Laozhai Hill: The Free Sunset Hike Above the Li River
Laozhai Hill is a free, undeveloped karst peak at the western edge of Xingping Ancient Town that puts you directly above the Li River’s first great bend. The summit is 300+ metres up,…
Damian Mountain: Hike Guide, Views & Getting There
Damian Mountain gives you the best view of the Li River’s famous 180-degree sickle bend — and most visitors to Xingping never cross the river to find it. The summit looks straight down…
Guilin Yao Mountain: Cable Car, Photo Spots & Visit Guide
Yao Mountain (Yaoshan) is the highest peak inside Guilin’s city limits, rising to 909.3 meters southeast of downtown. An 8-minute cable car ride takes you from the city edge to a summit panorama…
Ruyi Peak Yangshuo: Cable Car, Glass Bridge & Tickets
Ruyi Peak is the highest point in Yangshuo, and the only spot in the county you can reach by cable car instead of your own legs. We’ve been bringing groups up here since…
Qianli Jiangshan Tu: Yangshuo’s Free Sunset Viewpoint
Qianli Jiangshan Tu — “A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains” — is a free viewpoint on a karst hill in Putao Town, about 40 minutes from downtown Yangshuo. There’s no ticket gate…
Xianggong Mountain Guide: Tickets, Transport & Sunrise Tips
Xianggong Mountain is a 350-metre karst hill on the west bank of the Li River, between Yellow Cloth Shoal and Nine Horse Fresco Hill, and it’s the single best spot in the Guilin-Yangshuo…
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park: The Complete Visitor Guide
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a protected natural area in Hunan Province, China, covering 4,810 hectares of quartzite sandstone pillar formations rising up to 200 meters from a subtropical valley floor. Established in…
Zhangjiajie Seven Star Mountain (Qixing Mountain): An Honest Guide for Foreign Visitors
Seven Star Mountain (Qixing Mountain, 张家界七星山) sits just across the valley from Tianmen Mountain — and at 1,528 meters, it’s actually 10 meters taller. Most visitors to Zhangjiajie don’t know that yet. That…
Shizhongshan Grottoes at Shibaoshan: All in One Guide
Three months ago, we took a client couple from Germany to Shizhongshan Grottoes. They’d already visited Longmen and Yungang—two of China’s most famous Buddhist cave sites. But when they stood in front of…
Cangshan Cable Cars Guide: Gantong, Zhonghe & Ximatan
Cangshan Mountain has three cable cars operated by different companies. Each one reaches different elevations and accesses different parts of Jade Belt Road. Choosing the wrong cable car wastes money and limits what…
Avatar Mountains in Zhangjiajie: The Complete Guide to China’s Floating Peaks
First Things First The Avatar Mountains are specifically in Yuanjiajie, which is part of the larger Wulingyuan Scenic Area. We still remember the first time we stepped off the Bailong Elevator at dawn….
Tianzi Mountain in Zhangjiajie: The Complete Insider’s Guide
When we first stood on Tianzi Mountain’s summit at dawn, watching mist curl around thousands of sandstone pillars like fingers reaching toward heaven, we understood why locals call it “The Monarch of the…
