Day 16: Yangshuo to Xingping, Monday 6th October 2025
Cormorant at sunset
35°, cloudy
NZ$1 = Y4
Y1=NZ$0.25
Up at 8am and out for breakfast at 9:15am. We walked to the nearby McDonalds for breakfast ( Y55 ), then for a walk around the lake and down West St ( which was very quiet at 10am! ) and then back tit he hotel.
Yangshuo is the main town in the area, and it technically has a train station ( Yangshuo Station ) but that station is located 35km north of Yangshuo, and in fact is just north of the town of Xingping. So we are transferring to Xingping today to enjoy a quieter vibe and be closer to the train station to get us back to Guilin tomorrow.
Packed our bags and left at 10:15am, walked to the nearest road with vehicles on it ( Diecui Rd ) and ordered a Didi to take us to Xingping ( about 30km away, Y114 ), which arrived at 10:30am. The drive to Xingping was very slow; getting out of Yangshuo took 15 minutes ( there is only 1 bridge crossing the river to get north ) and then the road to Xingping was very busy with tour buses, and as it is 1 lane each way type of road with little villages along it, it was stop start all the way..
We arrived on the outskirts of Xingping at 11:45am, but again traffic inside the town was very busy. The driver suggested we get out and walk rather than try to drive to our hotel. So we walked through town to the hotel, which took about 15 minutes.
Xingping is modern town but has an Ancient Town located next to the river, with small shops and cobbled streets. Our hotel was located on the river side of the Ancient Town so we had to drag our bags across the cobbles to the hotel. The beauty of being on the other side of the Ancient Town to the main part of town was that is was very peaceful.
We checked in at 12pm (Rosewood Hotel, $145 for 1 night, breakfast included ) and headed up to our room ( Room 207 ), very nice. Again there was no lift, but only 1 floor up this time!
Out at 12:15pm, walked to the Li River, where there is a port for boats doing shorter cruises and also father cross river shuttle ferry, then around into the Ancient Town. We walked up and down the streets of the town. This area has a nice feel, not too busy and lots of little crafty type shops and cafes. We had ‘lunch’ at a café ( 2 cheesecakes, coconut lemon drink and hot cocoa Y 114 ), then carried on walking/exploring at 1:45pm. Walked down to the Hilton Resort at the east end of town then back to the hotel 1:45pm.
Rested; caught up on some washing ( again the hotel had a person to load the machines and hang our clothes up for us ).
Out at 5:15pm, walked across the Binjiang Bridge which crosses the small river north of our hotel. The bridge itself is a temporary one as they are building a new one next to it. We carried on walking north then down the Li River shore. Lots of people out enjoying the evening and a lot of dress up / photographer / raft / cormorant combos here. There were also people swimming in the river. We hung around through sunset, took some photos and left at 6:30pm
Walked back to the hotel. There were lots of fire cracker explosions going off throughout town tonight for Golden Week.
Dropped our cameras at the hotel then out for tea. Wandered through the Ancient Town but not a lot of options so found a place on the north side of town. Ordered a Chicken Rice dish, which was a bowl of rice and a large tray of cut up roast chicken. Most of the chicken was present including the feet, but not the head thankfully. The rchicken dish plus a beer was Y140.
Walked back to hotel via a shop for supplies ( yoghurts, drinks, chocolate ) arr 8:15pm.
Zoomable Map ( pin is located on our hotel location )