Like Tree3Likes

Night bus to Guilin and Yangshuo?

Closed Thread
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast
  1. #11

    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    86

    So I went to multiple CTS branches today and some random travel agencies as well and apparently you can't buy Shenzhen bus tickets in advance anymore? They all told me I would have to do it at the Lo Wu border.

    so we are planning to depart HK for Shenzhen at around noon to try and buy tickets for the 8:30 PM bus to Yangshuo. Is that overkill? Hopefully we'll have some time to shop a bit in Shenzhen since we're traveling very lightly anyway.

    in regards to having the names of the places already written down, should I just have the place or should I specifically have something like "2 bus tickets to Yangshuo"? i have a bunch of friends from the mainland who could easily help me with it but i need to know what to write in the first place haha


  2. #12

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast Marina
    Posts
    17,934

    I found just place names enough. If you queue up in a bus ticket queue the typically know that's what you are trying to buy, and fingers work for numbers. but perhaps "soft seater" vs "hard seater" or whichever class you want might be handy.


  3. #13

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    7,517

    Make sure you go to the right bus station. See map in #8.

    Flights between Shenzhen and Guilin often go for around 400Rmb one way plus tax.

    Be wary of the various scams at and near the bus terminus at Yangshuo. Often the scams are connected to offers of accommodation ("official YHA"), tours connected to hostels and hotels, as well as the normal tea scams (although they are more likely in Beijing or Shanghai). The bus gets in early in the morning, and it will be quite chilly at that time.

    Last edited by drumbrake; 06-12-2011 at 10:56 PM.

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    86

    Thanks so much to everyone on here.

    Any recommendations on specifics of nice things to do there? I'm very into photography and will have a dslr and tripod with me. My friend really wants to do the Li River cruise so we'll probably do that one way and take the bus back the other.

    Day 1: yangshuo
    Day 2: cruise or bus to Guilin. Take a trip to the Longsheng rice terraces. cruise or bus back to Yangshuo
    Day 3: yangshuo then night bus back to Shenzhen

    Are the rice terraces worth going to during this time? some people have told me no but i'd love to see them. i mean, i'm not expecting to see flooded terraces and lush greenery but yeah..

    is the cable car in guilin worth it?


  5. #15

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    133

    Um you can get a flight from SZX to KWL each way for about 400RMB including tax. Why bother with the trains and buses?


  6. #16

    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    730

    You may also want to spend a few hours at the Silver Cavern near Yangshao which I think is well worth it.


  7. #17

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    7,517

    Cable cars in China are generally not worth it. The rice terraces at this time of the year won't look that good. They are also 3-4 hours from Yangshuo, so along trip. In the time you have, I would just stay in Yanghuo. there is enough to see in and around that place. Go to Xingping - an older town - for half a day. I would give Guilin a miss - better scenery in Yangshuo.


  8. #18

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    7,441

    Never heard of cruise from Yangshuo to Guilin, always the other way around but could be wrong. Saw plenty of empty boats going back up river, assuming alot slower!

    Only reason to go to Guilin is to catch the boat to Yangshuo! Though, had some good 'kao yu', bbq fish there.

    Last edited by virago; 07-12-2011 at 03:19 PM.

  9. #19

    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    86

    ok back from the trip! really really enjoyed it. we stayed in yangshuo for 3 days, 2 nights. caught the night bus from Shenzhen to Yangshuo. we were really lost and the ticket counter for buses just told us something about "canceled" buses to yangshuo. and these hawkers kept following us repeating "guilin? guilin? yangshuo?" this guy in a suit brought us to a small travel agency and we got tickets for like 230 RMB but we were really scared it was a scam. Everything turned out okay though and I even met some people from a school near mine in the US (and they spoke mandarin!).

    bus was pretty comfortable - could have used more room but i'm short so it doesn't matter.

    our hostel was super far from the town center, maybe like a 15 minute walk. but it was nice and the receptionist was super helpful.

    day 1: walked around town in the morning since we arrived super early. "bamboo" raft on the Li River from Xingping to some place further north I don't know the name of and back south to a small fishing village. The old folks there were a bit nasty even though we didn't do anything remotely offensive. checked out west street at night which was really nice. I gave my tripod to my friend to hold because I had too much stuff. when we got off the bus she left it by accident. so effing pissed even though it's half my fault for giving it to her and not making sure she had it getting off the bus in the first place. we went back to the bus station with notes and memos in chinese for the next 2 days and no one was able to help us

    day 2: longji rice terraces - this took up pretty much the whole day and even though it's not exactly prime time for the terraces it was still really nice. west street and other stuff again at night

    day 3: cycled from yangshuo south along the yulong river. went to moon hill then to the mudbath and hot springs. The mud bath was freezing and the hot spring was pretty lame, but I guess it's just not the season for it. met some other kids the day before from the school I'm on exchange at and they loved it, so that's why we tried it out -_- anyway, we cycled back to yangshuo after that. we tried to find this hill on pantao road with a super nice view that some friends told us about but we couldn't find it. ended up just going up that small hill with the small temple on top to watch the sunset. really amazing

    we didn't even go to guilin but we passed through it on the way back from longji terraces and judging by what I saw, I'm happy I stayed in Yangshuo...

    the night bus back was good. except this british couple who i'm guessing were new to the night bus thing got the driver to kick me and this local chinese girl off the top bunks so that they could be "next to each other." seriously? i didn't mind being on the bottom level except that all my stuff was already settled in. it's a 10-hour night bus ride. i'm honestly confused why the hell they needed to be next to each other

    Drunken Master and drumbrake like this.

  10. #20

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    7,517

    Berths / seats on sleeper buses I have been on have been numbered. Perhaps you were in their berths which was why they asked you to move.