We have 5 days of free travel time in mid-August. We are deciding between two itineraries

1) Fly from Shanghai to Guilin. Cruise down the Li River to Yangshou. Then travel to Lonsheng for a few nights before flying out of Guilin

2) Fly into Kumming from Shanghai. Explore in and around Lijiang. Head out to the tiger leaping gorge for a three day trek. Fly back to Shanghai from Kumming.

What are the highs and lows of these choices? We are looking for adventure travel, village home stays, beautiful scenery, significant hiking, and off the beaten path exploration.

I've been to both places but as a lazy tourist and not as a "significant hiker"!

I have to leave soon but from reading your requirements I think the Guilin, Yanghsuo and Longsheng area will better suits you over Lijiang.

For an idea check out my trip reports and pictures from both places.

Lijiang: Report - http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ul-lijiang.cfm
Pictures - http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/gallery...14502137_pe9wo plus - http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/gallery...14737020_gqN7c and - http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/gallery...14501902_qp9n5

Guilin, Yanghsuo and Longsheng: Report(not completed) - http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-longsheng.cfm

Pictures: http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/gallery...86314456_vxgZt and http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/gallery...86679531_aJYja

> We are looking for adventure travel, village home stays, beautiful scenery, significant hiking, and off the beaten path exploration.

To these two destinations the path is so beaten it has been worn into a canyon. You might want to look elsewhere, certainly for 'adventure travel'. Going to these two areas is as about as adventurous as popping into Starbucks for a coffee.

But if you want a serious hike I would think it has to be Tiger Leaping Gorge - just limit your time in the towns vs. in the gorge.

Thanks for all the suggestions. We've decided to fly to Guilin and venture to some villages outside Longshen or Yanshou.

--Any suggestions for village hikes?
--Which town is better launching point?
--Has anyone had any success with impromptu village home stays?
--Is it better to hire a guide when we arrive, or before we head out?

Hanuman, your photos and posts are terrific. The Shangrila hotels you stayed in look great. Can you recommend any places to stay in and around Guilin?

Summer,

I only spent a few days in both Guilin and Yangshuo so my recommendations are based on my limited experiences there. For Guilin we stayed at the Sheraton and they are having a "pay 2 nights and stay 3 nights" promotion at the moment, call the Starwood toll free number and enquire about this deal. The area from the Lijiang Waterfall Hotel to the Sheraton are the most convenient for shopping and walking around but there's no feelings or atmosphere there.

Online map: http://www.chinahighlights.com/image...ourist-map.jpg

For Yangshuo I would definitely avoid being near West Street if you want a good night's sleep. We stayed at the Yangshuo Village Inn and enjoyed staying there. I did see two other hotels that were on the bank of the Yulong river and they did look nice and with a great view - The Dragon River Retreat and The Yangshuo Mountain Retreat. I would think that for Yangshuo you can just show up at any place and get a room but, unless you are staying near West Street, these places are quite far apart.

For Longsheng there are so many Inns and home-stay but we did not spend the night there. Our guide even made a comment that every building that we walked past, in Ping'an village, is an Inn! This is another good location for hiking with stunning views.

Map of the area around Longsheng: http://www.abiertoporvacaciones.com/...pas/ygmp14.htm

The launching point for your trip can be either Guilin(45 minutes from the airport) or Yangshuo(1.5 hours from the airport) since both are within a reasonable distant from the airport. If you don't like the city scene then go directly to Yangshuo once you have arrived.

Again I'm not a hiker but from the excursion that we took from Yangshuo I would think that the area from Yangshuo to Xingping and Yangti would be a good hiking route. I have just googled and found this site perhaps you can get a better idea on possible hikes around there - http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/gui...ng-tour-1.html

Good luck and do report back!

Thanks Hanuman. These are great links. The maps will be particularly helpful. We just got back from a trip to Huang Shan. Our tourist map was not drawn to scale and the airport was not on the map. Yikes!

No need to cruise the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo and choke on the boat engine fumes, do your river rafting around Yangshuo.

Last year I spent 17 days in China and traveled on my own. After visiting Beijing and Xian, I flew to Guilin and took a taxi to Yangshuo, which took about a hour. I spent four days in Yangshuo and loved it. I'm an athletic female and enjoyed cycling in the countryside to Dragon Bridge to take a river raft tour. On another day I went on a small boat down the Li River, which was beautiful. I enjoyed the small boat because you could get outside of it and sit on the top of it rather than the large tourist boats. There's plenty of outdoor activities in Yangshou and it's not a big city like Guilin.

The first night I stayed at the Magnolia Hotel, but didn't like it. The Frommers guide book highly recommended it as a budget hotel. The room smelled like bug spray and there was still a lot of mosquitos in the room. The bathroom smelled like mildrew and the shower didn't work well. I changed hotels to the Paradeso (Paradise) Resort. I used my bargaining skills and got a lovely room at half of the rack rate price. I enjoyed the resort and it's just minutes from West Street and the main area. The Paradeso is where Hillary and Bill Clinton stayed year's ago. I'm a budget traveler so I didn't stay in the Presidential suite, but my room was modern, comfortable and I had a great view of the karst. I highly recommend Yangshou.

Thanks aqua. Did you make it to the rice terraces in Longsheng? We are going to divide our time between Longsheng and Yangshuo but we can't decide how much time to spend in each place. We will be in the Guilin area six nights in total.

IMO one night in Longsheng and five in Yanghsuo would be perfect.

I didn't have time to go to Longsheng, but would have liked to have gone. I talked to a few people who went there and they thought it was wonderful. I also missed the outdoor theatre show (I forgot the name of it) in Yangshou because it had rained for three days prior to my stay.

I want to give a special shout out to Shanghainese -- hello and thanks for all your suggestions when I was planning my trip last year! I didn't write a trip report because I got buried at work when I returned. I had an incredible trip and hope to go back to China next year. Next month I'm going to Greece and I'm actively planning the trip. Thanks again.

Aw, aquawink, you are so very welcome, we all help each other here. We are going back to China in October next year, got tix already to the World Expo in Shanghai. End of next month heading to Ireland and Holland (with a daytrip to Belgium), started planning late and speeding up all the arrangements now. Happy Travels, hope to GTG with you sometime in California or China.

Seth: The outdoor show on the river water in Yangshou is called Impressions Liu Sanjie (3rd Sister of the Liu Family), a local folk story directed by Zhang Yimou of the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony fame, it is well worth viewing. We saw another Impressions show in the Lijiang with the snow-covered Jade Dragon Mountain as background, very impressive. There is also Impressions West Lake show in Hangzhou, is Gpanda aware of it?

Trip almost planned, but still need help....

Right now we're booked for three nights at the Li River Retreat in Yangshuo and we are planning on staying 3 nights in the rice terraces (We arrive in Ping An pretty late the first night). Based on Fordorite suggestions, and my research, I'll probably change our itinerary to four nights at the Li River Retreat and two nights in Ping An.

It sounds like a full day in a half in the Rice Terraces will be enough to sufficiently explore the area. I'm reserving a half day for travel in between the Rice Terraces an Yangshuo. Does anyone know how to catch a bus to Yangshuo from Ping An or Dahzhai? How often do they leave? Do you have to stop in Guilin?

If I book an extra night at Li River Retreat, we'll have nearly four full days to hang out in Yangshuo. Is this too much time? We love to hike, bicycle, and swim. Are there enough paths and day trips to keep us occupied for four days?

Shanghainese, again many thanks. I went to a World Fair in Sevilla, Spain in the 90's, spend a week at the Fair and had an amazing time. Traveled in Spain for three weeks -- one of my favorite countries! I'm sure the World Fair in Shanghai will be great in October. I plan to go to China next year, but October is one of my busiest months at work so I'm not sure if the boss would let me go. It sounds like a great event and very tempting. I'm sure you'll have a fun time.

Summer -- I think there is plenty of things to do in Yangshuo for four full days as long as it's not raining. I went in the spring and it had been raining for many days and it rained the day I arrived. It then stopped raining the next day and it was beautiful for the remaining three days that I stayed there. I had been traveling in the hot and very smoggy cities of Beijing and Xian for about a week and a half in May, and I made the right choice in going to the country in Yangshuo. I enjoy nature, and I needed to relax and give my lungs a rest. The countryside is so beautiful and there's plenty of hiking, river boating, cycling and other outdoor activities. Yangshou is more of a village with cool restaurants (I liked Minnie Maos Cafe -- the logo is Minnie Mouse with a Mao army hat on, which I'm sure Disney wouldn't care for logo infrigement) and free Internet access in the cafes. I really enjoyed the shopping outdoors at night. Shopping and haggling for great bargains became one of my new sports in China! I'll admit, I bought so much cool stuff especially in Shanghai and Suzhou. Don't forget the bug repellant. My favorite that doesn't contain DEET and really works well is Avon Skin So Soft Bug Repellant Lotion with SPF 15. Bug repellant and sunscreen without toxic chemicals for sensitive skin really fills the bill for me. In Yangshou, I found the Expatriates Tourist Info and Tours to be very helpful in planning excursions or getting ideas of where to go. Have a great trip!!!