Welcome to Guilin!
Guilin (桂林, Guìlín) and the surrounding region are among the most scenic areas in China and the most popular tourist destinations both for Chinese travellers and the international backpacker set. Guilin is the hub for trips to the surrounding area's karst terrain, limestone mountains eroded into fantastic shapes. Apart from its sheer visual beauty, karst terrain also provides many cliffs suitable for rock climbing and many caves.
There are many scenic places within short traveling distance of Guilin. These include Longsheng with its famous Longji rice terraces, the Lijiang River, a scene of which is printed on the back of ¥20 bank notes, and Yangshuo, a small county downstream from Guilin. This makes Guilin an excellent base for exploring the northern end of Guangxi Province.
Guilin is a beautiful city. The town center is surrounded by two rivers and four lakes and studded with sheer sided karst mountains. Outside the city center, the buildings are less well kept. The main industry in the city is tourism so the city is much cleaner than other Chinese cities.
Guilin is like most other medium size Chinese cities, other than that it has a large number of western-style hotels, tourists and is relatively free of air pollution. Many Chinese domestic tourists also flock to this area. What makes it special is its proximity to many picturesque limestone mountains and formations.
Guilin (Standard Zhuang: Gveilinz, Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the north. Its name means "forest of sweet osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant sweet osmanthus trees located in the region. The city has long been renowned for its scenery of karst topography.
Its population was 4,747,963 as of the 2010 census (4,931,137 as of the 2020 census) whom 1,770,464 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 6 urban Districts plus Lingchuan County now being conurbated.Guilin is one of China's most popular tourist destinations, and the epithet "By water, by mountains, most lovely, Guilin" (山水甲天下) is often associated with the city. The State Council of China has designated Guilin a National Famous Historical and Cultural City, doing so in the first edition of the list.