Hi,

I'm travelling to China in October and am finalising a side trip to Guilin/Yangshuo/Longsheng.

What I'm unsure about is how much time to spend in each area. My proposed itinerary is:

Sun 21 - Shanghai -> Guilin
Mon 22 - Guilin -> Longsheng (stay overnight)
Tue 23 - Longsheng -> Yangshuo
Wed 24 - Yangshuo (Cooking School, Moon Hill...)
Thu 25 - Yangshuo (Yulong river bike, raft...)
Fri 26 - Yangshuo (Hike Yangdi to Xing Ping)
Sat 27 - Yangshuo - Lazy day
Sun 28 - Guilin -> Shanghai

Does this sound like a good balance?

Also looking for ideas for accomodation in Longsheng/Ping An?

Any ideas appreciated. Thanks!

Dapidoo:


We hired a guide and his driver just this past April. Worked out very well.
They arranged to pick us up at airport
(flight from Xian) and drop us at The Sheraton, excellent hotel in Guilin.

The next day we arranged for a taxi to the reed flute cave, and wandered Guilin for the day.

The next day the guide took us to the port where he had arranged for the scenic Li River cruise to Yangshuo. We spent the day there, and the guide and driver met us for dinner and had purchased tix for the fantastic Sanjie night/light show..indescribably beautiful. They drove us back to Guilin after the show (about a one hour ride).

The next morning (early) they drove us to the Longshen area...and we hiked to the village of Longji, had lunch at an inn, then continued up to the best vantage point for the terraced rice fields...an amazing sight to behold. We then rode back to Guilin.

The next morning they took us to the airport.
(the first trip back in '84, we were on a tour of China which had not included Longshen...so it was a pleasure to see this time).

Here are some pix of the region.

picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Guilin

Stu T.

Sorry, gave you an incomplete address for the photos...try this, it should work.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...linAndVicinity

Stu T. ([email protected])

For best photo views, go to slideshow at top of page.

Stu T.

We visit Guilin last August during 4 days and following the recomendations of tower we contact a guide named Jade Leo highly recomended in this forum.
our experience was very good.
With his cooperation, the 4 days we spent in Guilin, where we visited Yangshuo ( Li river cruise ), the rice terraces in Longsheng, the fishing with cormorants, etc. were some of the best memories of our 20 days trip through China.

If you need to contact him
[email protected]
or you can visit his web page
http://www.guilinprivatetours.com/main/home/main.php

Regards
Jose Maria

Jose:

Happy things went well with JadeLeo and his gang...did you get to the night/light Sanjie in Yangshuo? Hope so.

Stu T.

I posted about my trip to Longsheng in this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34921245

For better views and fewer tourists, I would recommend staying in Dazhai, the village above Pingan.

I just travel back to Shanghai from Guilin. I will suggest you to spend one day in Guilin to have a look for the lake(4 lakes) which is quiet and comfortable. You can spend the lazy day at bank of lake.

Btw, the restaurant close to Shanhu (also close to Sharton hotel and waterfall hotel) named Guilin poridge city is very good. You can try!

we are just home from a trip to Yuannan , Yangshuo and Longsheng. Longsheng is just amazing and i am so glad we stayed there overnight.
We also engaged the services of Jade Leo who proved to be a most flexible guide to the Yangshuo area. Our cookery class was definately a highlight ,and such good fun. would suggest few days to really enjoy Yangshuo and to unwind.
good luck,
Mary

Mary...so happy that you liked JadeLeo and his gang...I don't feel that JadeLeo's responses are out of line on these threads... especially if he is so well received by so many of us...same for Konglin in Beijing. It's a pleasure recommending someone who delivers...and those two certainly do repeatedly.

Did you get to the Sanjie night/light show in Yangshuo?

Stu T.

Stu T.