Morning — Reed Flute Cave
Reed Flute Cave takes its name from the reeds that grow at its mouth and were once cut to make flutes. Inside, a lit walkway runs through chamber after chamber of stalactites, stalagmites, stone columns and flowstone curtains, coloured by the lamps that have been installed since the cave was opened to visitors. Wall inscriptions left by travellers in earlier centuries survive in places. Your guide explains how the cave formed — rainwater charged with carbon dioxide dissolving the limestone along its joints — and how slowly the formations actually grow.
Late morning — Elephant Hill
Elephant Hill is the city's emblem: a limestone hill whose lower end has been cut through by the river so that the arch reads as an elephant's trunk dipping into the water, with a pagoda on its back. The hill sits at the meeting of the Li and the Peach Blossom River, and the short climb to the top gives the view that explains why a city grew here at all. Your guide covers the legend as well as the geology.
Lunch
A Guilin restaurant near the city centre: rice noodles in the local style, river fish, and seasonal greens.
Afternoon — the city lakes
A walk around the Fir and Banyan lakes in the middle of the city, past the Sun and Moon Pagodas, and through the older lanes behind them. This is the part of Guilin that residents actually use in the evening, and it is a reasonable place to see how the city fits between its rivers and its hills.
Evening — Two Rivers and Four Lakes night cruise
The evening is a boat trip on the connected water system of the city: the Li and Peach Blossom rivers and the Banyan, Fir, Osmanthus and Mulong lakes. The route passes lit bridges, pagodas and the city walls, and the effect depends almost entirely on the lighting, which is the reason to do it after dark rather than during the day.
Meals
Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation
Day tour - no hotel night included.
