Hello! We have 4 days to spend in either Lijiang or Yangshuo (the previous 4 days will be in Beijiing.) Any recomendations on which one to visit? Also, has anyone stayed in the Bnayan Tree Lijiang? Thanks in advance for the help!

The two places are a little different.

Yangshuo has excellent scenery, but there's isn't much history in itself. It's also easier to get to from Beijing, as it's just a non-stop flight to Guilin and short car transfer.

Lijiang is itself an interesting historic town (though largely rebuilt after a massive earthquake in 1996). It also has great vista, though different from that in Yangshuo. You can also visit Shangri-La, the Yulong Mountain, etc from there. There's only one non-stop flight from Beijing each day, so you may have to change plane in Kunming.

I think 4 full days in Yangshuo is probably too much. May want to spend two in and around Guilin.

I vote for Lijiang. Yangshuo is very scenic as far as the river and biking in the countryside was alot of fun, but not too much else to do/see. If you do decide on Yangshou rk's suggestion of Guiling would probably be necessary.

Lijiang is a very vibrant city. The rebuilt old town area was very exciting as well as the locals market. Hiking in the southern Himalayas was breathtaking, both literally and figuratively. If you think 4 days is too much in Lijiang (I don't) you could go to DaLi for a day and night. I am a huge Lijiang fan and could easily spend months there. Much more cultural than Yangshou.

Because youve only got 4 days and your coming from Beijing - I vote for Yangshou for convenience (a holiday is supposed to be as stressfree as possible even in China)
Both places as the people above have said are wonderful but for different reasons. I think they are both win win destinations and for that reason I vote for yangshou.
Put Ljiang and area on the list for next time as the whole area deserves time... Dali - Lijiang - Tiger Leaping Gorge and Zhongdian is a wonderful trip on its own. (7 days would be possible at a push)

Forget to add that if you decide on Yangshuo then one or 2 nights should be spent in the Longsheng area which is 3 hours from Guilin (we went there before driving on to Yangshou) You can walk amongst China's most spectacular rice terraces around the mountaintop village of Ping'an. If you havent already found these places during your travel research put them in Google and youll get lots of info.
China is wonderful!

May I piggyback on ashgos' post, please? My family and I are planning a trip to China this May-June. We can't wait! We plan to be in the Guilin/Yangshuo area for two nights, to go down the Li River like everybody else, and to see the sights in the surrounding area. We are debating whether it's better to stay in Guilin (where accomodations will be better) and just visit Yangshuo for the afternoon at the end of our Li River ride...or to stay our 2 nights in Yangshuo, but this will mean our having to take a cab down there from the Guilin airport, then take another cab up to Guilin again to catch the ride down the Li River, and return back again to the Guilin airport. Seems like a lot of traveling back and forth just to stay in Yangshuo (also, just how long is that car ride between the two cities, please?).

However, because we have read people's reports about how much they love Yangshuo, and we suspect that we will enjoy staying in Yangshuo more than staying in Guilin, we wanted to get others' feedback on their preferred place to stay when in that area? We are really not interested in staying one night in Guilin and another night in Yangshuo...seems too disruptive and like we would be living out of our suitcase. We are at a loss as to how to do this leg of our trip...so seek your help and advice! (btw, we are also planning 3 nights in Lijiang...either before or after Guilin/Yangshuo...before we depart for home in USA from Hong Kong. And we will be in Xian before we head to Lijiang (via Kunming) or head to Guilin/Yangshuo.

Thank you to all of you whom I have learned so much from already...I love reading your posts!

Terry

ttt

if you only have four days visit Guilin and Yangshuo is much convinient, 4 days itineray like that for your reference: day one, Guilin city tour, visit Solitary beauty peak, Elephant hill, Reed flute cave. day 2, Longji terraced rice paddies, day 3, Li river cuise. day 4, villages tour in Yangshuo. I am local of Yangshuo you are welcome to yangshuo.

Terry, I spent several days in Yangshuo this past July as part of a month-long trip to China.

One solution to your dilemma would be to skip the overtouristed Guilin to Yangshuo cruise aboard the big boats. Instead, you could go straight to Yangshuo and hire a small boat to take you along the best part of the Li River,
the section between the nearby village of Xingping and Yangdi. It's widely acknowledged that this section of the Li River has the best scenery, and a small boat cruise is much more peaceful than a ride aboard the noisy cruise boats from Guilin.

For more info, see
walkinaround's post on this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1210&fid=2

After you take the small boat cruise on this section of the Li River, you could visit the nearby fishing village of Xingping. President Clinton supposedly raved about the quaint architecture in this tiny village. My friend and I found the lovely grey roofs very photogenic.

During my month in China, I visited several of the places you mentioned in your proposed itinerary. (You can find some pictures here:
http://lillian.smugmug.com/Travel)

Let me know if I can be of any help in your planning!

~Lil

Here's the corrected thread:

For more info, see
walkinaround's post on this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34825486

I also wanted to second Cosmo's suggestion that visitors to the Yangshuo/Guilin area visit the Longsheng rice terraces. Instead of staying in Pingan, my friend and I stayed in the nearby mountaintop village of DaZhai.

The rice terraces are absolutely stunning. This was definitely the highlight of my month in China. I could easily see myself staying for an entire summer.

Here are a few pictures from the Longsheng rice terraces:

http://lillian.smugmug.com/gallery/1724648

Hi Lil,

Your photos are stunning, and your as well as walkinaround's posts are exactly what I'm looking for! I would really appreciate a chance to talk with you about planning for our trip. My email address is [email protected]. Thank you for your response and continued help.

Terry

I have been to both as well as many other spots in China. Lijiang is my favourite place in China. It's so magical to see the shops at night with all the lanterns. When we were there early this year the Banyan Tree was nearing completion but can't imagine any Banyan Tree hotel not living up to its reputation.

Hello,
I would like to visit Lijiang and neraby area for 8 / 10 days next year. I am quite flexible with the dates: which is the best period (weather) to go there?

Grazie, ciao.
Gianni (Milan, Italy)

I love the houses in Lijiang - their roofs of black tiles are so close to each other you'll understand how they fly across roofs in movies!

Gianni, there are more people and mosquitoes in the summer so I guess other seasons would be better.

Thanks.
Lijiang in winter is very cold? When is the rain season?

Second half of March is a good period?

Grazie, ciao.

Gianni P.

Lijiang isn't that cold. Yunnan Province, where Lijiang is located, is known to have "spring weather in all seasons". Elevation is high, but latitude is pretty low.

Here's a page with average temps, etc:

www.travelchinaguide.com/climate/lijiang.htm

However, if you want to go up Yulong Mountain, then it'll be a lot colder, of course.

Mosquitoes? We will be in Lijiang at the end of May. Are many mosquitoes present there at that time of year? What about in Guilin/Yangshuo where we will also be? Should we be concerned about this?