Day 14: Guilin, Saturday 4th October 2025
Guilin Opera and Li River ( Lijiang )
35°, fine
NZ$1 = Y4
Y1=NZ$0.25
Up at 8am, upstairs for breakfast on the top floor of the hotel; a mix of Asian and western food; it was ok for a chain hotel. Back to room then out at 9am. We walked down to the pedestrian street then south; at this time of morning the street was empty, with some shops opening at 9am others at 10am. We were starting to get a good picture that the Chinese are not generally early morning people.
We walked to Shandu Lake and walked around the south edge of the lake to the twin Pagodas , bought tickets ( Y35 ea ) then into the Moon Pagoda , and were probably the first people in there that morning. The Moon Pagoda is clad in glazed tiles, is seven storeys high and is located on a small peninsula in the lake. The Sun Pagoda is clad in bronze ( the tallest bronze pagoda in the world ), is 9 storeys and sits in the lake itself. There is an underwater tunnel that links the 2 pagoda.
We climbed to the top of the Moon Pagoda ( 7 floors in 27° ) with the pagoda getting narrower as it goes up, so the space to walk around the building also got narrower at each floor. Then back down to the ground floor then down further into the basement and through the underwater tunnel ( and through the obligatory gift shop ) to the Sun Pagoda. This pagoda has a lift and only has public access from levels 7 and up, 2 flights of stairs of very steep stairs ( almost ladders ) to the upper levels. We went to the very top level ( which was a shrine ) then back down the stairs and back down in the lift.
Out of the complex at 10am ( getting busier now with tour groups coming in ), walked south to Wenming Rd and along past shops ( Liz bought some plasters) to Lijiang River then around the waterfront to the entry to the Elephant Hill Scenic Reserve. We had to walk most of the way back to the pedestrian street to find the entrance. Entry was free but we couldn’t register on the required app ( as we had no Chinese ID card ) so we went to the ticket office and the lady said that no ticket required, just to queue and use our passport. The queue / scrum was quite large ( it was Golden Week and a Saturday ) but only took about 5 minutes to get to the turnstile, then showed our passports to get entry.
We walked south around the waterfront watching the people using water cannons, past stalls selling things, then past an island which looked like there was a festival going on, then across a branch of the Lijang River ( Taohua Lijiang ? ) on a floating bridge, to the main part of the park. This area consists of a large hill ( which can be walked up ), a food / picnic area, a temple and the Elephant Rock. We looked at the raft loading area ( where traditional rafts could be hired to do a circuit on the river ), water cannons and smoke cannons ( paid for using Alipay ). Liz bought a wooden/resin elephant for Y20 , then we followed the masses around the hill to the Elephants Trunk viewing area on the eastern side. Joined the queue to go into the cave which forms the gap between the elephant and it’s trunk, took some photos, sat in the shade and got an ice cream and relaxed for a bit at 11:45am. Very hot, humid and crowded now.
We exited the park to the west out onto Minzhu Rd then north back around the river front to the Pedestrian Street, now also very busy. Up to 10:30am is quiet, after 10:30am is busy. Wandered along the street, looking at shops, bought some pastries etc for lunch ( Y50 ) for lunch then back to hotel at 12:30pm.
Relaxed for the afternoon. 2 weeks of travel is starting to take it’s toll, so had the afternoon off.
Out at 6pm, walked to Lijiang River to photograph the river and the Opera Building on opposite side. Had lots of people wondering what we were doing. After sunset we walked up the river to Jiefang East Rd, then walked west then under the road ( using the underpass/mall we had used earlier ) and up into the”East West Alley” area, walked around watching people ( lots of dress ups ) and looking for dinner.
We found somewhere for tea, which was busy, so the waitresses ( 3 older ladies ) set up a low table and low stools for us outside ( we would have preferred to be inside where was air-conditioning ). We had decided on what we were having but as soon as Liz stood up to go inside and order ( it was a ‘order at the counter, take a buzzer and come back and get it when it was ready’ kind of place ) one of the waitresses grabbed her and went inside to help her place the order ( again, no one else got this service ). We ordered 2 noodle dishes ( duck and pork ) and 2 large beer cans for Y54. I went up to get the meal when the buzzer went off, and in another example of the Chinese way of things, I could not get to the counter to pick up our meals as there was a guy standing in the way ( he had a buzzer in his hand but rather than go back to the table to wait he was just standing in the way instead ), but as soon as he saw me waiting he waved me forward and signalled that the meals on the counter were mine ( I already guessed that as my buzzer was going! ). Yummy meal.
Back through the alleys and pedestrian street to the hotel at 9pm.
Zoomable Map ( pin is located on our hotel location )