Congree City Restaurant

The Congee City Restaurant is perfectly located at one end of the pedestrian street in downtown Guilin, facing the beautiful Shahu Lake and the Sun and Mon Pagodas. The two-level restaurant has around 330 seats including 10 private rooms, uniquely furnished by rattan furniture and traditional wooden carvings. Decorated by the historical photos of the old Guilin city, the customers can virtually tour the city's history of development in addition to the dinning experience. The foods serviced are mainly of Hunan and local cuisines feature strong taste with use of chili source. The rice congees (Chinese style porridges) are the yummy must-tries.
English menu is provided. 

Address: 3 North Shahu Road, Guilin, Guangxi, China

Good Luck Restaurant

Located on the pedestrian street in downtown Guilin, the Good luck Restaurant is one of the busiest and finest restaurants in Guilin. The level-one dining hall contains approximately 230 seats. There are totally 24 private dining rooms on the level two ranging from 8 seats to 16 seats. The imperial Chinese décor, in-room landscapes, and performance stage provide customers delightful eating experiences. The restaurant mainly serves Cantonese and local cuisines.
English menu is provided.

Address: 10 Zhengyang Pedestrian Street, Guilin, Guangxi, China

Guilin Taste Made Restaurant

This is an elegantly decorated upper-class modern restaurant serving a good range of Chinese cuisines. The level one dining hall contains approximately 300 seats. There are 28 private rooms on the level two ranging form 8 to 24 seats, including 8 deluxe dining rooms.
English menu is provided.

Address: 19 East Lijiang Road, Guilin, Guangxi, China

Jim's Cafe Bar

Located on the famous west street of Yangshuo, Jimmy's Café & Bar is a unique small restaurant with approximately 50 seats. Well mixed the western and local ethnic cultural elements in its décor, the restaurant provides its customers a cozy and relaxing ambience. Jimmy's Café & Bar has created a niche among Yangshuo restaurants, serving Mexican, Italian, and local dishes.
English menu is provided.Waiters speak English.

Address:101 West Street, Yangshuo, Guangxi, China

Left Bank Cafe

As a first class restaurant, Left Bank Café is famed for its fine western dishes. The executive chef and the restaurant manager are highly experienced with over 11 years involvement in deluxe catering services including successful service experience to Thai Princess, former Prime Minister of Japan, and former American President. In addition, Left Bank Café is the sole supplier of the Guilin Tourism Co. LTD, in providing western lunch on Li River Cruise.
Ideally located on the west bank of the Li River, Left Bank Café offers an exiting dining experience with river view surrounding. 130 comfortable seats with elegant atmosphere, tempered by a relaxing style within an inviting décor. Food includes a combination of Western and Asian cuisines all freshly prepared. With style and personality, this restaurant is popular among locals as well as tourists.
English menu is provided.

Address: 18 Bin Jiang Road, Guilin, Guangxi, China

Mei You Cafek

Mei You Café opens two restaurants on the West street. In Yangshuo, Mei You Café is extremely busy, extremely popular, and extremely famous. Mei You Café is famed for its uniqueness, fine food, and ethical business practices. "Mei You" in Chinese means "there is no" or "do not have". Mei You Café boasts its "Mei You" philosophy by claiming "Mei You" bad service, bad food, high price, warm beer, and other undesirable things that customers may concern. As promised, in a Mei You Café, the service is warm and the beer is really cold.
English menu is provided.

Address: West Street, Yangshuo, Guangxi, China

Yi Yuan Restaurant

YiYuan opens two restaurants in Guilin. The one on the Wenming road in the city center contains around 130 seats including 2 private rooms. Another one located on the Qixing road close to the Seven Star Park has approximately 350 seats including 6 private rooms. As one of Guilin's oldest restaurants specialized in Sichuan cuisine, Yiyuan is famed among locals.
English menu is provided.

Address1: Wenming Road, Guilin, Guangxi, China
Address2: Qixing Road, Guilin, Guangxi, Chin

Guilin Rice Noodles

Guilin rice noodles are dressed in gravy ate with fried peanuts or soybeans, finely chopped spring onions, and thin slices meats, among which horse meat is most traditionally used. You will find an infinite variety of Guilin rice noodles which has been the local breakfast staple since the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911 AD) and is renowned for its delicate taste. Legend has it that when Qing troops entered this region, many soldiers suffered from diarrhea because their stomachs did not agree with the local food, a creative cook thus invented the Guilin rice noodles and saved the army.

Yangshuo Beer Fish

Beer fish is fish cooked in beer, which is the most famous Yangshuo dish. Using fresh unpolluted fish captured from the Li river cooked in beer with some local vegetables, the dish is a must try for all visitors of Yangshuo.

Oil Tea

Zhajiang mian is a northern Chinese dish consisting of thick wheat noodles topped with a mixture of stir-fried ground pork and cucumber with fermented soybean paste. Nicknamed as "Chinese spaghetti", Zhajiang mian has been popular throughout the country.

Impression Liu San Jie

This large-scale performance expresses the beautiful scenery of the Li River，the colorful culture of the ethnic groups in Guangxi and the brave imagination of the excellent artists in China，it is the first of its kind the word with 600 plus actors and actress involved. The performance regards the lmpressional Sanjie Liu as the general theme, and creatively combines the ciassical Sanjie Liu's Songs, ethnic groups’ culture and the fishing lights together, to refect the harmonious atmosphere between human beings and the nature. Guide, Transfer and Admission included.

Guilin is one of the most picturesque places and ideal tourist destination in the world.

Abbreviation:
Coordinates: 25°2′N 110°2′E
Country: China
Mayor: Li Zhigang
Population: 4.76 million
Currency: Yuan (Renminbi)
Language: Guilin Dialect
Time Zone: China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Area: 4,195 square kilometers
Administrative Divisions: 7 county-level divisions with 5 city districts, 10 counties and 2 autonomous counties
Altitude: 140-160m
City Flower: Osmanthus flower
City Tree: Osmanthus
Main Rivers: Li River
Sister Cities： Nishikatsura Town, Hastings

Guilin Location

Guilin is located at 109°E longitude and 24°N latitude in northeastern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and on the west bank of Li River. It lies in a basin surrounded by the Yuecheng Range, Ocean Hill, Jiaqiao Range and Tianping Hill. See map of Guilin to view the exact location of Chengdu.

Guilin Districts

Guilin has totally five city districts, ten counties and two autonomous counties under its administration.

5 City Districts: Xiufeng District, Xiangshan District, Diecai District, Qixing District, Yanshan District

10 Counties: Lingui County, Yangshuo County, Lingchuan County, Xiang’an County, Quanzhou County, Yongfu County, Ziyuan County, Guangyang County, Pingle County, Lipu County

2 Autonomous Counties: Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County, Longsheng Autonomous County

Guilin Codes

Guilin Postal Code: Guilin zip codes range from 541000 to 541700. However, not all within the range are in use.

Guilin Area Code: Internal dialing code is 0773 while international telephone calling code is +0086-773.

Getting There and Away

By Air

Guilin Liangjiang International Airport is located in the western suburb of the city, approximately 28 kilometers away from the city center. There are 48 air routes connected to the Guilin International Airport. Cities with direct flights to Guilin are Fukuoka of Japan, Seoul of South Korea, Bangkok of Thailand, and major Chinese cities including Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu, Tianjin, Dalian, Hangzhou, Kunming, Haikou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhengzhou, Guiyang, Urumqi, Changsha, Zhuhai, Hefei, Wuhan, Ningbo, Nanning, Beihai, Shantou, Jinan, Wenzhou, and Huangshan.

Guilin has two railway stations: the Guilin Station (South Station) and Guilin North Station. Except for K181 and K182 running between Shanghai and Kunming that only stop at the Guilin North Station, other trains stop at both of the two stations. Although Guilin does not play an important role in China's railway transportation system, it is still convenient for passengers to travel to most major Chinese cities by train.

Express coach lines are available to most cities around Guilin, such as Nanning, Liuzhou, Changsha, Guangzhou, etc.

Getting Around

Taxis in Guilin

It is very convenient to go around in Guilin by taxi because taxis can be easily found everywhere in the city, and it is inexpensive. The starting rate of a Guilin taxi is 7 Chinese Yuan (1 USD) plus 1 Yuan for gas tax, and 2.4 Yuan per kilometer after 2 kilometers. 

Tips:

Climates and Weather

Guilin is located in the subtropical region, processes a mild climate with sufficient rainfall. The yearly average temperature in Guilin is 20°C (68°F). August is the hottest month with an average temperature at 28°C (82°F), while the coldest months are January and February with an average temperature at 8°C (46°F).

Guilin's rain season is March to June. The mountain and river sceneries become especially picturesque after rains,
however tourists are recommended to carry an umbrella or raincoat all time when visiting Guilin during the period. The water level of the Li River could be low during Decembers. A typical Li River cruise lasts for approximately 4 hours. However, a cruise in December could take up to 5 to 7 hours due to low water level. A normal Li River cruise starts from the Zhujiang pier of Guilin and ends at Yangshuo. In the case when water level is too low, the cruises will have to departure from the Yangti pier and end at Xingping village, or return from the Nine Horses Fresco Hill back to the Yangti pier. These two changed routes still include the most spectacular scenic spots along the Li River, however the tourists will have to take half hour drive from Yangti to reach Yangshuo through land.

It seldom snows in Guilin during winters. When it happens, normally in late January, the city turns into an amazing heavenly land.

Tourist Attractions

Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo

The Li River is extremely picturesque, described by ancient poets and artists as one hundred miles of Chinese ink landscape painting. Tourists are highly recommended to fully charge their camera's batteries, and make sure the memory cards have enough space for a big shooting event. The winds over the river are relatively strong. Tourists are recommended to wear a heavy jacket when go up to the deck during a Li River cruise.

Catering services are provided on most Li River cruise boats. However it may not be satisfactory for those who have high demands on the food quality. Choose the right boats for your clients. Our recommended option for the tourists is to have a good breakfast before taking a river cruise.The prices on the cruise boats are normally higher than what on land. In many cases, an escort is needed for most cruise boat staffs do not command good English. Waiters on the cruise boats may promote souvenirs to the tourists. Although the prices are negotiable, a better option for tourists is to shop on the west street after arrival in Yangshuo County.

A Li River cruise is normally scheduled to departure at around 9:00 am to 9:30 am. However, it may be changed during low water season. Tourists are recommended to double check the departure time on their cruise tickets. To charter a boat, booking is required one or two days in advance.

The walkways in the Reed Flute cave are mostly made up of stairs. Surfaces could be wet and slippery. The entrance and the exit of the cave are located differently. Tourists should follow the tour guide all time during the visit. There are two car parks in the Reed Flute cave park. The front car park is beside the main entrance of the Reed Flute cave park. It takes around 10 to 15 minutes walking from this car park to the cave entrance. Another car park is smaller, located closer to the cave entrance beside the side entrance of the Reed Flute cave park. Visitors are allowed to carry their own cameras into the cave.

Elephant Trunk Hill
The Elephant Trunk Hill is the symbol and the land mark of Guilin. Thus this place could be extremely crowded during peak season. Bamboo drafting is attractive to many tourists. However, it is not recommended to foreign tourists for safety concerns. Only chose the bamboo drafts with sufficient safety measures. The Elephant Trunk Hill Park opens between 7:00 am to 6:30 pm. To enter the park after business hours booking is required one day in advance (conditions apply).

Shopping in Guilin

The Guilin chili sauce, fermented bean curd, sān huā wine (a type of local rice wine), and xī guā shuāng (a type of local produced Chinese medicine efficient in curing moth ulcer, inflammation, and gums) are the famed four Guilin specialties. They are also called the Four Treasures of Guilin by the locals. They are sold in local supermarket and souvenir shops. Tourists can buy the famed He-Pu Pearls (a type of high quality sea pearls grown in the South China Sea) in Guilin at good prices because the pearl producer companies have set up affiliated shops in Guilin.

Guilin is also famous for its local hand crafts and landscape ink paintings. They are good souvenirs for tourists to buy. The real hand-made souvenirs are at expensive prices. A cheaper option is to buy machine manufactured crafts and machine printed landscape ink paintings.

The most popular shopping mall in Guilin is Niko Niko Do in the city center. KFC is on the ground level of the mall. A cinema is close by on the other side of the intersection. The pedestrian street is a popular shopping street with a good range of fine restaurants and bars. A section of the zhongshan road in Guilin turns into a night market after 7 pm. Tourists can find small gifts and abundant local snacks on this street. The west street in Yangshuo County is also called the foreigner street. It is a popular street for restaurants and bars, as well as souvenirs shopping.