The Best 30 Flickr Photos from Guilin

Guilin is beautiful. Her rivers, lakes, and mountains are only a portion of that beauty — it's also her people and their culture which help make Guilin such a marvelous city.

We spent countless hours curating Flickr's best images to bring you this inside look at the magic of Guilin. If the photographs leave you wanting to plan a trip, our Guilin travel guide covers where to go and how to get around.

Enjoy!

山

01 Karst Peaks, Rivers, and Caves

Guilin's skyline of steep, isolated limestone towers is the product of millions of years of rainwater slowly dissolving an ancient seabed. The result is a landscape so distinctive that it has appeared in Chinese painting and poetry for centuries.

Beautiful Sky in Guilin, China

Dramatic clouds and light over the karst peaks surrounding Guilin, China — Shifting light and cloud over Guilin's limestone peaks — the reason photographers keep coming back. Photo by Paul Reiffer

Karst Window

Karst peaks framed through a natural rock opening near Guilin, China — A natural opening in the rock frames the peaks beyond, a formation created as groundwater carved through soluble limestone. Photo by Chris Kealy

Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.
– Ibn Battuta

River's Bend, a.k.a. Horseshoe Bend

Aerial view of a horseshoe-shaped bend in the Li River near Guilin, China — The river loops back on itself in a near-perfect horseshoe, one of the most recognizable views along this stretch of water. Photo by Dan Ballard

Reed Flute Cave

Rainy Day in Guilin

Mist and rain softening the outlines of Guilin's mountains, resembling a Chinese ink painting — Rain and mist flatten the peaks into layers of grey — the effect that traditional Chinese landscape painting has been chasing for centuries. Photo by Azam Abedi

Bamboo Boats in Guilin, China

Bamboo rafts clustered together on the water near Guilin, China — Bamboo rafts (竹筏, zhúfá) remain the most common way to travel the smaller waterways around Guilin. Photo by LainaK-Wong

View of Guilin from Fubo Hill

Panoramic view over Guilin's rooftops and surrounding peaks from the top of Fubo Hill — Fubo Hill (伏波山, Fúbō Shān) rises straight out of the riverbank in central Guilin and offers one of the best panoramas of the city. Photo by Thomas Bächinger

Awe-inspiring Campsite

A tent pitched on a hilltop above the karst peaks of Guilin at sunrise — A hilltop tent at sunrise, with the peaks emerging from the valley mist below. Photo by Andy Beales

城

02 The City of Guilin

It is easy to forget that Guilin is a working city of several million people, not just a backdrop for river cruises. These photographs catch it at street level.

A View of Guilin at Night

Guilin city lights reflected in the water at night, with karst peaks in the background — Guilin's night view (桂林夜景, Guìlín yèjǐng) — city lights doubled in the still water of the lakes that ring the old center. Photo by Still92

Sun & Moon Pagodas

The illuminated Sun and Moon Pagodas reflected in Shanhu Lake in central Guilin — The Sun and Moon Pagodas (日月双塔, Rì Yuè Shuāng Tǎ) stand in Shanhu Lake in the heart of the city, joined by an underwater tunnel. Photo by Domingo Leiva

Sun & Moon Pagodas at Dusk

The Sun and Moon Pagodas glowing gold and silver against a deep blue evening sky in Guilin — The same pair at dusk. The taller Sun Pagoda is clad in copper; the Moon Pagoda beside it is lit a cooler silver-blue. Photo by Peter Stewart

Reflecting Sun Pagoda in Downtown Guilin

The copper-clad Sun Pagoda mirrored in the surface of Shanhu Lake in downtown Guilin — The Sun Pagoda (日塔, Rì Tǎ) mirrored in the lake, framed by the downtown skyline behind it. Photo by Vladimir Yaitskiy

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.
– Oprah Winfrey

Downtown Intersection at Night

Traffic, scooters, and neon signs at a busy Guilin intersection after dark — Scooters, taxis, and shopfront neon at a downtown crossing — Guilin's everyday evening rhythm. Photo by Ilya

Biker with Umbrella

A cyclist riding through a Guilin street while holding an open umbrella — One hand on the handlebars, one on the umbrella — a common sight during Guilin's long, wet spring. Photo by Bernd Thaller

River-crossing with Bicycle

A man wading across shallow water pushing a bicycle near Guilin, China — Where there's no bridge, you wade. A cyclist pushes his bike across a shallow crossing. Photo by Christopher Lewis

人

03 The People of Guilin

The scenery is what brings photographers to Guilin. The faces and the street trades are often what they remember.

Sidewalk Calligraphy

A man writing large Chinese characters in water on a Guilin sidewalk with a long brush — Writing Chinese calligraphy in water on the pavement is a popular pastime in parks and public squares across China — the characters fade as they dry, so the practice can begin again. Photo by Alan Lew

Portrait of a Guilin Local Man

Close-up portrait of an elderly man from Guilin, China — A portrait of a Guilin grandfather, caught mid-thought. Photo by John Marshall

Portrait of a Guilin Local Woman

Close-up black and white portrait of an elderly woman from Guilin, China — Titled *Les Marques du Temps* — "the marks of time." Photo by Daniel Cheong

Expert Cobbler

A street cobbler repairing a shoe at his roadside stall in Guilin, China — Roadside cobblers still work the pavements of Guilin, repairing shoes while you wait. Shot by Michael Steverson, whose work CLI has featured before. Photo by Michael Steverson

I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.
– Mary Anne Radmacher

渔

04 Cormorant Fishermen on the Li River

Few images say "Guilin" as immediately as a fisherman poling a bamboo raft along the Li River with cormorants perched at either end. The technique is centuries old: the birds dive, catch fish, and are trained to return to the raft.

Today the practice survives mostly as a demonstration for visitors and photographers rather than as a working livelihood. That does not make the sight any less extraordinary.

Cormorant Fisherman Stands Tall

A cormorant fisherman standing upright on his bamboo raft on the Li River at dawn — Balanced on a bamboo raft with his birds, silhouetted against the early light. Photo by Andy Beales

Li River Fisherman

A fisherman with two cormorants on a bamboo raft on the Li River near Guilin — A cormorant (鸬鹚, lúcí) perched on each end of the raft, waiting for the next dive. Photo by Paul Weeks

Cormorant Fishing on the Li River, China

An elderly cormorant fisherman on the Li River holding a bamboo pole at twilight — The pole, the conical hat, and the birds — a silhouette that has become shorthand for Guilin itself. Photo by Daniel Cheong

Cormorant Fisherman with Lamp

A cormorant fisherman holding a lit lamp over the water on the Li River at night — Lamplight was traditionally used to draw fish toward the surface after dark. Photo by Dan Ballard

The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.
– Henry David Thoreau

Guilin Cormorant Fisherman Takes a Smoking Break

A cormorant fisherman pausing to smoke a pipe on his raft during the blue hour — A pause during the blue hour, pipe lit, birds waiting. Photo by Andy Beales

Early Morning Cormorant Fisherman in Guilin

A cormorant fisherman on the Li River in early morning mist near Guilin — First light on the water, before the tour boats arrive. Photo by Michael Steverson

田

05 Beyond the City: Yangshuo and Longsheng

Two of the region's best-known destinations sit within a couple of hours of Guilin. Both are easy day trips, and both look completely different from the city.

Yangshuo Intersection

A busy street intersection in Yangshuo, China, with karst peaks rising behind the buildings — Downhill from Guilin along the Li River, Yangshuo packs its shops and cafés in beneath the peaks. Photo by Bernd Thaller

People don't take trips, trips take people.
– John Steinbeck

Sunset at Longsheng Rice Terrace

Sunset light across the flooded Longji rice terraces in Longsheng County near Guilin — The Longji rice terraces in Longsheng County, carved into the hillsides over generations beginning in the Yuan dynasty. Photo by Shashin Surti

Guilin has been CLI's home since the beginning, and it is a big part of why students who choose to learn Chinese in China with us end up staying longer than they planned. Scenery like this stops being a photograph and starts being the walk to class.

CLI teacher and student in a one-on-one Chinese lesson in Guilin

Study Chinese in Guilin or Start Online

CLI offers personalized Chinese instruction built around your goals. Join our Immersion Program in Guilin or begin from anywhere with a free Chinese lesson .

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词

06 Useful Guilin Vocabulary

Here are the Chinese words behind the places and scenes in these photographs.

Chinese	Pinyin	Translation
桂林	Guìlín	Guilin (city name; "forest of osmanthus")
漓江	Lí Jiāng	Li River
阳朔	Yángshuò	Yangshuo (county south of Guilin)
龙胜	Lóngshèng	Longsheng (county northwest of Guilin)
龙脊梯田	Lóngjǐ Tītián	Longji ("Dragon's Backbone") Rice Terraces
芦笛岩	Lúdí Yán	Reed Flute Cave
伏波山	Fúbō Shān	Fubo Hill
日月双塔	Rì Yuè Shuāng Tǎ	Sun and Moon Pagodas
杉湖	Shān Hú	Shanhu ("Fir") Lake
鸬鹚	lúcí	cormorant
渔夫	yúfū	fisherman
竹筏	zhúfá	bamboo raft
喀斯特	kāsītè	karst
山水	shānshuǐ	landscape (lit. "mountains and water")
书法	shūfǎ	calligraphy
夜景	yèjǐng	night view
照片	zhàopiàn	photograph
摄影师	shèyǐngshī	photographer
漂亮	piàoliang	beautiful

游

07 Plan Your Visit

Photographs can only do so much. The peaks, the river, and the people behind these images are all still there, and they are far better in person.

We hope to study Mandarin in China together some day soon. Don't forget to follow CLI on X, Instagram, and Facebook.

Opening image by Andy Beales