Will be in HK from 9/10-9/12, can be extended. Looking for day trip or most 2 days outside of HK. What is Guilin like and how far from HK?

Guilin is wonderful, but too far for a day trip from HK. I recommend a day trip to Macao, about an hour by hydrofoil. It's a fascinating place to see. I suggest that you take a tour of Macao when you get there. Tours can be arranged in HK. Also has a casino, if gambling's your thing. The view of HK when you return in the evening is spectacular.
I recommend that you get an early start, as lines at customs are long. Macao is Portugese, so all the red tape of travelling to a different country is there. Don't know if it's quicker now that HK is Chinese.

Thanks Les. Never thought of Macau. Sounds like just what I am looking for in a day trip.

My husband and I are going to China 10/12-11/16. We booked FIT for air and hotels but we are on our own the rest of time. We are still looking for hotel rooms in Yangshou and Hongkong and getting from and to Guilin from Yangshou and Shanghai-Suzhou. We will be in Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Yangtzi river cruise, Xi'an, Guilin, Yangshou and Hongkong. We are reading several tour books but the information is conflicting. Would you please give us as much info as possible, especially Summer Palace, Great Wall, Xi'an ... where we definitely need transportation out of the city and most reasonable hotels in Hongkong and Yangshou.

Thanks a million.

Just returned from 2 weeks in China and it is the most fascinating place I have ever been! The Summer Palace is only a 45 minute taxi ride from central Beijing, no need for special transportation. We just caught a taxi from in front of our hotel. It is well worth the visit - a beautiful complex of buildings and gardens on the shore of a lake. The Great Wall is about 60-90 minutes by bus from central Beijing. If you are on your own, you would probably be best off hiring a car and driver. A visit to the Ming Tombs is often combined with the Great Wall tour. Ming Tombs are so-so. Great Wall is spectacular.