Things To Do in Guilin

In the center of town are two of Guilin's main lakes left over from the moat that ringed the city in the Tang dynasty. To the western side of Zhongshan Lu is Rong Hu (Banyan Lake), named after an 800-year-old banyan tree on its shore. On the eastern side is Shan Hu (Cedar Lake), with its newly erected twin pagodas. A Liang Jiang Si Hu (Two Rivers and Four Lakes) boat tour offers visitors a chance to tour these lakes together with Gui Hu (Osmanthus Lake), Mulong Hu (Wooden Dragon Lake), and parts of the Li Jiang and Taohua Jiang (Peach Blossom) rivers, all of which are now connected by newly dredged waterways. Day sailings for ¥100 last around 90 minutes, begin at 8am, while evening sailings for ¥149 continue until 10pm, depart from the Jiefang Qiao Matou (pier) on Binjiang Lu near Jiefang Qiao, and from the Zhiyin Tai Matou on the eastern side of Cedar Lake. Buy tickets at hotel tour desks and at Shizi Jie next to the Dashijie Bridge (tel. 0773/282-2666).

With generally overinflated prices, Guilin is no place for bargains. Snacks and candies that make nice gifts include guihua su (a crisp, sweet osmanthus cracker) and guihua wangcha (osmanthus flower tea). The newest attraction, the Zhengyang Pedestrian Street, has a plethora of shops and stalls selling everything from teapots and jade to clothing and overpriced minority handicrafts and embroidery. The Guilin Weixiao Tang Shangsha (Guilin Niko Niko Do Co, Ltd.) at Zhongshan Zhong Lu 187, open from 9am to 10:30pm, is the largest department store in town.

Guilin's Darker Days-- Although the basement-level CD store of the Xinhua Bookstore on Zhongshan Bei Lu is not particularly well stocked, it does offer an insight into Guilin's past. Check out the heavy steel bomb doors at the entrance, remnants from a paranoid time when every building had such an installation for fear of Soviet attack.

Acrobatic performances (Meng Huan Xi You) are held nightly at the Li Jiang Theater (Li Jiang Juyuan), 38 Binjiang Lu. Performances cost ¥180 and run from 8 to 9:15pm. The Meng Huan Li Jiang (Meng Huang Ju Chang) at 95 Qixing Lu charges ¥150 to ¥180 for tickets to its combination ballet acrobatics show that also starts at 8pm. The Songs of Liu San Jie showcase local Zhuang minority music and dancing (Ge Xian Liu San Jie; Yi Shu Guan, 15 Jiefang Lu) costs between ¥100 and ¥180 and lasts for 2 hours starting at 8pm, but is only fractionally better than the other two. Tickets for all three shows can be booked on the tourist hot line tel. 12301 or from hotel concierges and receptions.