Guangxi

As big cities go Guilin is rather attractive. In the center, near the walking street, the Li River runs through the city and bringing the world-famous limestone scenery right to the heart of Guilin. Notable sights include one of the most famous of all the limestone hills, Elephant Trunk Hill, the beautiful Reed Flute Cave and Seven Star Hill. These are all worth a visit should you find yourself in Guilin.

South of Guilin, on the banks of the Li River, lies the once-sleepy fishing village of Yangshuo, which is now a booming tourist town due to its fantastic location in the best part of the hundreds of square kilometers of limestone hill scenery. Yangshuo's West Street is a charming collection of outdoor cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops. Outside town sights such as Moon Hill, the Yulong River, and the landscape of rice paddies being tilled by farmers and water buffalo, with the majestic limestone hills as a backdrop, all vie for your attention. It is spectacular. Do not cheat yourself from the experience of seeing the Impression Show, instructed by famous movie director and creator of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony Zhang Yimou. Around 600 performers take the stage in this incredible show that takes place every night throughout the year. Near Yangshuo more and more villages, all smaller and less developed than Yangshuo, also makes for excellent destinations. Puyi, Yucun, Shacun and more are all attractive, while pretty Dahebei even has good accommodation. Dahebei is across the river from Xingping, a somewhat larger town with a nice Old Street and a very small museum displaying locally found Qing Dynasty artefacts.

In the north part of the province the wonderful village of Ping'an lies in the middle of the stunning Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces. The terraces was dug out in the course of hundreds of years and incredibly covers most of the mountainside. There are a bunch of good hostels and small hotels in the village, and many other villages that you can hike to from Ping'an. Also up here in the mountains you'll find the likewise very charming Chengyang Village with a massive Dong Minority Wind-and-Rain Bridge as the gateway into the village. Wangtian Village on the main road is not much, but has a very nice Daoist Temple.