Yangshuo

Assembling Dragon Cave

聚龙潭

The Karst cave was so named because the grotesque peaks outside the cave look like dragons among the clouds. Inside the Assembling Dragon Cave are beautiful sculptures of nature in the form of varied formations of stalactites and stalagmites. These formations are lit by colorful neon lights, together with sweet music in the background, making one feels like he/she is in the fairyland! The Magical Stone Palace is next to the exit of the Assembling Dragon Cave. The Magical Stone Palace is a big exhibition hall selling many kinds of stones to tourists.

Cafe le Votre

Set back from the street with a courtyard in front, is a brew pub with its own beer. They have two brews, a wheat beer and a dark beer, both are rare finds in China. They also have French and Chinese food; quality is good and prices relatively high. Their courtyard is a great place for people-watching, but unfortunately it is also convenient for touts to find you.

Impression Liu Sanjie Theater

刘三姐水上公园

Every evening from 8 to 9:10pm a live performance is held where the surrounding karst mountains are part of the show.

Insight Adventures

芙蓉路12号

Insight Adventures are the largest operator in Yangshuo and offer climbing and many other activities such as kayaking, caving, biking and abseiling. They are the most expensive outfit in town and offer a large staff of foreign and Chinese guides.

Kelly's Cafe

Great service and food, cheap beer. Foreigners living in Yangshuo often hang out here. Also offers free wireless Internet. The Kelly's Cafe on Guiha street is better than the one on the side street. They both have great milk shakes but their veggie burgers are not the best in town as claimed. Also, a nice view and an ample breakfast.

Moon Hill

月亮山

Another popular scenic spot south of town. The main attraction is a hill with a huge hole in the shape of a moon. The hills here can be climbed for spectacular vistas from the top. There is a ¥15 entry fee. (There is also another dirt trail to the right of the entrance; follow it left, hop over the barbed wire and follow the stone steps up to reach the main path for free.) It is not an incredibly long trek to the top but the gradient and strange angle of the steps can do something strange to your legs on the way down. The Moon Hill Cafe at the base of the hill sells fairly mediocre food at ridiculously high prices, and you may need something after the trek up and down. Alternatively there are a few other places to choose from in nearby Moon Hill Village, and plenty of hawkers selling cool drinks. If it is a slow day, don't be surprised if a hawker follows you up the mountain to make a sale when you are thirsty. The hawkers are mostly harmless old farm women, but they are aggressive. ¥5 is a fair price for two bottles of cold water. They will try to sell it for triple that price. On the road back to Yangshuo, not far from Moon Hill, is the 'Big Banyan Tree' scenic area. A ¥20 entry fee gets you into this popular park by the Yulong river, featuring a 1,400-year-old banyan tree. Be sure to use the official entrance (ticket offices at the front), as hawkers will attempt to lure you into an alternative entrance that is lined with dozens of souvenir stalls.

Temporarily closed as of May 2025

Yangdi-Xingping scenic area

杨堤风光

This stretch along the Li River is probably the most renowned and popular. The traditional bamboo rafts along this stretch have been replaced by rafts made of plastic pipe with two stroke motors. The "raft experience" is now a boom industry and hundreds of these small rafts cruise this route when the big tour boats have passed. The rafts are safe and the better operators provide life jackets. There is also a 24 km (5 to 6 hours) track for easy hiking along the Li river.

Yangshuo Park

阳朔公园, 人民公园 People's Park

A great place to observe the locals playing cards, a national pastime so it would seem. You’ll also see groups of women sitting around talking whilst doing their knitting, some even walk along the street whilst knitting and chatting.

Open all day·Free

Yulong River valley

遇龙河谷

The pretty valley is said to rival the Yangdi-Xingping stretch in terms of beauty. Besides rafting down the river on bamboo rafts, another popular way of seeing the valley is by cycling along riverside tracks. The journey will bring you through many farming villages and past several stone bridges across the river such as the Yulong Qiao and Fuli Qiao. Be warned though that the track is complicated and it is easy to get lost; using a local guide will ensure you stay on track.

Balcony Bar

Fairly decent French food and crepe, movie every night at 21:00 and free internet.

Bamboo Rafting

Rafting along the Yulong river is particularly popular in summer, but travellers should take care not to go rafting if the water is brown and turbulent. In 2005 there was a fatality during high floods. The duration for rafting depends on the wharf that is your starting point and the ticket price varies accordingly. For example, from Shui'e di Wharf (水苊底码头) about 35 min on raft, Jima Wharf (骥马码头) about 80 min, Jinlong Bridge Wharf (金龙桥码头) about 90 min.

Bike riding

Wandering through the countryside on a bike and getting lost is one of the best things about Yangshuo. The villages often have dramatic mountain backdrops, and the people are generally friendly. Another popular trip is to take a boat ride with a bike, then bicycle back to town. Bike hire starts at around ¥15-20 per day, and tandems are a bit more. The bikes tend to be poorly maintained, so be sure to check brakes and gears before you set out. For travelers craving reliability, Bike Asia (22 Guihua Rd, across from Bar 98 and next to Kelly's Cafe) has well-maintained specialized mountain bikes for ¥70 a day, including a map, lock, helmet and advice on routes. Bike Asia also has good bike maps of the area, and can advise on where to cycle and help out with a reliable guide. Find a farmer woman for ¥100 per day to give you a guided tour of the local paths. This may include lunch at her place if you're lucky.

From ¥10 per day

Blackrock

Claim focus on quality instructions, bilingual guides and safety. Offer other activities such as abseiling, kayaking and ziplining.

Cafe China

Great coffee, great cheesecake, packed most nights, wireless internet, and good chocolate milkshake (though small).

Brandy: ¥7

Cafe del Moon

Breakfast here is excellent value if you are hungry or want a lot of coffee. Ghastly croissants but the rest is good.

all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet: ¥32

Carpe Diem restaurant

This charming restaurant with a great outside deck offers a fine selection of the local cuisine as well as a variety of international dishes in a quiet and relaxing setting with great views. Breakfasts, brunches, lunch and dining with generous portions. Weekly barbecue and Chinese buffet nights. Cozy bar with a nice selection of Belgian Beers and South-African wines. Belgian-Chinese management.

Cormorant Fishing

Local tourism companies offer evening boat trips to watch fisherman using a traditional night fishing technique that employs cormorants.

Dosa U.K.

Excellent, authentic home made South Indian food in brand new spot. Attentive service and very good prices. Kind of a hole in the wall and the decor is a bit over the top. Menu is limited but has the South Indian basics and a very good crispy dosa.

Closed · opens 11 am·cheap

Dynasty Dumplings

一品居

Small restaurant offering authentic Northern Chinese food, run by a couple from Liaoning. Very popular with Western tourists, they have the usual Chinese-English bilingual menu with pictures, so ordering is not a problem. Try their dumplings (¥12-15 for a serving of twelve).

¥12-100

Exploring caves

There are an abundance of caves riddling the limestone hills. Guided tours are available. More serious cavers should talk to the staff at the various climbing shops (listed above) for information about possible cave climbs.

Gan's Noodles

Specializing in handmade noodles, this tiny shop is an out of the way treasure most tourists will never visit. For ¥8 you get a great spicy beef noodle bowl. With a beer to wash it all down, this little 4 table shop had excellent service, while the servers don't know English, the menu has pictures and English names, and whatever you end up with will be amazing.

Huangyao Ancient Town

Huangyao Ancient Town is just over an hour outside of Yangshuo by coach. It is a lovely, rustic old town where the film, "The Painted Veil" was shot.

Impression Liu Sanjie

印象·刘三姐, Yinxiang Liusanjie

70 minutes long. The show, set to the music from the movie of the same name and produced by famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou, who was also behind the Beijing Olympic games opening ceremony, is grand and impressive, though perhaps not particularly entertaining. It features a cast of more than 600 wearing traditional Zhuang, Miao and Yao dress, and a highly impressive light show. Liu Sanjie translates as Third sister Liu, the heroine of an old Chinese story. You can see the show cheaply from a boat on the river, or even from across the river, but by far the best view is from the official seating area. Tickets only sell out in the very height of the summer tourist season. Seats are assigned.

Every day but closed in Jan or Feb for maintenance·¥188 face value, travel agents sell at about ¥150 for the cheapest seat

Kaya

A reggae bar, although with a larger range of music, moved from Guihua road to a new space on Xianqian St (with an open fire which is awesome in winter). Often has good live music (permanent open mic) and very laid back atmosphere. 10 kuai local beers, 15 kuai standard mixers as well as a wide range of cocktails and other drinks. Shisha 35 kuai. Nice chill-out area on the second floor. open later than most other bars, and often doesn't begin to fill up until after 10. Quiz nights on Tuesday nights often attract a good crowd.

Lucy's Place

Serves a variety of Western and Chinese dishes, including excellent fries and great coffee. Their apple crumble (¥20) is a must-try. The owner and manager (Lucy) is a terrific resource for things to do and places to go in Yangshuo.

Luna

听月餐厅

Italian restaurant designed by Yangshuo Mountain Retreat owner, Chris Barclay, Luna offers gorgeous views of Moon Hill and the surrounding village. They also serve gourmet Chinese dumplings and offer a full bar. There's no elevator so be prepared to walk up.

Closed · opens noon

MC Blues

Good cocktails, happy hour from 18:00-20:00, great music, wireless internet, 2nd floor lounge and open late.

Minority Cafe

Friendly staff and tasty food with decent size portions. The burrito and the chocolate and banana pancake are particularly good. Wireless internet and two computers available for customers. Regular expat hangout.

Western food around ¥25, Gin and tonic ¥10, Beer ¥6

Monkey Jane's Rooftop Bar

Opens in the afternoon and closes late, often 03:00-04:00. Monkey Jane's Rooftop Bar & Hostel is a nice and chill rooftop bar in a small alley of West Street. During the day it's great for chilling and enjoying the scenery with a nice view of the hills around Yangshuo. At night there's often parties with cheap beer and cocktails and things go crazy every now and then. There's a beer pong table and if you're lucky enough to beat Jane, you get a free T-shirt! Has beer pong tournaments every now and then. Happy Hour is from 6-9 with 2 cocktails for 30 kuai and shots for 20 kuai. They serve ice-cold Tsingtao, BeerLao, Heineken and Paulaner. Try their local Snake Baijiu.

Tsingtao 15

Mono Roof-top Bar

Bar is on the fourth floor, with a small rooftop drinking area, great for getting away from the heat and crowds at street level. Fantastic views of the mountains that are lit up at night time. Ground floor is being renovated as an art gallery to display the owner's paintings. Free internet cafe for customers, 10 computers available. Bar has a fussball table, and roof-top area has a pool table. The owner and staff are very friendly, and speak good English.

Open 20:00, Close late·Large local beer ¥10, Spirits ¥15-30