China’s Great Landscapes: Zhangjiajie, Guilin and Yangshuo in 10 Days

Fly into Zhangjiajie Hehua airport, where your guide and driver meet you. Drive about 45 minutes to Wulingyuan, the small town at the main entrance to the national park, and check in to your hotel. After a rest, take an easy walk around town, and your guide will explain the plan for the next days, including the best order to visit the park's viewpoints to avoid the crowds. The evening is free.Overnight: Zhangjiajie

Enter Zhangjiajie National Forest Park early. Ride the glass-sided Bailong Elevator up the cliff face, then walk the paths of Yuanjiajie, where stone pillars rise hundreds of meters from the valley floor. The most famous, now named Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, stands beside the First Bridge Under Heaven, a natural stone arch. Eco buses take you on to Tianzi Mountain for wide views over the peak forest, and a cable car brings you back down at the end of the day.Overnight: Zhangjiajie · Meals: B, L

Today follows the valley floor. Walk the Golden Whip Stream trail, an easy, mostly flat path of about seven kilometers beside clear water, with sandstone towers rising on both sides and macaques often watching from the trees. In the afternoon, take the cable car up to Huangshi Village, a high plateau with viewpoints over some of the park's most dramatic formations. Return to your hotel in Wulingyuan for a quiet evening.Overnight: Zhangjiajie · Meals: B, L

Drive to Zhangjiajie city and board the Tianmen Mountain cable car, which climbs more than 1,200 meters over roughly half an hour. At the top, walk the cliffside paths, including short glass-floored sections for those who wish, and visit the Tianmen Mountain Temple. Then descend by bus along the winding road known for its 99 bends to Tianmen Cave, a huge natural arch in the mountain, reached by stairs and escalators. Check in to your hotel in the city.Overnight: Zhangjiajie · Meals: B, L

After breakfast, travel to Guilin by flight or high-speed train, with routing confirmed at booking according to the current schedules. Your Guilin guide meets you on arrival. In the afternoon, visit Reed Flute Cave, whose limestone chambers are lit in color, and walk along the Li River to the great rock arch at the water's edge that has become the symbol of the city. In the evening, stroll around the central lakes to see the Sun and Moon pagodas lit up.Overnight: Guilin · Meals: B

Drive about two hours north into the hills of Longsheng to the Longji rice terraces, carved into the slopes over several centuries by Zhuang and Yao farmers. Walk up through Ping'an village, with its wooden stilt houses, to viewpoints such as Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers. Have lunch in a village restaurant and, if time allows, visit a Yao village known for the women's very long hair. Return to Guilin in the late afternoon.Overnight: Guilin · Meals: B, L

Board a boat south of Guilin for the cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo, around four hours. The river passes between karst peaks with names such as Nine Horses Fresco Hill, past water buffalo, bamboo groves and fishermen on narrow rafts. Lunch is served on board. On arrival, your driver takes you to your hotel in the countryside outside Yangshuo. In the evening, explore West Street and the riverbank in town.Overnight: Yangshuo · Meals: B, L

Take a bamboo raft along the gentle Yulong River, where a boatman poles you past fields and small weirs. Later, cycle or walk on quiet lanes through villages and orchards to Moon Hill, a peak with a large natural arch near its top. Climbing the steps to the arch takes about 30 minutes and rewards you with a wide view. The rest of the afternoon is free to relax at your hotel or join a local cooking class, an optional extra.Overnight: Yangshuo · Meals: B, L

Drive about 40 minutes to Xingping, a small riverside town with old stone streets and wooden houses. Walk down to the riverbank to see the bend of the Li River printed on the back of the 20-yuan banknote, and take a short boat ride on this beautiful stretch. Fit travelers can climb a steep trail to a hilltop viewpoint over the river. Have lunch in town, then return to Yangshuo for a free afternoon and a final evening in the countryside.Overnight: Yangshuo · Meals: B, L

After breakfast, your driver takes you to Guilin airport, about 90 minutes, or to Yangshuo station for a high-speed train to Guangzhou or Hong Kong. From here it is easy to continue to Shanghai, Beijing or Hanoi, so this route also works as the scenic half of a longer trip through China and Vietnam. We can plan the onward journey for you.Meals: B