Guilin Travel Forum

I am interested in joining a tour group in Guilin that has a Li river cruise. Is it cheaper if I book the tour while in Guilin instead of using the internet? How much is it for a 3-day tour?

3-day tour?what inclusive?
You may book Li River cruise at your hotel's conceige desk once you arrive there.
Suggest you visit Guilin/Yangshuo yourself caz it's safe and convenient.

3-day tour?what inclusive?
You may book Li River cruise at your hotel's conceige desk once you arrive there.
Suggest you visit Guilin/Yangshuo yourself caz it's safe and convenient.

Fancy anything on http://www.yangers.com/Yangshuo_tours.htm ?

I fancy all of them but I just find them to be quite expensive. How much is it for just the cruise without joining a tour group?

That Li river cruise IS rather overpriced. I would instead go for a shorter cruise on a bamboo raft near Yangshuo.
Actually, email Alf the webmaster of the http://www.yangers.com website and ask him for his opinion/help. He's a great wealth of information on the area and very helpful.

Frankly speaking, the price on that web is rather expensive.
The hotel cost deducted, you have to spend almost RMB800 for a map, 2 breakfast, 1 hour introduction and raft along Yulong River. It's rather expensive.
Raft along Yulong river will never cost you more than RMB200 for two except three national long holidays, usually you may get at half price.
Dining in Yangshuo is rather cheap, a cup of brewed coffee plus one pizza for one person at famous Red Star Pizza costs lower than RMB30.
Less than RMB 5 for a map.
Bike rental is never over RMB20 for a day.
It's easy to go to Moon Hill by carter departs from famous West Street, which only charges RMB10/person.
Imagine how much they gonna charge for an introdutory talk.
I've organized more than 30 persons visiting Yangshuo by themselves and nobody joined such package.
Just DIY!

My parents and I recently did the deluxe tour with yangers and all I can say was that it was great. We got picked up at the airport by a very friendly driver. We stayed at the Li River Retreat which was something out of this World. We were asigned a guide called Zhuang who had the most wonderful smile, fantastic English and very good at listening to what we wanted to do. I am glad we just didn't rent a bike and go to Moon Hill on the main road like so many other people were doing. We did the boat trip to Liugong on our own boat and had this superb lunch there

I am really glad that we did this trip with Alf, he seems to have so much time for everyone. Definately contact him and see what he can do for you. This was our highlight for our trip to China

Ben

Anyone can hire a van from Guilin Liangjiang Airport to Yangshuo for less than RMB300, or take an airport shuttle to Guilin Bus/Train Station then transfer the limounsine to Yangshuo for less than RMB30/person.
You may find so many visitors speaking english in Yangshuo and most of them are willing to help you.
If you really want a guide, better to ask some experts from ctrip or sina travel communities for one with good reputation,reasonable price and good service.

Dear Neverstoptravel,

I am a bit confused about your prices and your claim that the tours are expensive. Following are the prices you have mentioned

The breakdown of your costs is as follows
Airport transfer 300
3 nights accommodation 330*2*3= 1980 (2 rooms for 3 nights)
breakfast each day 30*2*3=180
Map of Yangshuo=5
Bikes 20*2*3=120 (we went bike riding 2 days)
Bamboo raft=200*2=400 (we used 2 rafts)
Boat trip =???
Lunch at Liugong 50*3=150 (We saw this on the menu)
Light and show tickets 188*3=564
Guide???
Moon Hill= 15*3=45 (Moon hill had a 15 Yuan entrance fee that the guide paid)
Introductory talk = ???
Transfer back to the airport = 300

This all comes to 3924 Yuan and it does not include the cost of our own boat, the guide for our stay or the introductory talk. We paid 3894 which is less that what you claim we could have done ourselves which we did not want to do!!

I will recommend any of these tours to anyone. The one we did was great value and unforgettable experience. Zhuang and Alf were great

Thanks so much from Ben

I think that the 3 day Li River option is overkill. Better to spend some time in Yangshuo and combine bike/mini van and a couple of smaller boat trips down part of the Li River and also some of the tributaries by boat or raft. You will find it is cheaper and you will see just as much and all of the magnificent scenery.
I would stay in Yangshuo which has a charm itself and hire a guide from Yangshuo who would be able to organise all of the above on a private tour at a cheaper rate.
See my page for some ideas.

I really think a 3 day trip on the Li River is overkill. Why not instead spend some time in Yangshuo - it has a certain charm itself and organise a guide to take you to some of the sites via a mini van and/or boat/raft- that way you get to see more from various perspectives and don't miss any of the spectacular sites. See my page for some ideas.

Sorry about the two replies..thought the first one had not been posted

Dear Neverstoptravel,

I am a bit confused about your prices and your claim that the tours are expensive. Following are the prices you have mentioned

The breakdown of your costs is as follows
Airport transfer 300
3 nights accommodation 330*2*3= 1980 (2 rooms for 3 nights)
breakfast each day 30*2*3=180
Map of Yangshuo=5
Bikes 20*2*3=120 (we went bike riding 2 days)
Bamboo raft=200*2=400 (we used 2 rafts)
Boat trip =???
Lunch at Liugong 50*3=150 (We saw this on the menu)
Light and show tickets 188*3=564
Guide???
Moon Hill= 15*3=45 (Moon hill had a 15 Yuan entrance fee that the guide paid)
Introductory talk = ???
Transfer back to the airport = 300

This all comes to 3924 Yuan and it does not include the cost of our own boat, the guide for our stay or the introductory talk. We paid 3894 which is less that what you claim we could have done ourselves which we did not want to do!!

I will recommend any of these tours to anyone. The one we did was great value and unforgettable experience. Zhuang and Alf were great

Thanks so much from Ben

I don't know if anybody here coming from Yangshuo or not, but look at their web for their basic package:
They charge RMB548 per person and minimum 2 persons required.
Remember, that's only 2 nights trip and standard room included at Magnolia Hotel.
Ok, let me tell you how much you may get a standard room at that hotel:RMB200 or less.
Well, if anybody plans a comfotable trip without any incovenience, such webs might be considered, but not for those who wish to save their budget.
I've stayed at Paradesa Yangshuo Resort, Regency Holiday Hotel and other hostels in Yangshuo before, so that's why I mentioned it's rather expensive.

Airport round trip transfer 400
3 nights accommodation 200*2*3=1200 Magnolia charges RMB200 for a standard room/per night
breakfast each day 20*2*3=120 RMB30 for a breakfast in Yangshuo? RMB20 is really good.
Map of Yangshuo=5
Bikes 10*2*3=60 Be frankly, RMB20 for 2-seat bike.
Bamboo raft=150*2=300 or even less
Boat trip =???
Lunch at Liugong 50*3=150 (We saw this on the menu)
Light and show tickets 188*3=564
Guide???
Moon Hill= 15*3=45 (Moon hill had a 15 Yuan entrance fee that the guide paid)
Introductory talk = ???

So RMB2800 in total plus another RMB300 for boat trip.

Dear Neverstoptravel,

I am a bit confused about your prices and your claim that the tours are expensive. Following are the prices you have mentioned

The breakdown of your costs is as follows
Airport transfer 300
3 nights accommodation 330*2*3= 1980 (2 rooms for 3 nights)
breakfast each day 30*2*3=180
Map of Yangshuo=5
Bikes 20*2*3=120 (we went bike riding 2 days)
Bamboo raft=200*2=400 (we used 2 rafts)
Boat trip =???
Lunch at Liugong 50*3=150 (We saw this on the menu)
Light and show tickets 188*3=564
Guide???
Moon Hill= 15*3=45 (Moon hill had a 15 Yuan entrance fee that the guide paid)
Introductory talk = ???
Transfer back to the airport = 300

This all comes to 3924 Yuan and it does not include the cost of our own boat, the guide for our stay or the introductory talk. We paid 3894 which is less that what you claim we could have done ourselves which we did not want to do!!

I will recommend any of these tours to anyone. The one we did was great value and unforgettable experience. Zhuang and Alf were great

Thanks so much from Ben

Hi everyone,

I have just been informed by a friend about the debate regarding the tours on my website and their value. I have just joined this forum to try to explain a few things

I have to be honest and say that I am not losing any money on these, however, I will also never be able to afford my private jet with them.

My website is designed to help everyone get the most out of their stay in Yangshuo. I do not like to hear that people have paid 350 Yuan for a taxi from the airport or 250 Yuan for a bamboo raft trip

If you are a backpacker on a very tight budget, then you can stay in very simple accommodation including dormitories. You can hire bikes and travel on your own and have really good experiences. I think this is what the person identified as neverstoptravel is trying to identify with. The problem with neverstoptravel is that he/she seems to be inconsistent. How much does the transfer from the airport really cost? At first the price was 300 and lately it seem to be 400 for the return trip. The real price is actually 200 to any hotel each way in Yangshuo and a bit more for hotels outside, for example, the Mountain Retreat charges 250 Yuan for their transfers. The Li river retreat is 220 each way

Neverstoptravel quoted bamboo rafting at 200Yuan but he/she now claims it to be 150 Yuan. The price for local agents again is somewhat lower, so hence we can charge less on our package tours. We also pay less for rooms in most hotels. This is why people like Ben are happy with the costing of the tours

I have specifically hand picked each hotel and guesthouse in our packages. This is so that you get a very friendly welcome here instead of just the standard chain hotel experience. The regency or paradise will make you feel welcome, but the Water Buffalo Guesthouse, 7th Heaven, Magnolia or Li River Retreat will make you feel at home.

Your local guide is a major component of your experience here. Yangshuo has many local guides. The best ones are limited. Ben and his family got to meet Zhuang, but if they had met Yuan, Jessi or Feng then they would also have raved about them. Again, the guides on our tours are hand picked. You could get cheaper by haggling on west street. If you do know of any really good guides, please let me know as I would love to meet them

Going back to the original point of this post about the cruises, I normally give people this information by email ( I originally had this on my website, but the website was blocked by the local authorities, so I had to water it down)

1. The standard boat cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo- This is done by most visitors here. the boats are officially licensed and are the only boats that can take tourists. The trip normally leaves from the Bamboo wharf just outside Guilin and travels to Yangshuo via Yangdi and Xingping. Lunch is included on the boat and the trip takes around 4 hours. I normally do not recommend these as they are expensive, overcrowded and the food is poor

2. If you can make your own way to Xingping, then you will be picked up by a tout and put on the next farmer's boat. These travel up river to almost Yangdi and then return to Xingping. They also try to sell the extension to the fishermans village which is only famous because Bill Clinton went there. This boat trip normally costs around 50 Yuan per person

3. If you can afford your own Farmer's boat, then you should get up early and get to Yangdi, board your private boat and cruise to Xingping. The view is spectacular and the river is very peaceful without all the big boats from Guilin

4. To avoid all the big boats, then do the trip from just downstream of Yangshuo to Liugong. The trip is still very beautiful and you never have any of the heavy traffic you encounter upstream

anyway, I hope this clears a few things up.

If you have any questions you can email me directly. My email address is alf@yangers.com

Cheers
Alf

Wow,everyboby seems jumping out!
I've never blamed anybody or any web,but simply help to clarify sth abt trip to Guilin/Yangshuo.
Yanger said I was inconsistent, let'see what I've said:
Any visitor arrives at Guilin Airport and take a taxi or Iveco van to Yangshuo,he/she has to pay abt RMB300, but if visitor has arranged for picking up, then RMB400 for round trip might be possible.
And,I mentioned you may spend less than RMB30 at Red Star, sb. immediately quoted RMB30 for a breakfast. Do you think you have to spend RMB30 just for a breakfast at the hotel/hostel listed on the web?
I think you will not deny that any visitor may get a standard room for RMB200 or less at Magnolia Hotel, right?
It should not be blamed for charging more if you provide courtesy, excellent service to your customers and it's reasonable for you to charge tour/introdutory service for those who accept the convenient service and package.
Why when I just mentioned it's expensive to some visitors then so many persons came to argue abt it. I think most of visitors having their own judgement.If I says Four seasons very expensive, do they need to argue abt it? They charge for the service they provided full of value!
Let's stop any futher talk on this topic.

Ben, frankly speaking, I am afraid you are coming from China and living in Guangxi.

Wow, telephone numbers.
DIY variant
Transfer airport (DIY) max 30 rmb
3 nights clean hotel, spacious room 3*60 rmb =180 rmb
Breakfast (10 dumplings or soup plus youtiao) 3* 3~5 rmb = 15 rmb
bamboo rafting 45 min(enough) = 30~40 rmb
Lunch (rice + 5 toppings or tasty clay hot-pot) 3* 5~8 rmb =20 rmb
Dinners (Fish/meat,veg,rice with bbq etc) 3 * 10~15rmb = 40 rmb
Internet ( 1~2 rmb per hour)
Minibuses 1 rmb per 6 km
Various attractions / purchases / snacks = 200 rmb (YMMV)
If you want a silk tie, the quote is 120 rmb. Real price 12
Umbrella - quote 50 rmb. real price 5