Guilin in One Day: Elephant Trunk Hill and the Two Rivers and Four Lakes

One day in Guilin: it's all in south downtown

Guilin is a city in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region where karst peaks, rivers and lakes sit right in the city center. The downtown 'Two Rivers and Four Lakes · Elephant Hill' scenic area describes itself as an important part of the 'South China Karst' World Natural Heritage.

Elephant Trunk Hill (the city's emblem), Shan Lake with the Sun and Moon Pagodas, Rong Lake with the Old South Gate, and the night cruise piers (Riyuewan and Yuren) are all in south downtown, so a one-day plan works best built around them.

This route follows Day 1 of the guide's itinerary. The guide suggests 2 to 3 days, so with an extra day, add Fubo Hill, Diecai Hill and Mulong Lake.

• Morning: Elephant Trunk Hill (real-name booking)
• Late morning: Rong and Shan lakes and the Sun and Moon Pagodas
• Lunch: Guilin rice noodles
• Afternoon: Seven Star Scenic Area (cave and Flower Bridge)
• Evening: Two Rivers and Four Lakes night cruise

• Guilin travel guide →

Getting to the starting point

Bus 16 from Guilin South railway station reaches Xiangshan Park stop in about 25 minutes. By taxi, Guilin South to the Elephant Hill visitor center is about 2.5 km, around 10 minutes. Showing your destination in Chinese helps.

On foot from the center, walk from Central Square to the south end of Zhengyang Pedestrian Street, then 200 m east to Elephant Trunk Hill.

Coming straight from Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL), take the airport bus to the Civil Aviation Building stop and change to bus 16 or 23 for Xiangshan Park stop. It's about 2 hr 20 min to the visitor center including the transfer; check official info for airport bus fares and timetables. A taxi covers the roughly 30 km in about 55 minutes.

• Guilin South station, bus 16 to Xiangshan Park stop (about 25 min)
• Guilin South station by taxi (about 2.5 km, about 10 min)
• Central Square to the south end of Zhengyang Pedestrian Street, then 200 m east (walk)
• Airport: airport bus + bus 16 or 23 (about 2 hr 20 min) or taxi (about 55 min)

Morning: Elephant Trunk Hill (Xiangbi Shan)

Elephant Trunk Hill, Guilin's city emblem, stands where the Taohua River meets the Li River. Water-Moon Cave holds 22 Tang and Song inscriptions totaling 3,065 characters, and Puxian Pagoda and Yunfeng Temple are here too.

Entry is free, but you need a real-name booking, limited to one ticket per ID. Enter by Gate 1 or 3 and leave by Gate 2. Check official info for opening hours.

• Entry: free, real-name booking required (one ticket per ID)
• Enter by Gate 1 or 3, exit by Gate 2
• Highlights: Water-Moon Cave inscriptions, Puxian Pagoda, Yunfeng Temple
• Opening hours: check official info

Rong and Shan lakes, then rice noodles for lunch

Rong Lake and Shan Lake began as the Tang and Song city's southern moat. Both are free, and lakeside paths link them, so they're easy to explore on foot.

In Shan Lake stand the Sun and Moon Pagodas, rebuilt on a Tang pagoda site; the Sun Pagoda is made entirely of copper, and the two are linked by an underwater passage. Rong Lake has the Old South Gate, built by the Tang general Li Jing, and the spot where Song poet Huang Tingjian moored his boat.

For lunch, have Guilin rice noodles, a national intangible cultural heritage item. They use freshly pressed rice noodles that are smooth and tender, in styles such as lucai (braised), sour soup, sanxian and dry-fried. Try lucai fen topped with melt-in-the-mouth 'guoshao'.

• Rong and Shan lakes: free, lakeside paths
• Shan Lake: Sun and Moon Pagodas (copper Sun Pagoda, underwater passage)
• Rong Lake: the Old South Gate
• Lunch: Guilin rice noodles (lucai, sour soup, sanxian, dry-fried), lucai fen with guoshao

Afternoon: Seven Star (Qixing) Scenic Area

The Seven Star Scenic Area is on the east bank of the Li River, 1.5 km from the city center. Named for seven peaks arranged like the Big Dipper, it covers 137.4 hectares and was among China's first national 4A scenic areas.

Here you'll find Seven Star Cave, the 'first cave under heaven' favored by Xu Xiake, Flower Bridge (Huaqiao, Guilin's oldest multi-arch stone bridge), the Guihai Forest of Steles and Camel Hill. Entry is CNY 55, or CNY 100 for a combo ticket with Seven Star Cave. Check official info for opening hours.

Wild monkeys roam the area. Don't tease them, meet their eyes or take close-up photos; walk around them. Pets are not allowed.

• Entry CNY 55 / combo with Seven Star Cave CNY 100
• Highlights: Seven Star Cave, Flower Bridge, Guihai Forest of Steles, Camel Hill
• Wild monkeys: don't tease them, keep your distance
• No pets

Evening: the Two Rivers and Four Lakes night cruise

The Two Rivers and Four Lakes is the city-center waterway linking the Li and Taohua rivers with Rong, Shan, Gui and Mulong lakes. The night cruise takes about 80-90 minutes past illuminated Elephant Trunk, Fubo and Diecai hills, so you see the hill you walked in the morning again from the water.

Fares are CNY 210 for adults and CNY 105 for children 1.2-1.49 m. Child fares changed on April 1, 2026: under 1 year free (no seat), and age 1 and over but under 1.2 m CNY 60 at night. The cruise runs 18:00-23:00 in peak season and 19:00-21:30 off-season.

After booking, call customer service on the day to confirm the departure time and pier. Swap your booking for a paper ticket at the pier at least 20 minutes before departure and show the original ID (passport) used to book. Refunds are free up to 3 hours before departure and 50% after that until departure. Seats sell out on holidays such as National Day, so book 1-2 days ahead.

• Duration: about 80-90 minutes
• Fares: adults CNY 210, children 1.2-1.49 m CNY 105, age 1 to under 1.2 m CNY 60, under 1 free (no seat)
• Hours: peak season 18:00-23:00, off-season 19:00-21:30
• Call customer service on the day to confirm time and pier; get your paper ticket 20 minutes before
• By day instead: the Four Lakes cruise, about 60 minutes, adults CNY 80

Checklist before you go

Your passport is the key to this day: both the Elephant Trunk Hill real-name booking and the cruise ticket swap need your ID.

Some foreign apps and services may be restricted in China. Sort out your connection (roaming, eSIM, etc.), a Chinese map app, and Alipay or WeChat Pay before you travel. Visa rules, including visa-free entry, change often, so check the latest official information.

Official fares and operating details for the Li River cruise to Yangshuo, Reed Flute Cave and the Longji (Longsheng) rice terraces could not be verified for the guide. If you want to add them, check official information before you go.

• Passport (Elephant Trunk Hill booking, cruise ticket swap)
• Book Elephant Trunk Hill ahead
• Call cruise customer service on the day
• Connection, a Chinese map app, Alipay/WeChat Pay
• Visa rules: check official info

• Full Guilin travel guide →
• eSIM vs pocket Wi-Fi vs roaming →
• China's cities compared: Beijing, Shanghai or Qingdao →

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