Photography Tips and Locations for Guilin and Yangshuo

Guilin, with its unique karst landforms, has become a world-famous tourist destination. Innumerable photography enthusiasts linger over the beautiful scenery here. Let’s have a look below at some of the best scenery and photography attractions in Guilin. Chances are they will more than satisfy your needs!

1. Take Photos of Sunrises in Guilin

• Locations: Xianggong Mountain, Yao Mountain
• Best months: June - August, October - December
• Best time: half an hour before or one hour after sunrise

Climb as high as possible for a good view. Photographers will marvel at the scene when the sunrise is enhanced by clouds and misty rain. A decreasing aperture of around f/1.5-f/2 is recommended.

Xianggong Mountain (literally Husband Mountain) is in Xingping Town, Yangshuo, between two famous attractions of the Li River, the “Reflection of Yellow Cloth” and “Nine-Horse Fresco Hill”.

Its excellent location gives it a broad and glorious view – you can see the most beautiful part of the Li River from the top. The mountaintop is one of the best places for shooting the sunrise with a sea of clouds.

Check out our One Day Yangshuo and Li River Highlights Tour and start your picturesque tour!

2. Take Photos of Sunsets

• Locations: Laozhai Mountain, Wulong Quan, Diecai Mountain (from the top you can have a panoramic view of the whole city).
• Best months: seasonal, best on days before or after a typhoon.
• Best time: one hour before or half an hour after sunset

It is easier to shoot sunsets and afterglow than sunrise, especially on days before or after a typhoon (only typhoons landing on the coast of Guangdong will affect Guilin).

Laozhai Mountain (老寨山) is popular among photographers in Xingping, a low but steep mountain with over 1,000 stone steps. Photography enthusiasts gather here not only for gorgeous sunsets but also for Guilin’s classic idyllic scenery at the foot of the mountain.

• NOTE: Owing to the rugged path, it is dangerous for children, the old or disabled, to climb Laozhai Mountain.

Wulong Quan (literally “Black Dragon Spring”, 乌龙泉) is a lesser-known place in Yangshuo where you can catch marvelous mountain-and-waters photos combined with a rosy sunset. Contact us and our local tour guide can lead you there.

3. Night Scenes Photos: Fishing Lights on the Li River

• Locations: fishing lights in Yangshuo; Twin Towers and Elephant Trunk Hill in downtown Guilin
• Best months: all year round
• Best time: nightfall or early morning

One of the photographic highlights of the Li River is the fishing lights. In the past, at nightfall, fishermen rowed bamboo rafts with hanging lanterns from the banks of the river and caught fish with their cormorants. Inverted images of the mountains and lights created stunning scenery on the river.

Fewer fishermen today, however, rely on fishing for a living, so to achieve the designed photographic effect you need to make an appointment with fishermen, with the help of a local guide.

If you plan your photography trip with China Travel, our English-speaking guide will escort you through a village and introduce you to an experienced fisherman. The village is quiet, really not a tourist place, and you can meet ordinary local people there.

You will enjoy taking photos and talking with an old fisherman, finding out about his birds and his life.

4. Terraced Fields and Minority Ethnic Culture

• Location: Longsheng County, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from downtown Guilin.
• Best months: seasonal, but the most stunning views appear from May to October.
• Best time: morning for sunrise and evening for the afterglow.

When the weather is clear, Longji Terraced Fields can be said to be a holy land for photography lovers. The winding and flowing curves of the mountains and rice terraces form a giant landscape picture.

The best viewing and shooting location in the area is the “Seven Stars around the Moon” platform at Ping’an terraced fields.

In addition, Longji villagers are all Zhuang and Yao people, providing a great opportunity for you to explore and record their ethnic culture. For example, are all minority costumes woven by local people? Why do Yao women never cut their long hair?

After taking our One Day Longji Rice Terraced Fields and Minority Villages Tour, you will be surprised by what you’ve found out!

5. Rural Scenery

• Locations: Yangshuo (Grape Town, Yangdi Village, Xingping)
• Best months: April – May
• Best time: two hours before sunset and half an hour after sunset
• Conditions: sunshine, irrigated and plowed paddy fields

The charm of Guilin’s landscape is that people live in that beautiful scenery, adding the breath of life to the fairyland, and enriching the atmosphere. Photographers in the idyllic farming places listed above can not only shoot the static landscapes but also capture the lives of some local people on camera.

Imagine what a peaceful picture you can take, walking on trails in the countryside, observing farmers working in the rice fields while their buffalos graze nearby. Don’t hesitate to customize your countryside photo tour with us!

6. Marvelous Caves

• Best months: all year round
• Best time: cave opening hours

Miraculous caverns and caves are also among the wonders of Guilin, and the caves are immune to climate, sunshine, or season.

In general, you are not permitted to use flash when shooting in caverns or caves, but only a tripod. Photographers can use slower shutter speeds to adjust for poor light conditions, adding, say, f/1-f/1.5 aperture stops.

7. Danxia Landforms

• Location: Eight Angle Mountain, 107 km to the northeast of Guilin
• Features: view of Danxia landforms
• Best times to visit: April–October (for cloud sea and sunrise); December–February (for snow in winter)

Located in Ziyuan County 107 km northeast of Guilin, Eight Angle Mountain, fondly referred to by locals as Yuntai or Bajiaozhai Mountain is classified as a Danxia landform.

All the mountain’s peaks are tilted at an angle of 45 degrees, from the top of which photographers can gain a panoramic view of the whole Danxia landform. No other tourist destination can provide such a unique experience.

Recommended Photography Routes in Guilin

How should you plan a time-smart photography tour including the highlights mentioned above? Here is a sample itinerary for your inspiration:

• Day 1: Night scenes in downtown Guilin – Reed Flute Cave & Elephant Trunk Hill
• Day 2: Yangshuo – countryside tour, Yulong River bamboo rafting & fishing lights at Xingping
• Day 3: Yangshuo – Xianggong Mountain sunrise & Wulong Quan sunset
• Day 4: Longji Terraced Fields – Ping’an & Jinkeng Terraced Fields

Please feel free to adjust our Guilin, Yangshuo and Longsheng Tour according to your photographic interests and needs.

Experience Your Guilin Photography Tour with China Travel

If you want to capture the best photographic memories of Guilin, your wish might not have come true without the help of an experienced local guide. Check out the tour packages below to see which might fit your needs:

• 4-Day Walk Up to Longsheng Rice Terraces from Beijing
• 5-Day Guilin & Longji Tour from Hong Kong
• 11-Day Glories of China