7-Day Guilin & Longji Rice Terraces Bike Adventure

Whether you’re coming into Guilin by train or plane your guide will be waiting for you – just keep an eye out for a sign with your name on it! The drive to our start point in the village of Pingan, nestled in the heart of the Longji Rice Terraces, will take around two hours: plenty of time to go over the week’s itinerary and answer any questions you may have. After all the gear is sorted, it's a 20 minute walk up to the guesthouse - we'll have porters on hand to help you with your gear if needed. Accommodation for the next two nights is in a local guesthouse with all amenities and some of the best food in the region. After check-in, you can head up to one of the viewpoints for sunset over the intricate network of rice terraces. We'll meet for a banquet dinner and celebrate the start of the adventure with some local specialities and perhaps some locally made rice wine!

Today you have time to take in the extraordinary mountain views from the terrace of our Zhuang minority traditionally-built guesthouse. During the day you can do a fully guided hike around the hillside, take a shorter walk to one of the view points over the rice terraces, or simply sit back with a beer and enjoy the view and the atmosphere on the terrace of this very unique guesthouse. Those exploring the walking trails will soon discover that this area is also inhabited by people of the Yao and Miao minorities. Their dress is quite distinctive and Yao women often grow their hair so long it can touch the ground when untied! They’ll be more than happy to demonstrate the way they tie their hair for you!

We follow a smooth twisting gentle downward ride for 11km along a small river, passing several minority villages. After a short break we spend the rest of the morning on quiet sealed roads climbing gently up over 10km through pine and bamboo forests, tea plantations and small settlements, often catching views of villages perched improbably the hills across the deep valley. What follows is a long sweeping downhill through pristine countryside to our lunch spot. In the afternoon, it's an undulating 25km ride, with no significant climbs, passing by bamboo factories and small farming communities. We pass through Wantian village before making our way to our comfortable riverside hotel. We'll eat dinner in a picturesque setting in an open outdoor restaurant by the river.

It is possible to shorten the days ride to 31km today by opting to take a river raft ride after lunch which will finish directly at the hotel. This is a good option on a hot day to cool off and see some river life, or if you want to shorten the ride and take it easy. It's an exciting ride and you will get wet! Your guide will organize the rafting for you. Highly reccomended!!!

An early start and it’s back on the bikes with a smooth downhill before heading in to Wantian village for breakfast of local wanton soup and steamed bread, baozi. We'll have time to check out locals going about their daily life, buying in selling in the buzzing colourful local market. One of the highlight rides of the tour takes us through farming communities on small, serene backroads and trails through vegetable and fruit orchards as we explore village farm life. Around 30km we'll stop at a tea plantation for lunch where you see how tea is grown and produced with time to settle in to learn about tea culture over a traditional tea ceremony. After lunch we have a long but superb ride over 50km undulating through tiny villages, some off-road sections through forest before the karst peaks of Guilin’s skyline appear in front of us, where our van will be there to pick you up and transfer to Daxu old town, with 1000 years old ancient river town.

We'll visit several river towns along the way today, including Daxu, which is a picturesque cobblestone street village that offers a glimpse into old town China. A series of bike paths takes us through bamboo forest and along the waters edge to lunch. We'll eat food prepared right from the field - delicious local vegetables and an array of typical farmer food. After lunch we have some climbing to do! The rewards are spectacular as we take mountain roads high over the Li River and surrounding karsts for expansive views. After our intial climb the cycling gets much easier as we fly down newly built roads and along a wide valley of rice fields before emerging in Xingping town. Xingping is an old Ming Dynasty era village and boasts some fine streets worth exploring to see architecture that is rapidly disappearing in China. We stay tonight in a secluded hotel and eat tonight in the old town.

Our final day of cycling is a highlight! This section is famous for its beautiful karst mountains and is a fantastic start to the day as we follow the Li River upstream for around 2km to the view made famous for being on the Chinese 20 yuan note. From here we load up the bikes on bamboo rafts for a ride up the river taking in sublime views of endless massive karst mountains hanging over the river. Back on the bikes heading into the hills for some of the finest views of the tour, we stop for a break at Xianggongshan Mt for a short steep climb up to the lookout. We ride along the ridgeline heading away from the Li River to Baisha and onto the Dargon River overlooked by the centuries old Yu Long (Dragon Meeting) Bridge where we will stop for lunch in a local farmer’s restaurant by the river. Afterwards we keep riding to Jiuxian village where you have tonight to celebrate the end of the cycling adventure!

Today is departure day and you are free to leave at anytime. We’ll organise a transfer to connect with your onward travel. Keep in mind that there are plenty of things to do in Yangshuo so you may wish to extend your stay. Options include rock climbing,Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Chinese cooking classes or secluded retreats in the countryside to relax. Feel free to chat to us about the possibilities of traveling further.