Guilin China

Has anyone here ever been to Guilin China for some photographing? If yes, I'd love to hear the pros and cons of your experience. I'm trying to decide if that is where I go this fall when I make a photography trip.

Thanks!

I've been, but not to photograph (it was around 7 years or so, before I got into photography). My memory isn't the clearest, but I recall being very impressed by the karst formations down the river, I think they would make excellent landscape subjects. The "Yangshuo Moon Hill" was also pretty interesting.

On the other hand, it was quite touristy then, and the boats don't tend to slow down or stop as you're going down river (which is the easiest way to see the karst formations) so you may have your work cut out trying to get good composition & good light etc etc (can't remember what times the boats ran).

Anyway, hope that helps. If I were doing it I'd take a Rolleiflex and a bag of TX, and try to get out at sunrise/sunset. And see the cormorant fishermen too, it's quite an art.

I've been there a few time but in 2004 and 2005 and I went there specifically to photograph. As mentioned above it does/can get a little touristy but you can depart from it. My advice would be to stay in Yangshuo and not Guilin - its cheaper and a much better base. The hotel I always stayed in was White Lion; it was well located (and Yangshuo is very small - can walk to anywhere) cheap and clean and it still exists. They speak English and I would just phone them up directly and book. It was also worthwhile to have them arrange a car pickup from the airport when you arrive.

Obviously things change in 9 years but what I always did after checking in was go to this bar Buffalo Bar. It used to be run by an Australian guy so you can talk to people and understand what you should be doing. My advice would be to decide what you want to see and the time of day you want to get there. Ask at the bar about sourcing a personal guide and plan with them exactly what you want to do. If you are going there to photograph, DO NOT get involved in the multitude of group tours, you will be nothing but frustrated; stick with a personal guide.

An interesting activity I arrange one morning with my guide was to go on a bicycle ride through the country side and rice paddies. Stopped at her house for lunch then continued. Its pretty flat riding but its a long day and I wasn't used to cycling so I was very stiff at the end of the day. Pics at her house below





There's a lot you can do an see there. A week could be packed easily; 2 weeks would not be difficult to fill up either.

Some of my on line images from the area Guilin Images

I went there in 2011, it was wonderful. It's the sort of place where you can point a lens just about anywhere and get a good photo, come home with some great ones and still feel you didn't do the place justice. I only had a couple of days (it was the last stop on a 5 week lap around Dubai, Prague, St Petersburg, Moscow, trans-Siberian railway, Mongolia and Beijing) and I could have used 3 weeks. But then, I could have used 3 weeks in most of the places we stopped!

I made the mistake of going in national week (start of October) though, and that was a bad idea. So many Chinese tourists! Also lots and lots of heavy smoke, which means no golden hour so you might want to go there at a different time of year entirely.

Definitely you need to take the boat tour down Lijiang to Yangshuo; also have a wander out to Xingpingzhen. Stay in/near Yangshuo (we were just outside, about 1km past Gongnong), hire a bicycle and use it heavily. The traffic is very friendly and entirely unlike Beijing.

Wow.....GREAT advice from everyone and fantastic images. Exactly the type of images I want to make. I have GOT to go to Guilin. I will seriously consider staying in Yangshuo instead of Guilin. The idea of a small village is much better than a city.

Guilin looks like a place Velvia was made for!

Yeah, definitely stay in Yangshuo. Guilin the province is fantastic, Guilin the city is so-so. It's worth seeing for an evening or two (nice walking around the lakes, see the two pagodas, etc) but you definitely don't want to spend all your time in Guilin city.