Travel in Guilin

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Best Time to Visit Guilin

As world-famous tourist destination in southern China, Guilin offers dramatic karst landscapes, crystal water and limestone caves. Boasting landmarks like Li River, Elephant Trunk Hill, Yangshuo countryside and Reed Flute Cave, there are plenty of things to do in Guilin. You can take the Li River Cruise to enjoy one of the most picturesque karst landform in southern China. You can also take photos with the mountain looking like elephant drinking water. Wonderful mountains provides sunrise and sunset opportunities like Xianggongshan Mountain, Yao Mountain. Yangshuo provides various outdoor adventures like cycling, hiking, mountain climbing and bamboo rafting.

As one of the top travel destinations in China, Guilin is suitable for travelling all year round, especially from April to October.

Characters of Guilin Climate

The most important thing to know about Guilin weather is that it can get very hot, humid, and it rains a lot! The average temperature for the year is 19.3 celcius with a July average temperature of 28.3 degrees. The average rainfall for the year is 1900 mm.
elephant trunk hill

Travel to Guilin in Spring

Spring (March to May) in Guilin is comfortable for tourists. Because during this moment, Guilin become warm and green during spring days.

Li River hiking : it is a good experience for hiking along the Li River from Yangdi to Xingping in a sunny day in Spring season.

Li River cruise: if you are travel in a misty day, the best choice will be Li River cruise. The most beautiful scene of Li River is now shown in a sunny day but a misty day.

Longji Terraced Fileds: spring time to Longji, you can see the green fields which are planted along the range of mountains.

Travel to Guilin in Summer

Summer is the rainy season, especially in May and June. You could bring an umbrella with you, but good quality umbrellas are cheap locally. Comfortable footwear suitable for walking is a must all year round. It would be wise to bring a good sun-block with you, (Chinese sun-block is low SPF and contains skin-bleach).Also, some medicine to prevent heatstroke if you are from a cooler region, and insect repellant.

Yangshuo Yulong River: it is a joyful experience if you plan to enjoy the bamboo rafting along the Yulong River. Picturesque scenery can be appreciated. And clean water will bring you a cool feeling in the summer days.

Yangshuo countryside trip will let you forget about the unset of summer heat

Travel to Guilin in Autumn

Autumn from Sep to Nov will be the ideal time to Guilin. But it is also the high season for both domestic visitors and foreign tourists. The cool temperature and the fine days ensure your Guilin tour without annoyance form the weather.

Just pick out any attraction in Guilin in your itinerary as you like, such as Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave, and sites in Yangshuo.

Also, it is a golden time to have a trip to Longji. You can see the golden fields which decorate the mountain as dragons lying down.

It is recommended to visit Sanjiang from Guilin to share the harvest joys with Dong minority people.

Travel to Guilin in Winter

Winter is cold and moist, especially in January, but can still be very pleasant when the sun is out. It snows occasionally. Winter is the low season so Guilin is less crowded and it is cheaper to travel.

A low season in Guilin, just pay attention to the cold weather. Winter in Guilin is comparative dry and windy. Thick coats and trousers, feather jackets, cashmeres, and scarf are necessary. Although snow is rarely in Guilin, the low temperature may cause extremely cold feeling because Guilin is a city surrounded by rivers.

Best Months to Travel to Guilin

The best months to travel to Guilin is spring and autumn months, especially from April to May and September to November with pleasant weather and less crowds.

Most Recommended: September to November

From September to November, Guilin is beautiful with comfortable climate and less crowds. With crisp air and clear skies, traveling to Guilin from September to November will be enjoyable and impressive. During this time, you can experience most highlights of Guilin including Li River Cruise, Yulong River bamboo rafting, Elephant Trunk Hill climbing, golden Longji Terraces observing, etc. Kindly reminder, please avoid visiting Guilin during the National Day holiday(usually from Oct, 1 to Oct, 7), which will be crowded and influence your travel experience.

Second Recommended: April to May

From April to May, you may get classic misty Guilin with the mist covering the river and mountains, which is like a wonderland. Visiting Guilin during this time, you will get a picture like Guilin: the scenes in the Chinese ink painting.

Longji Terraces

Less recommended: July to August

Though there will be many many tourists in Guilin from July to August, the skies are blue and scenery of Li River is still beautiful during this time. You need to wait in line for a long time for many activities like Li River Cruise taking and Yulong River bamboo rafting. And the traffic will be busy in many places.

Not Recommended: May to June

Generally speaking, May to June is the rainy season in Guilin. And there will be much rains in Guilin, which may influence your traveling experience in Guilin especially for outdoor activities like Longji Terraces hiking, Yulong River bamboo rafting and Yangshuo countryside cycling. And the water of the Li River may be muddy if the rain is heavy.

Best Time to Take Li River Cruise

The best time to take Li River Cruise is during spring and autumn months, from April to May and September to November. You will meet classic misty Guilin from April to May with mist-covered river and mountains and lush greenery, which is like the ink painting in China. And the weather is mild with occasional rains during this time.

September to November is recommended to take Li River Cruise with pleasant weather, crisp air and clear skies.

Though July to August are hot with crowds of school holidays, landscapes alongside the Li River are still beautiful during this time.

Please note that the operation of Li River Cruise will be influenced by weather like heavy rain, strong wind and fog days. May and June are rainy months in Guilin, the Li River may be muddy and the Li River Cruise may be influenced during this period. And December to February is cold in Guilin, the Li River Cruise may be stopped because of lacking of water.

Our clients on the Li River Cruise

Best Time for Bamboo Rafting in Yangshuo

The best time to take the bamboo raft on the Yulong River in Yangshuo is April to May and July to October. And sunny days will offer you better experience and photo opportunities. In April, the rape flowers near the Yulong River will bloom, which is picturesque and impressive. From July to October, the water in the Yulong River is crystal and the skies are clear and the rice fields are golden, adding the beauty of the Yulong River.

Please note that the tickets of Yulong River bamboo rafting will be very popular in public holidays of China and school holidays. You should reserve the tickets of the Yulong River bamboo rafting in advance. Explore China with Top China Travel, we will help you create smooth trip in China.

Yulong River bamboo rafting

Best Time to Visit Longji Terraces

April to May: mirroring fields offer photo opportunities

May to June: spectacular view of the terraces after the rain

July to August: lush terraces

September to early October: golden fields and harvesting ceremonies

December to February: snow opportunities

The best time to visit Longji Terraces will depend on the experience you prefer. From April to May, there will be water in the rice fields in Longji, the calm surface of the water in the fields offer photo opportunities. There are always showers(sometimes the rain is heavy) from May to June, while the Longji Terraces after the rain is spectacular in the mist. From July to August, the rices are lush in the fields, which are beautiful with the winds blowing. From September to early October, the Longji Terraces are golden, which are astonishing. In winter, you may meet the Longji Terraces covered by snow. By the way, no matter when you visit the Longji Terraces, it is worth having a panoramic view of the terraces.

Best Time to Cycle in Yangshuo

Cycling will be a unique and unforgettable experience in Yangshuo. The best time to cycle in Yangshuo is sunny days in spring and autumn months with comfortable and pleasant temperature. Morning is recommended to cycle in Yangshuo with less crowds, silent atmosphere and comfortable temperature. Afternoon(16:00-19:00) is also recommended to cycle in Yangshuo with cool temperature and sunset opportunities.

Cycling alongside the Yulong River, you can see the ancient bridges, tourists on the bamboo rafts and karst mountains.

Our clients cycling in Yanghsuo

Explore Guilin with Top China Travel

Traveling to China will be more smooth and convenient when you find a tour operator like Top China Travel. With experienced professional personal travel advisors and knowledgeable teams, Top China Travel will help you create authentic and unique China travel experience. Just contact us to start your China travel.

Climate Data Table for Guilin

Month / Item	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
maximum temperature (℃)	11	12	16	22	27	30	32	32	30	25	20	15
minimum temperature (℃)	5	7	11	16	20	23	25	24	22	17	12	7
Rainfall (mm)	52.5	87.5	127.5	252.5	357.5	342.5	222.5	172.5	77.5	87.5	72.5	47.5
Days of rainfall	15.1	15.5	18.6	20.2	19.0	17.5	16.1	14.8	8.2	9.7	8.7	9.1