What many people may not know is that there is more than just the Great Wall and temples to see here. From beaches and mountains to stunning waterfalls and unique minority cultures, there’s a lot to check off on your China bucket list!

I’ve made this quiz to help give you some ideas of where to travel! Whether you’re a first-time traveler in China or have already been before, choose what kind of experience you’re looking for in China to see which province or locations you should travel to!

Take my Buzzfeed Quiz:

Where Should You Travel in China?

To see all of my answers and learn more, keep reading below! I’ve broken my answers down into different categories based on foods, activities, and landscapes of China.

**Note: It’s hard to include everything – there are too many amazing places in China and I could not include them all in this quiz! Also these are just some ideas of places to go, and the quiz result may not actually reflect where you should travel

Top Places to Travel in China

1. The Most Famous and Traditional Sites in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, or Xi’an
2. The Spicy West: Sichuan Province or Chongqing
3. Southern Karst Mountains: Guangxi or Guizhou Province
4. Explore Cantonese Culture: Guangdong Province
5. Hike One Of China’s Most Stunning Mountains
6. Coastal City in China: Sanya, Qingdao, or Xiamen
7. Explore China’s Minority Groups and Outer Provinces: Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, or Yunnan
8. Unique China Experience!

1. The Most Famous and Traditional Sites in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, or Xi’an

2. The Spicy West: Sichuan Province or Chongqing

3. Southern Karst Mountains: Guangxi or Guizhou Province

4. Explore Cantonese Culture: Guangdong Province

5. Hike One Of China’s Most Stunning Mountains

6. Coastal City in China: Sanya, Qingdao, or Xiamen

7. Explore China’s Minority Groups and Outer Provinces: Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, or Yunnan

8. Unique China Experience!

Where To Travel In China

No matter where you travel in China, you’re sure to be amazed by the incredible people and places you encounter here. If it’s your first time visiting China, check out my 10 Tips For Your First Trip to China!

Also read about some of my other favorite trips I’ve taken in China:

• Furong Ancient Town: The Magical Waterfall Village of Hunan, China
• A Three Day Itinerary for Hiking Huangshan
• The Best Instagram Spots in Beijing

It’s easy to fall in love with Yangshuo – even if it’s more crowded and touristy now, the charm and beauty remain the same. The mountain and river scenery are gorgeous and there are so many different ways to see it – biking, hiking, rafting, paragliding, helicoptering!

If you only have a few days to spend in Yangshuo don’t worry! You’ll still have plenty of time to see and do a lot.  Here’s my second trip to Yangshuo, a mixture of trying new things in a familiar place.

Biking

There’s a popular bike path I did last time that we returned to – it takes you along the Li River and you can go past it to a place called Moon Hill. We passed Moon Hill without realizing it, got lost, took some bomb photos, biked almost 30 km, and made some Chinese friends. Totally worth it.

BAMBOO RAFTING ON THE LI RIVER

There are lots of options for taking a boat out on the Li River – you can take a boat from Guilin to Yangshuo, or do a smaller part of the river from Xing Ping to Yangshuo. We booked tickets with our hostel – for 20 RMB each we could buy a bus ticket from Yangshuo to Xing Ping and back again, and the boat ride cost us around 90 RMB (price varies depending on where you buy your ticket). The bus ride took 40 minutes, and once we got there they sorted us into little bamboo rafts with 3-4 people on each boat.

HIKING TV TOWER MOUNTAIN

I’ve heard of several hikes in Yangshuo but wanted to go back to the mountain I climbed last year because the view is amazing and doesn’t take too long! TV Tower Mountain is a little hard to find. I hiked it last year but couldn’t remember the way because it’s hidden behind some little streets and houses.

I asked for help from our hostel and here’s what you do: Find the Li River Hotel and walk the alleyway next to it, don’t go into people’s houses, find the stairs up that will eventually become a real trail and you’ll know you’re on the right path. It takes about 45 minutes of solid hiking up stairs until you reach the top.

There’s a little old man and woman who live at the top and I remember last year they have to open a gate for you (and you may have to bribe them). On the way up we passed others who said they tried getting past the gate but no one answered. That was a little discouraging but we decided to try anyway. We shouted hello at the top and the old man popped his head out, dressed only in his underwear. “Shi kuai” he said (10 RMB) and we were like yeah okay. A cheap price for a good view! If I go again I have to do it at sunrise or sunset though.

*Note! If you are wanting to try the TV Tower Mountain hike it might be good to ask some locals if you can still go up past the gate. Others have told me recently no one was let in.

WEST STREET (XI JIE)

Shopping, Restaurants, Bars – everything is here. We ate beer fish (the special local food), Micah made some friends, we tried some pizza and eggplant, and wandered around looking for the best place to hang.

Tuesday October 3

• 7:12am – High speed train from GZ south to Guilin North station
• 10:30 am – Arrive and Book ticket with private company at train station to Yangshuo (We thought we’d be riding a bus, but we paid 50RMB each for a private driver)
• 12:30pm – Arrive in Yangshuo, check into The Hidden House Hostel near West Street
• 2 – 5:30pm – Biking around Yangshuo
• 7pm – West Street and Beer fish

Wednesday October 4

• 7am – 11 am – Bus to Xing Ping, Rafting, and back again
• 1pm – 4pm Hiking
• 7 pm – West Street

Thursday October 5

• 12pm – Check out and bus to Guilin (35 RMB)
• 2:30 – Bus 100 to North train station
  

Friday October 6

• 7:35am – Train from Guilin North to Guangzhou South
  

Yangshuo is one of my favorite places in China! There are so many ways you can enjoy the beautiful scenery here. 

Have you been to Yangshuo? What’s your favorite thing you did there?

***ALSO: Special thanks to the FRM crew for being the first friends to visit me in CHINA! And shout out to THE Micah Bartz, my most faithful blog follower and loyal friend who has kept up with my Chinese adventures these last two years and who has heard me repeat Chinese phrases like “wow” and “it doesn’t matter” a million times.

Four days is not nearly enough time in Guilin, but we still were able to get a great taste of what the city has to offer! Here are 5 of my favorite things we did:

1. Rent a Bicycle

You can find lots of bike rental shops up and down the main street in Yangshuo, and for just 10 RMB you can rent one for several hours. Our hostel recommended a route near the river that we should ride on. He told us the loop would take about 2 hours in total. It actually took us closer to 2 and a half, but that could be because we stopped to buy bamboo hats and take lots of pictures. It was SO beautiful and relaxing!

2. Ride a Bamboo Raft on the Li River

On the back of the 20 RMB note you’ll find a beautiful picture of mountains and a river – that famous site is near a little place called Xing Ping on the Li River. One of our main goals for the trip was to see this site.

There are lots of options for taking a boat out on the Li River – you can take a boat from Guilin to Yangshuo, or do a smaller part of the river from Xing Ping to Yangshuo. We booked tickets with our hostel – for 20 RMB each we could buy a bus ticket from Yangshuo to Xing Ping and back again, and the boat ride cost us 90 RMB. The bus took 40 minutes, and once we got there they sorted us into little bamboo rafts with 3-4 people on each boat.

The boat ride lasted around 50 minutes, and even though it was drizzling during our ride, the mountain and river views were amazing.

3. Hike a Mountain

There are lots of mountains surrounding Yangshuo (in case you missed it from the pictures). There are trails leading up many of these mountains, and I read about one particular hike that had a fantastic view overlooking the city and wouldn’t take too long to do. On Saturday afternoon, Brittany, Drew, and I set out for the TV Tower mountain.

If I hadn’t read about this hike and asked someone about it, I’d have never found the entrance to the mountain trail. The start of the trail is down a random street and hidden behind several alleyways. Eventually it leads you to stairs – lots and lots of stairs leading up and around the mountain. I’ve never sweat so much in my life and it felt like we were in a tropical jungle, but after 40 minutes we reached the top.A little old Chinese lady lives at the top of the mountain and charges you 10 RMB to go past her gate and see the views (worth it!) and she gives you a bottle of water for it.

4. Try the Beer Fish and Rice Noodles

Each province in China has it’s own unique style of cooking. The Guangxi province is a mixture of the surrounding areas, taking some lightness and sweetness from the neighboring Guangdong province and a little of the spiciness from the nearby Sichuan and Hunan provinces. My student told me the Rice noodles in Guilin are very famous, so we ate them for lunch one day before catching a bus to Yangshuo. Rice noodles aren’t normally my favorite thing to eat, but this place let you add your own spices to it and we all really liked it!

Another specialty, and by far the most popular dish in Yangshuo, is the beer fish. I heard about this before we went and saw pictures of it and wasn’t quite impressed – I’m not normally a big fish eating person either. BUT. It was the best fish I’ve ever had in China. No joke.

Lastly, the Dragon Boat Festival is famous for its special food Zongzi, which is rice and other fillings like meat and beans put together in a special wrapper. Our hostel had a Zongzi making event that my student Emily tried, and we got to eat some of the Zongzi they made. It’s not my favorite Chinese food, but it’s great to experience all of the Chinese holiday traditions.

5. Visit West Street

Many Chinese cities have famous pedestrian streets and night markets. Beijing has Wangfujing Street, Hangzhou has Hefang Street, Shanghai has Nanjing Street, and Yangshuo has West Street. After visiting the pedestrian streets in those cities this past Spring Festival, we’ve learned that most of the streets offer similar things – souvenir shops, funky street food, bars and clubs, and lots and lots of people. Still, I love visiting these streets, watching people and seeing what’s different about it from other places in China.

So our exact itinerary, if you’re curious, went like this: (If you don’t care you can skip this, you won’t hurt my feelings)

Thursday, June 9

• 1:15pm: Train from Hengyang to Guilin North Train Station
• 4:45pm: Arrive in Guilin, take bus 100 for 25 minutes to the Ming Palace Hostel

Friday, June 10

• Take bus 99 from our hostel to the Guilin bus station and buy a ticket to Yangshuo for 25RMB
• 12:10pm: Bus travel 1 hour and 45 minutes to Yangshuo
• 3pm: Check into the Lazy People’s Hostel in Yangshuo
• 4pm: Rent bicycles
• 7:30pm: Beer fish for dinner
• 9pm: West Street

Saturday June 11

• 8am: Bus leaves for Xing Ping bamboo rafting
• 8:50am: Arrive in Xing Ping and go rafting
• 11am: Bus goes back to Yangshuo
• 12pm: Lunch
• 2-2:45pm: Hike up TV Mountain
• 4:15pm: Check out of hostel
• 5:50pm: Bus back to Guilin and check back in to Ming Palace Hostel

Sunday June 12

• 8am: Breakfast and chill in the hostel
• 12:15pm: Bus 100 back to the Guilin North Train Station
• 2:00pm: Train leaves for Hengyang
• 5:00pm: Arrive in Hengyang

My Chinese student Emily asked to join us on our trip to Guilin. I really could write a whole blog post about what traveling with a Chinese person was like, but maybe I’ll save that for another time. Some big cities in China are pretty easy to navigate without a Chinese translator, but it makes life so much easier when you have someone right there with you to ask other Chinese people questions or order food at new restaurants. It was also really funny to see how excited she got at experiencing her own country; I’m pretty she was more excited than we were, and that’s saying something.

I really want to travel back to Guilin and see more! Some other cool things you can see there: Longsheng Rice Terrace, the Sun and Moon Pagodas, and some cool caves. Maybe next time I’ll have a chance to see more!

Until the next adventure,

Rachel