China: Zhangjiajie, Fenghuang, Longji and Yangshuo

Arrive in Zhangjiajie, settle in at Wulingyuan

Zhangjiajie Hehua airport (DYG) or Zhangjiajie West station to Wulingyuan

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Wulingyuan
• Environ 45 min de route

Soir

In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week: why the early starts, what the mountain paths are like, and how the train day works. Then we sit down to a welcome dinner of Hunan and Tujia dishes at a local restaurant, smoked pork, river fish and plenty of chili, with milder plates for anyone who prefers them.

Compris

• Pick-up at Zhangjiajie Hehua airport (DYG) or Zhangjiajie West station
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner

The Bailong lift early, Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain

Wulingyuan gate, the Bailong lift to Yuanjiajie, then Tianzi Mountain and down by cable car

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Wulingyuan
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

Wulingyuan, listed by UNESCO in 1992 for its 3,000-odd quartz sandstone pillars, is one of China's busiest parks, and by mid-morning the queues for the lifts run long. We leave the hotel at about 6:45, enter at opening and take the park bus to the Bailong lift, a glass elevator about 326 m high built against the cliff, riding up on one of the first cars of the day. At the top we walk the Yuanjiajie loop while it is quiet: the First Bridge Under Heaven, a natural stone span between two pillars, and the pillar now called Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, with the valley falling away below the railings.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal on the plateau. In the afternoon the park bus takes us on to Tianzi Mountain for the long views across the peaks from Helong Park, then we ride the Tianzi cable car down and are back at the hotel in the late afternoon.

Compris

• Wulingyuan multi-day park ticket and park buses
• The Bailong lift up, early in the day
• Yuanjiajie with your guide: the First Bridge Under Heaven and Avatar Hallelujah Mountain
• Tianzi Mountain and Helong Park viewpoints
• The Tianzi Mountain cable car down

Golden Whip Stream and a free afternoon

Wulingyuan to the Forest Park entrance, Golden Whip Stream to Water Winding Four Gates, back to Wulingyuan

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Wulingyuan
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive about 45 minutes round to the south gate of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, the oldest part of the Wulingyuan area, and walk Golden Whip Stream, about 7 km on a flat, paved path beside clear water under the pillars, with Golden Whip Rock rising straight up from the bank. Walking it in the morning means cooler air and quieter paths. Rhesus macaques live along the stream; your guide will ask you to keep food out of sight. The walk ends at Water Winding Four Gates, where four valleys meet, and the park bus takes us back to Wulingyuan.

Après-midi

Lunch is Tujia three-in-a-pot in Wulingyuan, three meats and vegetables cooked together in one pot at the table. The afternoon is free: rest, wander the town or go back into the park on your ticket.

Compris

• Golden Whip Stream walk with your guide
• Water Winding Four Gates
• Tujia lunch in Wulingyuan

Activités en option

• Huangshi Village viewpoint by cable car, before the stream walk

Tianmen Mountain at the first cableway, on to Fenghuang

Wulingyuan to Tianmen Mountain at Zhangjiajie city, then by road to Fenghuang

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Fenghuang
• Environ 4 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is in the city. Then it is about three hours by expressway into the hills of western Hunan, with a stop on the way, reaching Fenghuang in the late afternoon. The total driving is about four hours, split by the morning on the mountain and lunch.

Compris

• Tianmen Mountain ticket with the cable car that is running, escalators and park bus
• The cliff paths and glass walkway, with shoe covers
• Tianmen Cave (Heaven's Gate)
• Transfer to Fenghuang

Fenghuang old town at 7 am, the Miao villages of Shanjiang

Fenghuang old town and the Tuo River, then the Miao villages around Shanjiang and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Fenghuang
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

Fenghuang fills with day-trippers from mid-morning, so we walk it at 7 am, when the shopkeepers are opening their shutters and mist sits on the Tuo River. Your guide leads you along the stilt houses, wooden homes propped on posts over the water, across the stepping stones and up to the North Gate tower on the old town wall. We visit the former home of Shen Congwen, the writer whose novel Border Town made this region known across China, and the Yang family ancestral hall. Then we drift downstream in a small wooden boat poled by a boatman, under the bridges and past the riverside houses.

Après-midi

After lunch we drive about half an hour into the hills to the Miao villages around Shanjiang, where stone and timber houses step up the slopes and older women still wear embroidered dress. Your guide explains Miao festivals, silverwork and farming, and we walk the village lanes.

Soir

We are back in Fenghuang by late afternoon; the evening is free to see the river lit up.

Compris

• Early walk through Fenghuang old town with your guide: the stilt houses, the stepping stones and the North Gate
• Shen Congwen's former residence and the Yang family ancestral hall
• Tuo River boat ride
• Afternoon in the Miao villages around Shanjiang, with lunch

High-speed train to Guilin, up to Ping'an

Fenghuang Ancient City station, direct train to Guilin North, then by road to Ping'an in the Longji terraces

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Ping'an (Longji)
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

After an early breakfast our vehicle takes the group about an hour to Fenghuang Ancient City station, allowing time for passport checks, and we board a direct daytime train south into Guangxi, about six hours on the rails. A daytime train with reserved seats is what breaks the day up: you can stretch your legs, read, and watch the hills of western Hunan and northern Guangxi pass, instead of sitting in a van.

Après-midi

Lunch is on board or bought at the station before we leave; your guide helps you order. We reach Guilin North in the early afternoon, where our vehicle is waiting, and it is about two hours north into the hills of Longsheng county to Ping'an, a Zhuang village built of dark wood on the slopes of the Longji rice terraces. Cars stop below the village, so you take a small bag up the stone steps while your suitcase stays in the vehicle.

Soir

We arrive in the late afternoon or early evening, with time to settle in before dinner at the guesthouse, with bamboo-tube rice.

Compris

• Transfer to the station
• Reserved seats on the direct train to Guilin North, about 6 hours, with your guide
• Transfer from Guilin to Ping'an
• Longji terrace entry
• Dinner at the guesthouse

The Longji terraces in the early light, on to Yangshuo

Ping'an terrace viewpoints, then by road via Guilin to Yangshuo

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Yangshuo
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

The terraces are at their best early, with mist in the valley and the low sun picking out the walls, so we set out after an early breakfast. Your guide walks the group up through Ping'an to the two classic viewpoints, Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers, about three hours on stone steps and narrow paths between the paddies. The terraces were cut into these slopes over several centuries and are still farmed by hand; your guide explains how the Zhuang families flood, plant and harvest them, and what the season is doing to them as you look.

Après-midi

Lunch is in the village. In the early afternoon we walk down to the vehicle and drive back through Guilin and on to Yangshuo, about three and a half hours with a break, and the karst begins on the way: limestone peaks rising straight out of the rice fields. We check into a hotel near the river for two nights.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Guided walk to the Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers viewpoints
• Village lunch
• Transfer to Yangshuo

Down the Li River by raft, a farewell dinner

Yangshuo to Yangdi, a raft down the Li River to Xingping, back to Yangshuo

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Yangshuo
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

Between Yangdi and Xingping the Li River winds through a narrow valley of karst peaks, and the morning is the calmest time on the water. We drive about an hour to the pier at Yangdi and board rafts, two guests and a boatman each; they are still called bamboo rafts, though today most are built of plastic pipe with a small outboard motor, a canopy and seats. The ride downstream takes about an hour and a half, between karst peaks and past Nine Horse Fresco Hill to the bend near Xingping pictured on the back of the 20 yuan banknote.

Après-midi

We land at Xingping, walk its old street and sit down to lunch: beer fish, river fish braised with tomato, chili and local beer. Back in Yangshuo by about 2:30, the afternoon is free for a nap, a massage or a wander along the river.

Soir

In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

Compris

• Li River raft from Yangdi to Xingping
• Xingping old street with your guide
• Beer fish lunch in Xingping
• Farewell dinner

Activités en option

• Impression Liu Sanjie light show on the river
• Cooking class in Yangshuo

The Yulong valley by bike, then Guilin airport

Yangshuo to the Yulong valley and Moon Hill, then Guilin Liangjiang airport (KWL)

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

A last morning in the countryside. After breakfast we cycle out of town with a local cycling guide, about 15 km on flat country lanes and farm paths along the Yulong River, a quieter tributary of the Li, between rice fields, orange groves, karst peaks and small villages, at an easy pace with plenty of stops. We pause below Moon Hill, named for the half-moon arch through its summit, and watch the hand-poled bamboo rafts drifting over the small weirs. Our support van follows, so anyone can hop off the bike at any point.

Après-midi

Lunch is at a farmhouse restaurant in the valley. In the early afternoon we drive about an hour and a quarter to Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL), where your guide sees you to check-in and says goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 5 pm; most guests connect through Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing or Hong Kong.

Compris

• Guided bike ride in the Yulong valley, bikes and helmets included
• Moon Hill
• Farmhouse lunch
• Drop-off at Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)

Activités en option

• Hand-poled bamboo raft on the Yulong River, in place of part of the ride