Guilin, A Travel Guide

Location: Guilin

Hostel: Wada Hostel ( This hostel is awesome! We loved it! Price: 36Y. The hostel was great for meeting people. It had a movie room, reading room, pool table, and filtered water! Also the front desk was so helpful! They will help you plan everything. Monica was our favorite.)

Transportation: Buses and Taxi. The taxi from the train station to Wada was 50 Y per taxi.

Diecai Park: 

Price: 17.5 Y with card but they wouldn't take the ISIC cards but our lunch cards worked. 

20Y for the good luck slide which is optional but fun!

10Y pp to dress up for pictures optional

Time: 2 hours- all day

Clothing: Lots of stairs and walking so bring your tennis shoes. 

Tips: You can buy water and snacks there or bring your own

We loved LOVED this park! We spent about 3-4 hours here and still didn't explore everything. When you first walk in the park to the left there are some natural slides on the rocks that are fun.

They are really small and for kids but we loved it. Then once in the park you pick different trails and explore. The views at the top are unbelievabley gorgeous. 

We went up about four of the peaks and then headed to the slide. There are bathrooms over by the slide as well. Just don't forget your toilet paper. 

So the slide is 20 Y and if you are not on a tight budget go for it. It's a fun thing. 

In short: Don't miss this place. It is so beautiful. I hate hiking and I still made it and had an amazing time. 

Location: Pedestrian Street

Time: 1-2 hours 

Cost: 10-25 Y for fish feet massage

6-40 Y for food

Pedestrian street is a fun street to explore. We went here after the park and walked along the river until we got here.  It is full of food and shopping. Any map will show you were it is. Once you are on the street and walking look for a little ally that has street food and a Lot of people.

Go down this ally because it opens up into a huge food area! If you turn right at the end of the alley and walk straight you will see a big outdor food court. We went in there and ate a variety of things. Pineapple fried rice in a pineapple boat for 12y, cheese naan 18y, fried mashed potatoes 15y, fried chicken 6y and so forth. Then on the main street you will also find the place where you can do the fish feet massage.

Now... You have to try this even if you are scared. We got the price to 10 y for 10 min. It took a long time to convince us to put our feet it but boy was it an experience. 

As you can see I did not like it but my friend did. Yeah. Also near this street are two pagodas that will be on your map. Check them out at night because they are fully lit up and it is beautiful. 

Location: Longji Terrace Guilin

Cost: 

50 Y admission (100 without student card)

21 +10 Y bus, each way

18Y traditional lunch 

Total: 128Y 

Season: Winter, January 

Time: 8am-7pm, all day 

Tips: You can buy water and food at the top but you probably want to bring a backpack with water and snacks to save money. The rice terraces are going to be dead so don't expect so much green but it's still worth going. Wear your running shoes and in January bring layers. It's cold but when you are walking a billion stairs it gets warm. 

So, you've seen pictures of the rice terraces and you want to go but how do you get there and what do you expect? 

First off, you can buy a tour from your hostel for about 240Y. That includes the bus ride, lunch, and entrance fee. Sometimes it's nice to take a tour bc you don't have to worry about anything, there is no stress, and the whole day is planned. If you however are on a budget then doing it yourself will save some money. 

We left our hostel at 8am and headed to the depot. The hostel told us how to get to the bus station and which bus to take we paid 21Y to go to the Longi Terrace. The bus ride was about an hour and a half and they let us off on the side of the road. Apparently you can walk down the road to the hub where you get on another bus but we were lucky and there was a bus waiting on the side of the road. That bus was 10y and took us another 30-50 minutes to the entrance for the rice terraces. 

If you walk to the hub or if you get on te bus right away either way you go to the bus hun and buy your tickets to the rice terrace. Make sure you show them your student ID and insist on the 50 Y ticket. We showed meal cards, metro cards, etc. 

Once you arrive at the entrance you will give them your ticket which they will  stamp. From here let the exploration begin. We walked straight up and along the paths. About 20 min up you will see a place called Desserts and Cafe. Across fr that and back down about 15 steps is the restaurant we ate at. It looks like this: 

It was a great view and 18 Y for the rice cooked in the bamboo which was a great experience but it's not a lot of food so bring snacks or more money. Then you jut continue walking up and up. Stop and take lots of photos. The higher you go the cooler the view. When you reach the very top there will be bathrooms. Now if you are staring at the bathrooms to your right at the end of the buildings there is a trail. Go on this trail! We walked for about 40 min on a level trail and had ever more amazing views! Then we walked back. It was spectacular. 

In short: go. Wear hiking/running shoes. Bring snacks. Plan on an all day trip.