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Guilin and Lijiang are two popular tour destinations in China, and also two beautiful places to visit in China, but they are much different from each other. Here we make a complete contrast of Guilin and Lijiang for several aspects, location & transportation, highlights & best places to visit, best time to visit & weather, things to do, and tour days & itineraries, to provide you help in making your China trip plan.
| Guilin | Lijiang | |
| Location | Guangxi province, close to Guangzhou, Nanning | Yunnan province, close to Kunming, Dali |
| Best time to visit | from April to November | all year round |
| Best places to visit |
Li River, Yangshuo scenery Longji Rice Terrace Elephant Trunk Hill Two Rivers and Four Lakes Reed Flute Cave |
Lijiang Old Town Jade Snow Mountai Tiger Leaping Gorge Lugu Lake Ancient Tea Horse Road |
| Show | Impression Liu Sanjie | Impression Lijiang |
| Tour days | 3-5 days | 2-5 days |
► Choose Guilin over Lijiang
(Li River)
► Choose Lijiang over Guilin
(Jade Dragon Snow Mountain)
► Guilin locaton. Guilin is a small tourist city in Guangxi Province, close to Guangzhou, Zhangjiajie and Nanning.
► Guilin transportation:
How to get to Guilin? Guilin has 2 railway stations and 1 international airport, and tourists could get to Guilin by train or by flight from anywhere in China. Tourists usually fly to Guilin from places like Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xian, Chengdu, Hong Kong, and take train to Guilin from places like Guangzhou, Nanning, and Guiyang.
How to get to Yangshuo from Guilin?
► Lijiang location. Lijiang is located in Yunnan province, close to Kunming, Dali, and Chengdu. Lijiang has 1 railway station and airport available to tourists who can get to Lijiang from any place in China.
► Lijiang transportation:
How to get to Lijiang? Generally speaking, tourists would like to fly to Lijiang from places like Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guilin, and Kunming, and take train to Lijiang from places like Kunming and Dali.
► Highlights of Guilin tour: river, mountain, cave, lake, rice terrace, countryside sightseeing.
► Best places to visit in Guilin: Li River, Yangshuo scenery, Longji Rice Terrace, Elephant Trunk Hill, Two Rivers and Four Lakes, Reed Flute Cave.
(Longji Rice Terrace)
Li River is the most essential part of Guilin tour and Guilin scenery, and the best part of Li River with attractive scenery is from Guilin to Yangshuo. Li River Cruise is also from Guilin to Yangshuo, and it takes about 4.5 hours for the whole cruise.
Yangshuo scenery consists of several parts, and the interesting ones are Yangshuo West Street, Yulong River bamboo raft, Ten-mile Gallery, and countryside sightseeing by bike. In Yangshuo, you could join activities like hiking, rock climbing, river cruise, camping, and study courses like Chinese calligraphy.
Longji Rice Terrace is famous for its grand man-made rice terraces, and ethnic culture. Longji Rice Terraces is gorgeous in four seasons, especially in Autumn.
Elephant Trunk Hill, Two Rivers and Four Lakes, & Reed Flute Cave. The former two are landmarksof Guilin, located in Guilin downtown and easily accessible. Elephant Trunk Hill is renowned for its shape and good places to climb mountain. Two Rivers and Four Lakes are well known for its night scenery and boat cruise. While Reed Flute Cave is the famous place to watch splendid nature-made stalactites.
► Highlights of Lijiang tour: snow mountain, old town, river and lake.
► Best places to visit in Lijiang: Lijiang Old Town, Jade Snow Mountai, Tiger Leaping Gorge & Lugu Lake, Ancient Tea Horse Road.
(Tiger Leaping Gorge)
Lijiang Old Town is the essential of Lijiang tour, where you could visit old houses, and hang around those old streets, and enjoy a leisure tour. It also has many stores, and you could eat local food and snacks, and buy local goods.
Jade Snow Mountain is attractive to most travelers, where you could take cable car to the place at a height over 4,000 meters, and climb snow mountains, and see glaciers on the top, while see lakes and meadows on the foot, and also watch show.
Tiger Leaping Gorge is the best place for hiking in Yunnan, and the river roars through deep and steep gorge, with beautiful scenery along the two sides. Tourists could have a 2 days hiking in here. Lugu Lake is a crystal blue lake, with captivating views, but it is a bit far away from Lijiang downtown, about 3.5 hours of driving.
(Yangshuo West Street)
► Best time to visit Guilin: from April to November.
Guilin is in the south of China, and it has great sceneries from April to November. April and May are the golden time for Li River cruise, and September and October for Longji Rice Terrace.
► Guilin weather. Guilin has hot summer and a bit cold winter. From April to November, Guilin is in warm time, and its hot days are in June, July, and August, with the highest temperature around 30 ℃-35 ℃. It enters a winter time with the temperature falling to 15 ℃ in December , and around 0 ℃ in January. Guilin has many rain days, with light rainy days in spring and winter, and heavy rainy days in summer.
► Best time to visit Lijiang: all year round.
Tourists could visit Lijiang at anytime you like, and there are always something for you, like Lijiang Old Town. The best time to visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is from November to March, and April-October are for Tiger Leaping Gorge, and March-October for Lugu Lake.
► Lijiang weather. Lijiang has warm weather all year round, with the highest temperature between 25 ℃-30 ℃ in summer, and the lowest temperature around 0 ℃, but it has strong sunlight due to its location on a plateau. Lijiang has a rainy season in July, August and September, at this time, tourists should protect your from troubles may caught by heavy rains.
► Top things to do in Lijiang
(Lijiang Old Town)
► Guilin tour Days: 3-5 days.
(Elephant Trunk Hill)
Guilin tour is comprised of 4 essential parts, 1-2 days tour to Longji Rice Terrace, 1-2 days tour in Guilin downtown to places like Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Cave, 1 days Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, and 1-2 days tour in Yangshuo.
4 Days Best Guilin tour to Yangshuo and Longji Terraces
► Don't Miss: Li River is the most essential part of Guilin tour, and Li River Cruise is always put on the must-do list.
► Guilin tour itinerary:
► Lijiang tour days: 2-5 days.
Lijiang tour consists of 4 parts, 1 day tour to Lijiang Old Town + Ancient Tea Horse Road/Yufeng Temple, 1 day tour to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, 1-2 days tour to Tiger Leaping Gorge, 1 day tour to Lugu Lake.
3 Days Best Lijiang Tour
► Don't Miss: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, especially visiting Lijiang in winter.
► Lijiang tour itinerary:
Here we also recommend you 2 great China tours:
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