- No metro in Guilin — read this first
- Guilin and Yangshuo transport at a glance
- From the airport into Guilin, or straight to Yangshuo
- Guilin city buses: cheap, Chinese-only, best for short hops
- Guilin ↔ Yangshuo: bus, train or boat — choose by where you are staying
- High-speed railway stations: Guilin, Guilin North, Guilin West
- Taxi: meter, Chinese address, and the Yangshuo price trap
- DiDi: set it up before you need it
- Paying for buses and taxis with Alipay or WeChat
- Cycling and walking in Yangshuo: often faster than a car
- Practical tips for getting around Guilin and Yangshuo
- Frequently asked questions
Short answer: there is no metro in Guilin, so plan around buses, taxis, DiDi, coaches and boats — not a subway map. Guilin and Yangshuo are best explored by a mix of airport bus, city bus, taxi or DiDi in town, coach or high-speed train between Guilin and Yangshuo, and a Li River cruise or bamboo raft on the water. The single most common first-timer mistake is assuming a metro exists, or assuming Yangshuo Station is in Yangshuo town. Neither is true, and both mistakes cost hours.
If you are planning the sights themselves, start with our Guilin and Yangshuo for First Timers guide, then use this page for how to move between them. For moving between Chinese cities in general, see How to Get Around Chinese Cities.
No metro in Guilin — read this first
Guilin has no metro system at all, and Yangshuo has none either. There is no subway line from the airport, no metro between Guilin and Yangshuo, and no metro inside either town. If a map, app or old guide shows a Guilin metro line, it is wrong or it is showing a plan, not a running line. Public transport in Guilin means buses and coaches, taxis and DiDi, high-speed trains between the three Guilin stations and Yangshuo Station, and boats on the Li River. That is a complete system — it just does not include a metro, so do not waste time looking for one at the airport.
Guilin and Yangshuo transport at a glance
| Mode | Best for | Cost, as a range | First-timer note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airport bus | Airport → Guilin city, or straight to Yangshuo | Roughly ¥20–25 to the city; roughly ¥60–70 to Yangshuo | Check the route board at the airport; late-night service is limited |
| City bus | Short hops inside Guilin city | Roughly ¥1–2 per ride | Stops and announcements mostly in Chinese; save stops in Chinese characters |
| Coach / long-distance bus | Guilin ↔ Yangshuo, Guilin ↔ Longsheng | Guilin–Yangshuo roughly ¥25–50, by departure point | Buses go to Yangshuo Bus Station / West Street area, not Yangshuo Station |
| High-speed train | Guilin ↔ Yangshuo Station, and onward cities | Roughly ¥21–28 second class to Yangshuo Station | Yangshuo Station is about 33 km from Yangshuo town — you still need a bus or taxi from there |
| Taxi / DiDi | Door-to-door, hills, luggage, late nights | Metered or app-shown; Yangshuo–airport roughly ¥160 by taxi | Show the address in Chinese; agree nothing off-meter |
| Li River cruise / bamboo raft | Guilin → Yangshuo on the water | Varies widely by boat class and operator | Book through your hotel or the official pier; check departure times on the day |
From the airport into Guilin, or straight to Yangshuo
Guilin’s airport is Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL), about 28–30 km west of the city centre. There is no metro and no train from the airport itself — your options are bus, taxi or DiDi, or a pre-booked transfer.
Airport bus routes
| Route | Where it goes | Time and cost, as a range |
|---|---|---|
| City Line 1 | Airport → Qintan Station → Civil Aviation Building (city centre) | About 40–60 minutes, roughly ¥20–25 |
| City Line 2 | Airport → Guilin West Station → Guilin North Station → Yangshuo Bus Terminal | About 60–90 minutes to Guilin North, roughly ¥20–30 |
| Direct airport → Yangshuo bus | Airport long-distance bus station (1st floor, near domestic arrivals) → Yangshuo Bus Station | About 90 minutes, roughly ¥60–70 |
Buy airport bus tickets at the counter or boarding point in the terminal — the city lines board near Exit 6 on the first floor of the arrival hall, and the Yangshuo bus boards from the airport’s long-distance bus station. Service is frequent in the day (roughly every 30–60 minutes on the city lines) but limited late at night, so if your flight lands after about 19:00–20:00, have a taxi or DiDi as your backup plan and check the last bus on the day. A taxi or DiDi to the centre takes about 50 minutes in normal traffic and roughly ¥80–100; Yangshuo by taxi from the airport is roughly ¥160 and about an hour.
Guilin city buses: cheap, Chinese-only, best for short hops
Inside Guilin city, public buses are cheap (roughly ¥1–2) and frequent on main roads, including routes to Elephant Trunk Hill, the main shopping streets and the bus stations. The difficulty is the same as in any smaller Chinese city: stop names and announcements are mostly in Chinese, and a bus number alone does not tell you its direction. Save your hotel, your destination and your return stop in Chinese characters, and take a screenshot in case you lose signal. For anything involving luggage, a tight connection or a place you cannot name in Chinese, take a taxi or DiDi instead — the fare saved on a bus is not worth a missed coach or cruise.
Guilin ↔ Yangshuo: bus, train or boat — choose by where you are staying
This is the journey most first-timers get wrong, because all three options end in different places. Choose by destination, not by speed alone:
Option 1: coach / long-distance bus — the simplest for most visitors
Coaches run frequently from Guilin’s bus stations (Qintan Bus Station and the small bus area in front of Guilin Railway Station) to Yangshuo Bus Station, near West Street. The ride takes about 70–90 minutes from the city and roughly 90–100 minutes from Guilin North Station, for roughly ¥25–50 depending on the departure point — the cheaper, more frequent departures are from the city stations, not from Guilin North. Buses run roughly from 07:00 to about 19:30–20:30, every 15–30 minutes in the day; check the timetable on the day, and buy a day ahead in peak season if you want a specific departure. In Yangshuo, small local buses and electric carts run from the bus station to West Street in a few minutes.
Option 2: high-speed train — fast, but Yangshuo Station is NOT Yangshuo town
High-speed trains run from Guilin North, Guilin and Guilin West stations to Yangshuo Station in about 24–38 minutes, for roughly ¥21–28 second class. That sounds like the best option — until you arrive. Yangshuo Station is a small station near Xingping, about 33 km from Yangshuo town and West Street. From there you still need the official shuttle bus (about ¥20 per person, up to about an hour) or a taxi to Yangshuo town. Door-to-door, the train is often no faster than the coach, and it is worse if you have luggage or arrive late. Take the train only if your hotel is near Xingping, or if you specifically want the Xingping river scenery — otherwise take the coach to Yangshuo Bus Station.
Option 3: Li River cruise or bamboo raft — a sightseeing journey, not just transport
The classic Guilin → Yangshuo journey is the Li River cruise, about 4–5 hours downriver from a Guilin pier (usually Mopanshan or Zhujiang Pier, depending on the operator) to Yangshuo. It is a full morning’s sightseeing, not a quick transfer: you board in the morning, the boat stops at Yangshuo in the afternoon, and you need onward transport from the Yangshuo pier to your hotel. Prices vary widely by boat class (standard, VIP, luxury) and by season — treat any single price in a guide as an example, not a current fare, and book through your hotel or the official pier. The shorter bamboo raft option runs on the Yangdi → Xingping stretch of the river (about 1.5–2 hours on the water) and is better if you are already near Xingping or want a half-day river trip rather than a full cruise. In low water or bad weather, cruises and rafts can be shortened or cancelled — check with the operator on the day, and never book a same-day flight or train that depends on a cruise arriving on time.
High-speed railway stations: Guilin, Guilin North, Guilin West
| Station | Where it is | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Guilin North (Guilinbei) | North of the city, about 9 km north of Guilin Station | Default for most high-speed trains, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen directions |
| Guilin Station | City centre, about 1 km south of the centre | Your hotel is central and your train actually uses this station; also the coach area in front |
| Guilin West (Guilinxi) | West of the city, remote | Only if your ticket actually says Guilin West — do not go there by default |
Check the station name on your ticket twice before you leave: “Guilin”, “Guilin North” and “Guilin West” are three different stations, and a taxi to the wrong one can cost you your train. From Guilin Station to Guilin North, bus 100 takes about 50 minutes for ¥2; from Guilin North to the airport, the airport bus takes roughly 60–90 minutes. Allow far more time for station transfers than the distance suggests — Guilin’s stations are spread out, and traffic around them is slow.
Taxi: meter, Chinese address, and the Yangshuo price trap
Taxis in Guilin city are metered and cheap for short hops. Always ask for the meter and show the destination in Chinese characters. The price trap is the intercity ride: a taxi from Yangshuo to the airport or to Guilin city is a long, fixed-price negotiation, not a short metered hop — roughly ¥160 from Yangshuo to the airport is a common quoted figure, but agree the price (or use DiDi, which shows it in the app) before you get in, and be wary of drivers who offer a “tour” that adds stops you did not ask for. In Yangshuo town itself, walking and cycling beat any car: West Street and the riverside are pedestrian-friendly, and a car is slower than a bike for short distances.
DiDi: set it up before you need it
DiDi works in Guilin city and, with fewer drivers, in Yangshuo town. It solves the language problem (destination entered in the app, price shown before confirming) and the meter problem at once, and it is the best fallback when the last airport bus has gone. This section is only a summary — for the full step-by-step setup, booking and payment tutorial, see our How to Use DiDi in China guide. In short: install DiDi (or use it inside Alipay or WeChat), add a payment method before your first ride, and pin your pickup point carefully — a pin at a bus station entrance and a pin at a pier gate can be on different roads. In Yangshuo’s countryside lanes, a DiDi driver may need a phone call to find you: use the app’s message translation, or ask your hotel to call the driver.
Paying for buses and taxis with Alipay or WeChat
Most Guilin city buses accept a transport QR code in Alipay or WeChat, and taxis accept phone QR payment — but Guilin is a smaller city than Chongqing or Shanghai, so do not assume every bus and every driver is set up the same way. The safe routine is:
- Alipay: open Alipay, go to Transport, select Guilin, and get the Guilin transport QR code. Scan it when you board a city bus. For the full setup, including linking a foreign card, see How to Set Up Alipay for Foreigners.
- WeChat: open WeChat, go to Services (or Me) → Transport, select Guilin, and get the code the same way. See How to Set Up WeChat Pay for Foreigners for setup. If WeChat will not activate for a foreign card, use Alipay instead.
- Always carry small cash as backup: ¥1 and ¥5 notes and coins, for city buses that do not take QR codes, for the Yangshuo shuttle bus, and for small local buses in the countryside. Long-distance coaches and airport buses are usually paid at a counter or a WeChat mini-program (Guilin Airport and Qintan Bus Station both have mini-programs), not by scanning a metro-style code — check the payment method at the counter before you board.
Transport QR codes are city-specific: a Guilin code does not work in another city. Set the code up at the hotel on Wi-Fi before your first bus ride, not at a bus stop.
Cycling and walking in Yangshuo: often faster than a car
Yangshuo’s countryside — the Yulong River valley, the karst lanes between villages, and the ride from Yangshuo town to Xingping — is best seen by bicycle, rented from your hotel or a hire shop in town. A bike is faster than a car on narrow lanes, and it lets you stop at viewpoints a bus passes. Wear a helmet if one is offered, carry water, and do not cycle on the main Guilin–Yangshuo highway: use the signed countryside lanes instead. In Guilin city, walking is best around Elephant Trunk Hill, the Two Rivers and Four Lakes area and the main shopping streets; for anything further, take a bus or DiDi.
Practical tips for getting around Guilin and Yangshuo
- Never assume a metro. If a route planner shows a subway line in Guilin, it is wrong. Recheck the route as bus, coach, taxi or boat.
- Yangshuo Station ≠ Yangshuo town. The station is about 33 km away, near Xingping. Coach to Yangshuo Bus Station is usually the better door-to-door choice.
- Save everything in Chinese. Hotel, pier, bus station and village names in Chinese characters, with screenshots. “Yangshuo” alone is not enough — Yangshuo town, Yangshuo Station and Yangshuo Bus Station are three different places.
- Do not chain a cruise to a flight or train. Li River cruises and rafts depend on water levels and weather. Leave a night in Yangshuo or Guilin between a river trip and an onward departure.
- Late arrivals need a backup. Airport buses thin out after about 19:00–20:00, and Yangshuo’s last coaches leave around 19:30–20:30. If you land or arrive late, pre-book a transfer or be ready for a taxi or DiDi.
Frequently asked questions
Does Guilin have a metro?
No. Guilin has no metro system at all. Transport is by bus and coach, taxi and DiDi, high-speed train between the three Guilin stations and Yangshuo Station, and boats on the Li River.
What is the best way from Guilin Airport to the city?
The airport bus is the simplest: City Line 1 to the Civil Aviation Building in the centre takes about 40–60 minutes for roughly ¥20–25. A taxi or DiDi takes about 50 minutes and roughly ¥80–100 in normal traffic.
Should I take the train or the bus from Guilin to Yangshuo?
For most visitors, the coach: it goes to Yangshuo Bus Station near West Street in about 70–90 minutes. The train to Yangshuo Station is faster on the rails (about 24–38 minutes) but the station is about 33 km from Yangshuo town, so door-to-door it is often slower.
Can I pay for Guilin buses with Alipay?
Most city buses accept a Guilin transport QR code in Alipay (Transport section) or WeChat (Services → Transport), but carry small cash as backup for coaches, shuttle buses and countryside buses. Long-distance and airport buses are usually paid at a counter or a WeChat mini-program.
How do I get from Yangshuo to the airport?
Direct airport buses run from Yangshuo Bus Station to Liangjiang Airport in about 90 minutes for roughly ¥60. A taxi is about an hour and roughly ¥160 — agree the price or use DiDi before you get in.