Guilin, China
Take a 20 yuan note out of your pocket and look at the back of it. That view is the Li River near Xingping, and you can go and stand in the exact spot. People do, constantly, holding the banknote up to compare.
The hills are karst: limestone towers left standing after the softer rock around them dissolved over millions of years. They rise straight out of flat farmland with nothing gradual about them.
The river
The Li River cruise from Guilin down to Yangshuo takes four to five hours and is the reason most people come. In low water season the big boats cannot run the full route and you go by bamboo raft on a shorter stretch instead, which is arguably better.
Yangshuo is where to base yourself rather than Guilin itself. Guilin is a normal Chinese city with hills in it. Yangshuo is a small town surrounded by them, and you can hire a bike and be among the karst peaks within ten minutes.
Also worth the trip:
- Longji rice terraces, about two hours north. Terraces cut into the hillsides since the Yuan dynasty, following the contours so exactly that from a distance they look like contour lines on a map. Best in May and June when they are flooded and reflect the sky, or September before the harvest.
- Xingping, the village at the banknote view, quieter than Yangshuo.
- Moon Hill, a natural arch you climb for a view over the valley.
Practical:
- Guilin has an airport and a high speed rail station, so it is easier to reach than its remoteness suggests.
- Summer is hot, humid and the wettest time. Autumn is the reliable season.