Historic city · Scenic area · Cultural centre · Guangxi
Guilin
桂林
Karst peaks and the Li River, “finest under heaven”
Guilin is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Guangxi, set among limestone tower peaks on the Li River. For most of the imperial period it was the capital of Guangxi. The river journey to Yangshuo, the Longji rice terraces and the Lingqu canal of 214 BCE lie within its territory, and its karst is part of the South China Karst World Heritage site.
Key facts
Overview
The city centre sits among isolated limestone hills — Elephant Trunk Hill, Solitary Beauty Peak, Folded Brocade Hill — on the banks of the Li River, with lakes and caves inside the urban area. Downstream the river winds for some eighty kilometres between karst towers to Yangshuo, the classic landscape of Chinese painting.
Guilin's position on the route from the Yangtze to Lingnan made it a political centre. The Ming princes of Jingjiang ruled from its palace, and during the war against Japan it became a refuge for writers, artists and publishers from occupied China.
Names and nicknames
桂林山水甲天下
“Guilin's landscape is the finest under heaven” — a Southern Song line that has become the city's motto.
History
The Qin built the Lingqu canal at Xing'an in 214 BCE and created Guilin commandery. Under the Tang, Guizhou (as Guilin was then called) was a regional seat, and officials and poets left inscriptions on its cliffs. From 1372 the Ming princes of Jingjiang lived here for nearly 280 years. Guilin was the provincial capital through the Qing and again from 1936 to 1949, and a wartime cultural centre from 1938 until its fall in 1944.
214 BCE
Lingqu canal
The canal at Xing'an joined the Xiang and Li rivers to supply the Qin armies in Lingnan; it remained in use for two thousand years.
Tang and Song
Cliff inscriptions
Officials carved poems and records into the hills; the “forest of steles” of Guilin holds some two thousand inscriptions.
1372–1650
Princes of Jingjiang
A branch of the Ming ruling house built the walled palace around Solitary Beauty Peak.
1938–1944
Wartime cultural city
Hundreds of writers, publishers and artists fled to Guilin, making it a centre of wartime culture until Japanese forces took it in 1944.
2014
World Heritage inscription
Guilin's karst was added to the South China Karst site.
Landmarks
Nature
Li River
漓江
The river between Guilin and Yangshuo, travelled by boat or bamboo raft past karst towers; the stretch near Xingping is the scene shown on the back of one of the renminbi banknotes.
Nature
Elephant Trunk Hill
象鼻山
A hill whose arch into the river resembles an elephant drinking; the emblem of the city.
Historic site
Jingjiang Princes' Palace and Solitary Beauty Peak
靖江王府·独秀峰
The Ming palace compound, later the examination hall of Guangxi, around a steep peak in the city centre.
Nature
Reed Flute Cave
芦笛岩
Limestone cave with ink inscriptions from the Tang onwards on its walls.
Nature
Longji Rice Terraces
龙脊梯田
Terraces climbing the mountains around Zhuang and Yao villages in Longsheng county.
Historic site
Lingqu Canal
灵渠
The Qin canal in Xing'an, with its stone weir dividing the Xiang.
Neighbourhoods
Yangshuo
阳朔
County town at the end of the Li River cruise, a base for cycling and climbing in the karst.
Two Rivers and Four Lakes
两江四湖
The ring of lakes and canals around the old city centre.
Food
Guilin rice noodles
桂林米粉
Rice noodles with braising brine, crisp roast pork, peanuts and pickles.
Beer fish
啤酒鱼
Li River carp braised in beer, the signature dish of Yangshuo.
Gongcheng oil tea
恭城油茶
Yao oil tea from Gongcheng, drunk with puffed rice and snacks.
Culture
Guilin's landscape shaped Chinese ideas of scenery for a thousand years; Tang and Song officials posted here compared its hills to jade hairpins and its river to a green silk sash. The cliff inscriptions around the city are a record of that tradition. The region's minority villages — Zhuang and Yao in Longsheng, Dong in Sanjiang — lie within easy reach.
江作青罗带，山如碧玉篸。Jiāng zuò qīng luó dài, shān rú bì yù zān.
“The river is a sash of green gauze; the hills are hairpins of blue-green jade.”
— Han Yu, “Seeing Off Grand Master Yan to Guizhou” (送桂州严大夫), 9th century
Getting around
- Guilin North and Guilin West are the main high-speed stations, with lines to Guangzhou, Changsha, Guiyang and Nanning; Yangshuo has its own station on the Guiyang–Guangzhou line.
- Guilin Liangjiang International Airport is south-west of the city.
- Li River cruises leave from wharves south of the city for Yangshuo; shorter raft trips run from Xingping and on the Yulong River.
Day trips
Xingping
兴坪古镇
Old river town among some of the finest scenery of the Li River.
Daxu
大圩古镇
Riverside market town with a Ming stone bridge.
Chengyang Bridge
程阳风雨桥
The Dong wind-and-rain bridge in Sanjiang county, north-west of Guilin.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Guilin Municipal People's Government — Guilin Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- South China Karst — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Guilin — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More cities in Guangxi
- Nanning南宁Capital · Border city · Cultural centreGreen City on the Yong River, gateway to South-East Asia
- Liuzhou柳州Industrial centre · Historic city · Cultural centreIndustrial city in a bend of the Liu River, home of luosifen
- Beihai北海Port · Historic city · Scenic areaGulf of Tonkin port of pearls, arcades and Weizhou Island
- Chongzuo崇左Border city · Historic city · Scenic areaZhuang borderland of the Huashan cliff paintings and Detian falls
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