Yangshuo is a small town at the end of the famous Li River cruise from Guilin, set among some of the most dramatic karst scenery in China. The limestone peaks rise almost vertically out of the flat valley floor all around the town, and the countryside between them — rice paddies, bamboo groves, small farming villages — is as beautiful as anything in the region. Most travellers arrive by boat and never quite manage to leave on schedule.
The town itself runs on tourism, and the main street (West Street, or Xi Jie) is a well-worn strip of cafés, guesthouses, and souvenir shops that has been catering to backpackers since the 1980s. Step a block or two off it and things get quieter. The best way to see the area is by bicycle: rent one in town and ride out through the paddies toward Moon Hill, a natural limestone arch visible from a distance, or follow the Yulong River upstream to watch bamboo raft polers navigate the shallow water. If you want to linger on the river yourself, you can hire a raft by the hour. In the evenings, the outdoor Impression Sanjie Liu performance uses the Li River and its karst backdrop as a stage — a spectacle worth seeing at least once.
Use Yangshuo as your base rather than Guilin if you can — it is smaller, cheaper, and immediately surrounded by the scenery that brings everyone here in the first place. Book accommodation ahead during Chinese national holidays in October, when the whole area fills up fast.