickled fruit and vegetables — mango, radish, cabbage and more — sold at stalls on every corner and eaten as a snack, a side and a cure for the heat.

Yo cha (oil tea)

The Dong and Yao 'oil tea': tea pounded with ginger and fried rice, puffed rice and peanuts. Bitter at first sip, then moreish — the mountain welcome in a bowl.

Where to eat

Away from the tourist trail

Night market

Liuzhou's Qingyun night market

In Liuzhou, the home of luosifen, the night market is where you eat the real thing — snail broth, pickled bamboo and all — alongside roasted skewers and rolled rice noodles. Loud, cheap and completely local.

Where
Qingyun market area, Liuzhou city centre
Average spend
¥20–40 / person
Best for
The definitive bowl of luosifen

Village cooking

Dong homestay kitchens

In the Chengyang and Zhaoxing-area villages around Sanjiang, homestays serve Dong cooking: cured pork, sour fish, sticky rice in bamboo and oil tea. Book half board; the food is the reason to stay in.

Where
Chengyang villages, Sanjiang county
Average spend
¥40–80 / person with a room
Best for
Eating what the village actually eats

Old-town eating

Huangyao douchi and river food

Huangyao's preserved black beans (douchi) are the local speciality and the base of its sauces; riverside kitchens serve them with fresh carp and river snails, plus steamed chicken. Simple, savoury and particular to the town.

Where
Old town lanes, Huangyao, Zhaoping
Average spend
¥40–70 / person
Best for
The town's signature douchi dishes

Border food

Vietnamese border stalls

Around Pingxiang and Dongxing, the food tilts Vietnamese: beef pho, spring rolls, drip coffee and baguettes, eaten in plain little shops full of cross-border traders. A genuine change of palate without leaving China.

Where
Near Friendship Pass, Pingxiang; and Dongxing
Average spend
¥20–40 / person
Best for
Pho and Vietnamese coffee at a border town price

Mountain cooking

Longsheng farmhouse chicken

In the hills around the terraces, farmhouse kitchens do a single thing very well: free-range chicken, often in a clay-pot soup, with mountain vegetables and bamboo. The most satisfying meal of a terraces day.

Where
Ping'an and Jinkeng villages, Longsheng
Average spend
¥50–90 / person
Best for
A proper home-cooked mountain dinner

Where to stay

Sleep in the landscape

Village stay

Terraces guesthouses

In Ping'an and, especially, the bigger Jinkeng (Dazhai), village guesthouses sit right among the rice steps — the views are the entire product. Rooms are simple; the setting is not. Book ahead in the water and harvest seasons.

Where
Ping'an and Jinkeng, Longsheng
Price
Roughly ¥150–400 / night
Best for
Terraces at dawn, without the day-trip crowds

Hot springs

Longsheng hot-spring resorts

The Ailing hot-spring resort hotels draw on water from 1,200 m down, with outdoor pools among the forest. Combining a terraces night with a spring night makes the mountain leg of the trip feel complete rather than rushed.

Where
Ailing, Longsheng county
Price
From roughly ¥400 / night
Best for
Resting legs after the terraces

Homestay

Dong village homestays

Around Chengyang and the Sanjiang villages, family homestays offer timber rooms, Dong cooking and a look at village life that no hotel can. Half board is the norm and the best value.

Where
Chengyang, Sanjiang county
Price
Roughly ¥120–300 / night
Best for
An unfiltered Dong village night

Old-town inn

Huangyao old-town inns

Inside Huangyao's lanes are small courtyard inns converted from old houses — atmospheric, cheap, and the only way to have the town to yourself before and after the tour buses.

Where
Inside Huangyao old town, Zhaoping
Price
Roughly ¥120–350 / night
Best for
Waking up inside the old town

Countryside stay

Mingshi riverside guesthouses

At Mingshi, near Daxin, guesthouses and small resorts sit in the middle of the limestone-and-river scenery, with the mountains out of the window. The quiet alternative to staying in a border town.

Where
Mingshi village, Daxin county
Price
From roughly ¥200 / night
Best for
Dawn mist over the river

Getting around

How to move through the region

By air

Two main gateways: Nanning Wuxu (NNG) for the south and centre, and Guilin Liangjiang (KWL) for the karst north. Both have dense domestic service; NNG also flies to ASEAN cities.

Nanning (NNG)
32 km south-west of the capital; the region's main hub
Guilin (KWL)
28 km from Guilin; the northern gateway
Notes
Wuyishan, Beihai and other regional airports have thinner schedules

By high-speed rail

The spine of modern Guangxi travel. High-speed lines link Nanning, Guilin, Liuzhou, Beihai and Sanjiang, and reconnected the region in a way the old roads never did.

Nanning → Guilin
About 2h 30m; frequent services
Nanning → Beihai
About 3h
Sanjiang
On the Guiyang–Guangzhou line — the easy way to the Dong villages

By bus

The workhorse for everything the train does not reach — the border, the terraces, the old towns. Services are cheap and frequent between towns, and tickets rarely need booking ahead.

Fare
Usually ¥20–60 for regional routes
To the terraces
Guilin → Longsheng (about 2h), then a village bus
To the border
Nanning → Daxin / Pingxiang, several a day

By car and driver

For the far border, the gorges and any tight connection, a private car is the least stressful option. Full-day hire with a driver runs by the day and removes the guesswork entirely.

Typical day rate
Roughly ¥400–700 / day, depending on distance
Best for
Detian, Tongling Gorge, cross-border loops
Booking
Through hotels, local travel agencies or apps

By taxi and ride-hailing

Fine in the cities, where meters start low, and the usual way to cover the last few kilometres to a trailhead or a village. Outside the cities, agree a price first.

City flagfall
About ¥7–10
Airport runs
Nanning about ¥100; Guilin about ¥80
Caution
Long-distance quotes at stations and sights can be high — confirm the fare

Across the border

Two main crossings into Vietnam: Dongxing, facing Mong Cai, and Pingxiang/Friendship Pass, on the road to Hanoi. Both need a passport and a visa or e-visa, and both have lively markets even if you stay on the Chinese side.

Dongxing
Opposite Mong Cai; easy day-trip territory
Friendship Pass
Pingxiang; the road to Hanoi via the pass
Nanning → Hanoi
Direct bus via the pass; bring valid paperwork

Shopping

What to take home

Liu Bao tea

Guangxi's aged dark tea from Cangwu (Wuzhou), sold in baskets and bricks. The region's most serious tea, and a good buy for anyone who likes aged pu'er.

Zhuang brocade

Hand-woven Zhuang textile with bright geometric patterns — bags, scarves and wall hangings, found in Nanning and the museums' shops.

Luohanguo and Shatian pomelo

Guangxi's famous fruit: luohanguo, the sweet throat-soothing gourd used in drinks, and the Shatian pomelo, thick-skinned and sweet.

Vietnamese border goods

Around Pingxiang and Dongxing: coffee, drip filters, sandals, tiger balm and dried fruit, at border-market prices. A cheap, fun souvenir run.

Practical

The things that trip people up

Guangxi rewards the traveller who treats it as a loop rather than a single stop. The friction is almost all in the connections between the set-pieces — so build in slack, and let the trains and buses do the work.

Best monthsApril–May and September–November — dry, warm and clear
SummerJune–August is hot and wet; the coast can catch typhoons from July to October
Rail vs roadTrains cover the cities; buses and cars handle the terraces, the border and the old towns
Border permitsCrossing to Vietnam needs a passport plus a visa or e-visa; the Friendship Pass and Dongxing are the main options
PaymentsMobile payment is near-universal in cities; carry cash for village stalls and border markets
LanguageMandarin works in the cities; in remote villages it is patchy, so a translation app helps
TicketsBig sights sell timed tickets in peak season — book the Nine-Bend-style highlights and holiday trains early
ComplaintsTourism complaints 12301; price complaints 12358; both operate nationally

Tips

Small things that make a big difference

Book the trains

High-speed tickets for weekends, holidays and the terraces high season go early. Reserve as soon as your dates are set and travel light on moving days.

Sleep inside, not outside

A night in the terraces, a Dong village or the border beats commuting to them. The mornings and evenings are the whole reason the places are worth the trip.

Learn the two noodles

Order Guilin rice noodles in the north and laoyou fen in Nanning. They are different dishes, and asking for the wrong one in the wrong city is a small, telling mistake.

Carry small cash

Village stalls, the border markets and a few old-town venues still prefer cash — and small notes are easier in a place where change can be scarce.

Watch the weather, not the calendar

Summer rain is sudden, and typhoons can cancel coast ferries. Keep a spare half-day in the south, and check the forecast before any crossing to Weizhou Island.

Be careful at the border

At Friendship Pass and Dongxing, keep your documents on you, know your return time, and treat very cheap 'tours' of Vietnam with caution.

Background

Why Guangxi is the way it is

A basin between mountains and sea

Guangxi sits low and warm in the south of China, on the Tropic of Cancer, tilted so that its land falls from the mountains of the north-west toward the Gulf of Tonkin in the south. That is why the province can hold both limestone peaks and a subtropical coast within a day of each other, and why its rivers run the way they do.

Its position on the edge of the sea is why it mattered. Two thousand years ago Hepu, near today's Beihai, was one of the starting ports of the maritime Silk Road, and the region has been a trading and border society ever since — one foot in the empire, one on the Gulf, and a hand always out to Southeast Asia.

Zhuang country, and twelve peoples

Guangxi is the Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Zhuang — about 16 million, the largest minority group in China — are its founding people. Alongside them live the Yao, Miao, Dong, Mulao, Maonan, Hui, Jing, Shui, Yi and Gelao, each with its own architecture, festival calendar and cuisine.

The names people use today go back a long way. Guangxi took its name in the Song dynasty as the western wing of the old Guangnan circuit, fixed as 'Guangxi' in the Ming, and the region only became an autonomous region under the People's Republic. The result is one province with a dozen faces — which is exactly why it is worth travelling as a loop.

Travel with them

Guangxi on screen and in print

Film

The Painted Veil (面纱)

Directed by John Curran

A 1920s love story shot largely in Guilin — one of the best screen records of the karst landscape before the crowds arrived.

Film

Liu Sanjie (刘三姐)

Directed by Wu Yonggang

The 1961 classic built on the Zhuang folk singer Liu Sanjie, whose songs and the 'Impression Liu Sanjie' show are still the region's cultural signature.

Music

Pogo Bu Ru Tiaowu (Pogo不如跳舞)

Hedgehog-style band Haigui Xiansheng, Nanning

A Nanning indie band on the national stage — a reminder that the region's capital has a modern, restless culture of its own.

Book

Nanning Old Matters (南宁旧事)

Xuan Huang

A novel that follows one man's life through half a century of southern Chinese history, from the late Qing to the war — the region's modern past in a single story.

The questions visitors ask us most about Guangxi, answered plainly.

Frequently asked questions

Prices and practical details are reviewed every month by our Beijing team and updated the day a rule changes.

How many days do I need in Guangxi?

Allow 8 to 10 days to travel the province as a loop — Guilin and Yangshuo, the Longji terraces, Nanning, the border at Detian Falls and Beihai on the coast. Five days buys the north or the south on its own, not both. The distances are real: Nanning to Guilin is 2h 30m by high-speed rail, and the border is a further 4 hours by road.

What is the best time to visit Guangxi?

April to May and September to November are the two windows — warm, dry and clear. Spring catches the rice terraces flooded to mirrors after transplanting; late September brings the golden harvest. July and August are hot, wet and, on the coast, typhoon-prone, but the terraces are at their greenest and prices drop.

Is Guangxi worth visiting outside Guilin?

That is exactly the point. Guilin and Yangshuo are the opening act; the Longji terraces, the Dong villages around Sanjiang, the transnational Detian Falls, the Zuo River cliff paintings and the Gulf of Tonkin coast at Beihai are all genuinely different places. Guangxi is a dozen landscapes braided together, not one.

How do I get around Guangxi?

High-speed rail covers the spine — Nanning, Guilin, Liuzhou, Beihai and Sanjiang all have stations, and tickets are cheap. From the stations, buses reach the towns and short local transport handles the last stretch. For the far border and the terraces, where connections are slow and infrequent, a private car or small tour removes most of the friction.

What should I eat in Guangxi?

Start with the rice noodles, which are a whole subject in themselves: Guilin's, dressed in fermented broth and pickles, and Nanning's laoyou fen, sour-spicy with fermented bamboo and black beans. Then Liuzhou luosifen, the region's loudest bowl; lemon duck, the signature braise; suan ye, the pickled fruit and vegetables on every corner; and Gulf of Tonkin seafood on the coast.

Can I cross into Vietnam from Guangxi?

Yes, at two crossings: Dongxing, opposite Mong Cai, and Pingxiang/Friendship Pass, the old road to Hanoi. You need a passport and a valid visa or e-visa. Even if you do not cross, the border markets at both are worth a wander, and the bus from Nanning to Hanoi runs through Friendship Pass.

Is Guangxi good for English-speaking travellers?

The big sights — Guilin, Yangshuo, the terraces — are well set up, with English signage at the main attractions and plenty of travellers passing through. Away from them, in the Dong villages or on the border, English falls away quickly, so a translation app, a downloaded offline map and a little patience go a long way. The rail system is easy to use without Chinese.

Plan this trip

Prefer it arranged for you?

The same places, with a driver, an English-speaking guide and the tickets already bought.

Guangxi Guangxi Guangxi · 0 tours Guangxi is China's karst-and-coast province, one region that holds Guilin's limestone peaks, a 1,600 km Gulf of Tonkin coastline and the Vietnam borde
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Dalian Dalian City guide · 15 tours The Northern Pearl — China's most romantic coastal city. Shenyang Shenyang City guide · 12 tours Where the Qing dynasty began — an imperial palace, a warlord's mansion and the cheapest good food in the northeast. Changbai Mountain Changbai Mountain City guide · 12 tours A volcano on the North Korean border, a jade-green crater lake at 2,189 m, and hot springs on the way down. Kunming Kunming City guide · 12 tours China's Spring City — a mild plateau capital of flowers, markets and the Stone Forest, with gulls on the lake in winter. Dali Dali City guide · 12 tours A walled Bai town between a 4,000 m mountain and a great lake — wind, flowers, snow and moon, and life at a slower speed. Shuhe Shuhe City guide · 12 tours The quiet version of Lijiang — a Tea Horse Road village of canals, stone bridges and slow afternoons, 4 km from the crowds. Lijiang Lijiang City guide · 12 tours A UNESCO Naxi old town of canals and cobbles beneath a 5,596 m snow mountain — the cultural heart of north-west Yunnan. Xiamen Xiamen City guide · 12 tours A subtropical island city of temples, fishing-village lanes and the best street food in Fujian — with the car-free islet of Gulangyu a 20-minute ferry away. Gulangyu Gulangyu City guide · 12 tours A car-free island of colonial villas, pianos and cats, twenty minutes off Xiamen — and the one place where the trick is simply to stay the night. Fuzhou Fuzhou City guide · 12 tours A 2,200-year-old capital of banyan trees and mountains-within-the-city, where the Ming lanes of Sanfang Qixiang meet the dockyard that built China's modern navy. Lugu Lake Lugu Lake City guide · 12 tours A 2,680 m lake on the Yunnan–Sichuan border, home to China's last matrilineal people, pig-trough canoes and a great deal of doing nothing. Xishuangbanna Xishuangbanna City guide · 12 tours China's tropical south — rainforest, wild elephants, Dai villages and the Mekong, wrapped around the gateway city of Jinghong. Shangri-La Shangri-La City guide · 12 tours A Tibetan town at 3,300 m in Yunnan's Diqing prefecture — monasteries, grassland, prayer wheels and cold thin air. Nanchang Nanchang City guide · 12 tours Jiangxi's 'hero city' on the Gan River — one great Tang pavilion, a 160-metre Ferris wheel, and the best claypot soup you will eat in China. Hefei Hefei City guide · 12 tours Anhui's 2,000-year-old capital: the hometown of China's model judge, a moat-turned-garden ring, and the fast rail gateway to Huangshan. Hongcun Hongcun City guide · 12 tours A 900-year-old Hui village laid out as an ox, with water running to every door and a mirror-still crescent pond at its heart. Wuhan Wuhan City guide · 12 tours Three towns, two rivers and the best breakfast in China — a huge, blunt river city of bridges, lakes and cheap, brilliant street food. Changsha Changsha City guide · 12 tours Hunan's loud, young capital: a 3,000-year-old city that eats chilli-hot food, stays up all night and treats foot massage as a civic duty. Fenghuang Ancient Town Fenghuang Ancient Town City guide · 12 tours The stilt-house river town of Shen Congwen's 'Border Town' — glowing lanterns, stepping stones and the best two nights in western Hunan. Lushan Lushan City guide · 12 tours A cloud-wrapped granite mountain with a Victorian hill station on top, waterfalls in three tiers, and the mist that Su Shi said you could never see through. Wuyuan Wuyuan City guide · 12 tours China's 'most beautiful countryside' — dozens of white-walled Huizhou villages strung along streams and terraced into the hills, and two weeks a year of gold. Mount Heng (Hengshan, Hunan) Mount Heng (Hengshan, Hunan) City guide · 12 tours The South Great Peak: a pilgrimage mountain of 72 summits where the temples run all the way to the top, and the sunrise over the cloud sea is the whole point. Huangshan Huangshan City guide · 12 tours Yellow Mountain: 82 granite peaks of twisted pines and grotesque rock, a sea of cloud that changes by the hour, and hot springs at the foot. Wudang Mountain Wudang Mountain City guide · 12 tours The Taoist first mountain of China — a gilded bronze hall on a 1,612 m summit, temples hung off cliff faces, and the birthplace of tai chi. Luoyang Luoyang City guide · 12 tours Thirteen dynasties, 100,000 Buddhas carved into a river cliff, China's first Buddhist temple — and a whole city that turns peony-pink every April. Yuntai Mountain Yuntai Mountain City guide · 12 tours A UNESCO geopark in Henan where red-stone gorges squeeze a river to a slot, a 314 m waterfall drops in one plunge, and every path leads to another pool. Rizhao Rizhao City guide · 12 tours A low-key Shandong beach town where the sun rises straight out of the Yellow Sea, the sand runs 60 km and a seafood dinner costs less than a coffee in Shanghai. Yantai Yantai City guide · 12 tours A northern Shandong port of fairy-tale cliffs, wine cellars and long golden beaches — where emperors once hunted the elixir of life and China's wine industry still begins. Lianyungang Lianyungang City guide · 12 tours A working Jiangsu port with a myth in the middle of it — the Flower-Fruit Mountain of Journey to the West, a sea causeway to a big island beach, and some of the cheapest seafood on the coast. Sanqing Mountain Sanqing Mountain City guide · 12 tours A vertical forest of granite pillars in Jiangxi — the Python Out of the Mountain, the Goddess of the East Sea, two cable cars and a cliff-hugging walkway at 1,660 metres. Tianjin Tianjin City guide · 12 tours Beijing's port city next door — a river of 24 bridges, 2,000 colonial villas, and the best street breakfast in northern China. Datong Datong City guide · 12 tours A frontier capital of carved Buddhas — the Yungang Grottoes, a temple pinned to a cliff, and the oldest wooden tower in China. Taiyuan Taiyuan City guide · 12 tours Shanxi's provincial capital and noodle heartland — the spring of Jinci, two Ming pagodas, and a museum that explains the whole province. Pingyao Pingyao City guide · 12 tours China's best-preserved ancient walled town — a Ming wall, the first Chinese bank, and two temples of painted clay just outside the gates. Wutai Mountain Wutai Mountain City guide · 12 tours China's foremost Buddhist mountain — fifty-plus temples in one valley, crowned by five flat-topped peaks up to 3,058 m. Hulunbuir Hulunbuir City guide · 12 tours China's finest grassland — a 263,000 km² sweep of steppe, birch forest and border river, best driven with the windows down. The Forbidden City The Forbidden City City guide · 12 tours Beijing's 600-year imperial palace — 8,700 rooms behind a 72-hectare wall, and the largest surviving wooden palace complex on earth. Sanya Sanya City guide · 12 tours China's only true winter-sun coast — four very different bays, a coral island and a 108 m sea Buddha, all at 18° north. Haikou Haikou City guide · 12 tours Hainan's capital is the island's living city — 600-year-old arcade streets, a volcanic village, and a morning-tea-to-midnight food culture. Beihai Beihai City guide · 12 tours 24 km of fine white sand on one side, a volcanic island of coral and lava on the other — plus a 19th-century arcade old street in between. Nanning Nanning City guide · 12 tours Guangxi's green capital is a gateway to Detian Falls, Beihai and Vietnam — and a genuinely excellent food city if you let it slow you down. Huizhou Huizhou City guide · 12 tours A free West Lake, a Taoist mountain and 200 km of white-sand coast — the Pearl River Delta's most underrated weekend. Beidaihe Beidaihe City guide · 12 tours Northern China's classic beach escape — one sunrise headland, 10 km of calm swimming water, and a bird flyway overhead twice a year. Shanhaiguan Shanhaiguan City guide · 12 tours The town where the Great Wall stops being a rumour of mountains and walks into the Bohai Sea. Baiyangdian Baiyangdian City guide · 12 tours The biggest freshwater lake on the North China Plain — and almost none of it can be reached except by boat. Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao City guide · 12 tours 126 km of Bohai coast in one municipality — a working port, two famous resorts, and the only desert dunes that meet this sea. Yesanpo Yesanpo City guide · 12 tours Gorge country where the Taihang and Yan ranges collide — 52.5 km of canyon walls, a cave that spits fish, and a river to fall off. Zhuhai Zhuhai City guide · 12 tours The delta's slow city: a 28 km promenade, 146 islands, oysters fattened where the river meets the sea. Wuyi Mountain Wuyi Mountain City guide · 12 tours Nine bends of clear water, red sandstone cliffs, and the tea that made a mountain's name. Jiuzhaigou Jiuzhaigou City guide · 12 tours 108 mineral-blue lakes in one 55 km valley — the place that ruins water everywhere else for you. Mount Siguniang Mount Siguniang City guide · 12 tours Four snow peaks, three valleys, and the friendliest 5,000 m mountain in China to stand on top of. Hailuogou Hailuogou City guide · 12 tours A glacier that comes down to 2,850 m, hot springs in the forest, and Gongga Shan filling the sky above both. Daocheng Yading Daocheng Yading City guide · 12 tours Three 6,000 m sacred peaks, glacial lakes at 4,600 m and twenty hours of road — the hardest, highest payoff in Sichuan. Shunan Bamboo Sea Shunan Bamboo Sea City guide · 12 tours Seventy thousand mu of bamboo over twenty-eight hills, a red sandstone corridor under a closed green roof, and a banquet made entirely of bamboo. Dujiangyan Dujiangyan City guide · 12 tours Not a monument but a machine: three pieces of engineering with no dam, still doing their job after 2,270 years. Qingcheng Mountain Qingcheng Mountain City guide · 12 tours The mountain where Daoism was organised, and the one Chengdu escapes to when the basin turns into an oven. Qingdao Qingdao City guide · 12 tours Red-tiled roofs, cold beer and a granite mountain that walks straight into the sea — the easiest good time on the Yellow Sea. Mount Tai Mount Tai City guide · 12 tours 1,545 metres, 6,290 stone steps and three thousand years of emperors — the one mountain in China that is also a document. Jinan Jinan City guide · 12 tours A provincial capital with 700 springs under the pavement — people still queue at the spouts to fill their kettles. Weihai Weihai City guide · 12 tours 1,000 km of clean coast, a free bathing beach, the island where the Beiyang Fleet died — and thousands of wild swans every winter. Qufu Qufu City guide · 12 tours One family, two thousand years of steles, and a ¥150 pass that covers the lot — the easiest serious day trip in Shandong. Penglai Penglai City guide · 12 tours China's immortals' coast — a Song-dynasty naval harbour you can walk for free, a mythology nobody ever found, and the ferry to 32 islands. Changdao Changdao City guide · 12 tours 32 islands, one causeway, a ¥150 land pass, tens of thousands of gulls and nowhere you can drive — the place where everything happens by boat. Nanjing Nanjing City guide · 12 tours Capital of six dynasties, capital of the Republic, and the city that eats more duck than anywhere else on earth. Suzhou Suzhou City guide · 12 tours Two thousand five hundred years of canals, sixty surviving gardens, and a city that shuts its gates at half past five. Zhouzhuang Zhouzhuang City guide · 12 tours Nine hundred years, fourteen bridges, one ticket — and a town that only makes sense before eight in the morning. Tongli Tongli City guide · 12 tours Fifteen canals, seven islets, forty-nine bridges — and a town that still gets up at dawn because it lives here. Wuxi Wuxi City guide · 12 tours Taihu on one side, a Grand Buddha on the next hill, and ribs sweet enough to argue about — the most underrated city on the Yangtze delta. Yangzhou Yangzhou City guide · 12 tours A city built by salt merchants who had more money than restraint — gardens, a narrow lake, and the best breakfast in China. Zhenjiang Zhenjiang City guide · 12 tours Three hills, one ferry landing, and an unreasonable share of Chinese literature — the Yangtze city people drive past. Changzhou Changzhou City guide · 12 tours A 2,500-year-old canal city that built a dinosaur park and refuses to apologise for it. Wuzhen Wuzhen City guide · 12 tours A town that is two towns: the older, quieter East Zone and the lit-up West Zone you sleep inside. Xitang Xitang City guide · 12 tours Nine canals, 122 lanes, one long roofed corridor — and a town that still works for a living. Hangzhou Hangzhou City guide · 12 tours A lake in the middle of a city, a tea village in the hills, and two thousand years of getting the mood right. Xixi Wetland Xixi Wetland City guide · 12 tours Ten square kilometres of marsh inside Hangzhou, and the only way into half of it is a boat. Ningbo Ningbo City guide · 12 tours A 7,000-year-old port with Asia's oldest private library, a free waterfront 20 years older than Shanghai's, and the best seafood before the islands. Mount Putuo Mount Putuo City guide · 12 tours A Buddhist island with no cars, three great temples and a ¥10 lunch that is the point of the place. Qiandao Lake Qiandao Lake City guide · 12 tours A thousand islands that did not exist sixty years ago, and the cleanest big-lake water in China. Shaoxing Shaoxing City guide · 12 tours Two and a half thousand years of water-town China, and Lu Xun's house is free. Zhoushan Zhoushan City guide · 12 tours 1,390 islands, one road bridge in, and a harbour that lands more fish than almost anywhere on earth. Hengdian Hengdian City guide · 12 tours A backlot the size of a town, where the palaces are copies and the film crews are real. Yandang Mountain Yandang Mountain City guide · 12 tours A volcano that weathering turned into scenery — 500-odd sights of peak, cave and waterfall across eight scenic areas. Zhejiang Zhejiang City guide · 12 tours One small, mountainous, absurdly rich province that holds a lake, two canal towns, a Buddhist island and a dead volcano. Hong Kong Outlying Islands Hong Kong Outlying Islands City guide · 12 tours Two hundred-odd islands, half an hour of ferry from the financial district, and not a car on three of them. Hong Kong Shopping Hong Kong Shopping City guide · 12 tours A duty-free port where the tag starts lower, two citywide sale seasons knock a third off, and every mall sits on an MTR exit. Macao Macao City guide · 12 tours Four hundred years of Portuguese streets, a fake Venice under a painted sky, and the best egg tart in Asia. Urumqi Urumqi City guide · 12 tours The city furthest from the sea, with a snow range on its doorstep and dinner starting at nine. Hong Kong SAR, China Hong Kong SAR, China City guide · 11 tours A harbour skyline you already know by heart, dim sum trolleys at dawn, and 260 islands an hour from the neon. Taiwan, China Taiwan, China City guide · 11 tours Night-market alleys, high-mountain railways, and a coastline that changes character every hundred kilometres. Qinghai Lake Qinghai Lake City guide · 12 tours A 4,400 sq km inland sea at 3,200 m, ringed by rapeseed gold, prayer flags and the best cycling road in China. Mount Emei Mount Emei City guide · 11 tours A 3,099-metre Buddhist summit you can reach by cable car before lunch — and a mountain full of monkeys that will absolutely rob you. Beijing Beijing City guide · 11 tours Six centuries of imperial red walls, a Great Wall you can climb before lunch, and the best roast duck on earth. Taipei Taipei City guide · 11 tours A 24-hour bookstore, a night market that never stops sizzling, and a city that apologises when you bump into it. North Xinjiang North Xinjiang City guide · 11 tours Alpine lakes the colour of poured enamel, a village of log cabins under birch trees, and the last tear the Atlantic ever sheds. Lanzhou Lanzhou City guide · 11 tours A city split in half by the Yellow River, where beef noodles are a breakfast ritual and the Silk Road still runs through the streets. Mount Hua Mount Hua City guide · 11 tours Five granite peaks, one plank road bolted to a cliff face, and a sunrise that justifies the 2am start. Dunhuang Dunhuang City guide · 11 tours A desert oasis where Buddhist cave art survived a thousand years and a crescent lake refused to dry up. Gannan Gannan City guide · 11 tours 433 kilometres of the Yellow River's first bend, a 3.5 km prayer-wheel circuit, and Tibetan grasslands almost nobody has commercialised yet. Sichuan–Tibet Highway Sichuan–Tibet Highway City guide · 11 tours 2,142 kilometres of cliff-edge switchbacks, four of China's most beautiful mountains, and a road the Tibetans walk on their knees. Kangding Kangding City guide · 11 tours The town that gave Asia its most famous love song, a 7,556m sacred peak on its doorstep, and the last real Tibetan town before the road climbs to Lhasa. Lhasa Lhasa City guide · 12 tours A city of prayer wheels and butter lamps at 3,700 metres, where the sun shines 3,000 hours a year and the world's highest palace watches over it all. Nyingchi Nyingchi City guide · 11 tours Tibet's greenest corner — peach blossom valleys, a 7,782 m peak that hides from almost everyone, and the world's deepest canyon. Namtso Namtso City guide · 11 tours A 1,920-square-kilometre sheet of impossible blue at 4,718 metres, ringed by snow peaks and prayer flags. Chongqing Chongqing City guide · 12 tours A vertical city of fog, cable cars and cliff-side stilt houses, where the火锅 never stops boiling and the night skyline outshines Hong Kong. Qiandongnan Qiandongnan City guide · 11 tours A thousand Miao households stacked up a mountainside, drum towers and wind-rain bridges in Dong villages, and a 600-year-old Ming garrison town on the road to Guiyang. Libo Libo City guide · 11 tours Emerald rivers threading through karst peaks, a 600-metre forest growing out of a riverbed, and China's largest wild plum grove. Guiyang Guiyang City guide · 11 tours China's summer capital at 1,100 metres, where the nights run on sour fish soup, street-side barbecue and mahjong that never quite stops. Zhenyuan Zhenyuan City guide · 11 tours A 2,000-year-old river town where the Wuyang River carves an S through the mountains and every lane hides a story. Huangguoshu Huangguoshu City guide · 11 tours Asia's biggest waterfall, and the only one on earth you can walk behind, above and around — plus 600-year-old Ming dynasty villages a short drive away. Harbin Harbin City guide · 11 tours Minus 30 degrees, a frozen river you can walk across, and a cathedral built by Russians who never went home. Yunnan Yunnan City guide · 11 tours Snow mountains, tropical rainforest, twenty-five minorities and a plate of rice noodles — all in one province. Shanghai Shanghai City guide · 11 tours A 1920s waterfront of colonial banks facing a science-fiction skyline, soup dumplings you eat with a straw, and 20 million people moving like clockwork. Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie City guide · 11 tours Three thousand sandstone pillars straight out of Avatar, a glass skywalk bolted to a cliff, and a cable car that leaves from downtown. Guangzhou Guangzhou City guide · 11 tours A 2,200-year-old trading port where dim sum is a religion, colonial islands sit beside 600-metre towers, and the food never stops. Guilin Guilin City guide · 11 tours Karst peaks rising straight out of a green river, rice terraces carved into mountainsides, and the best bowl of noodles you'll eat in China. Shenzhen Shenzhen City guide · 11 tours A fishing village that became a megacity in forty years — and it still has 500-year-old banyans, empty beaches and dim sum worth the border crossing. Chengdu Chengdu City guide · 11 tours A 3,000-year-old city where the schedule is tea, mahjong and hotpot — and the pandas are just the opening act. Xinjiang Xinjiang City guide · 11 tours Snow peaks, grassland, desert and oasis — one-sixth of China, and the longest road you will ever ride. Xi'an Xi'an City guide · 14 tours Thirteen dynasties of emperors, a terracotta army buried for 2,200 years, and a walled city you can cycle in 100 minutes. Qinghai Qinghai City guide · 11 tours China's high-altitude blue heart: a salt lake you can walk on, a 3,200-metre sea, and yak butter tea at the roof of the world. Tibet Tibet City guide · 11 tours A plateau the size of Western Europe where the sky starts at your feet, prayer flags carry the wind, and the roads run past 8,000-metre peaks.

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  • Think in a loop, not a stop: Guilin → Longji → Nanning → the border → Beihai covers the province.
  • The Dong villages around Sanjiang are the least-touristed big sight in Guangxi, now on the high-speed line.
  • The Zhuang are China's largest minority, about a third of the region's 50 million people.

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