Xingping

Xingping also sometimes spelled as Xing Ping, is what Yangshuo used to be. Even now when more and more tourist find Yangshuo, it is still a quiet hideout with the exception when the tourist boats from Guilin arrive. Only when the tourist boats from Guilin arrive, the town changes into a small Yangshuo.

The limestone mountains around the village from the river

What's the village like? Why would you want to go there? And how do you go there?

Xingping town center

As I have lived for awhile in Yangshuo, Xingping is not unknown to me. In fact, I have been there a few times. You can go to Xingping two ways: by boat or by road (bus, taxi or bicycle).

scenery around Xingping

The Village Center

Xingping town is small, you can walk around in an hour or so. Although the town is small, it has a long history that goes back at least 500 years. Many of the buildings are traditional from Qing and Ming dynasty period. The market for the surrounding villages is held at every 3 days. Like in many other areas in China, it's a kind of circulating market in the area. On the market days the town is usually quite busy with villagers from the neighboring villages.

Xingping old town
The old town of Xingping

The village is surrounded by many spectacular hills with imaginary names as "5 fingers hill" or Sengni Hill that resemble a monk and a nun are bickering with each other. South of town you can find Carp Hill and Snail Hill while in the west there lies Pen Holder Hill and Belle Peak. Around town you will find the village's own Camel Hill, the other Camel Hill is south of Yangshuo.

Sunset at Xingping

Getting there

There are two ways to reach Xingping, by road and by river.

You will find 3 of buildings at the main road to Xingping

By road

Yangshuo is 22 km away and although it's not far. There are three different roads leading to Xingping:

Main road from Yangshuo to Fuli and Xingping
The old road from Guilin to Xingping
Back road from Yangshuo via a ferry crossing

Almost all travelers use the main road leading out of Yangshuo to Fuli (follow the directions out of Yangshuo to Guangzhou) which is 6 km from Yangshuo. In the middle of town, take the junction to Xingping, another 18km.

Somewhere in the countryside on the way to Xingping
(this one is located a few hundred meters away from the may road)

The second road leads out of Guilin to Daxu. You can follow directions in Guilin to the Crown Cave. Just a few km after Daxu, take the road to the caves and Xingping, which is about 45 km.

Around Xingping
The road that leads deep into the mountains, around Baishandi

Starting this road in Xingping, just outside Xingping town there's a junction to Jiangcun, the next village. Don't make the mistake I made in May 2011 to go straight. It leads all the way to Baishandi and into the mountains, scenic though but a dead end road. There are some caves to visit, should you have not enough seen before. It IS a scenic road.

Here is a more extensive review of this road from Xingping to Guilin.

The third road originates in Yangshuo and leads north following the west bank of the Li River to a ferry crossing. Check this page for the details of this highly recommended road.

Xingping old town

By boat

Boats to Xingping originate from Zhujiang wharf, south of Guilin. The river cruise takes about 5 hours. The start of the cruise is not very interesting but the closer you come to Xingping, the more beautiful the scenery becomes. I wrote a full page about the river cruise for the Yangshuo Travel Guide website. Click here to read more and if you need help for a booking, see that page.

Y20 banknote
Banknote with Xingping

Sunset at the Li River in Xingping

Walking around Xingping

These days more and more tourist leave the town and explore the area north of Xing Ping. One option is to hike from Yangdi to Xingping. It requires a few crossings by local boat but it's easy to do. A crossing should cost a few Y but you find at some point they will charge Y10 or even more.

Wandering just outside the Xingping town center
(this is just south of the town center)

It's a pleasant and easy hike, which takes 3 to 4 hours depending how fast you walk and how many boats there are available to bring you over to the other riverbank.

Hotels and restaurants

Xingping has a few hotels and restaurants.

This Old Place.

This Old Place is associated with the International Youth Hostel Federation the hotel is an excellent option with clean rooms with bathroom and balcony. And Leo and his wife are sweet people who will make you feel at home. Read more about This Old Place

This Old Place Hotel in Xingping Kelly's Guesthouse Xingping
Left: This Old Place
Right: Kelly's Guesthouse

Kelly's Guesthouse

Alternatively you could stay at Kelly's Guesthouse, in the old town. It's small cozy guesthouse where I stayed in May 2011 two nights, and with pleasure. Views from the roof are great.

View from Kelly's Guesthouse in Xingping Old Town center

Additional benefit... manager Rich is a cycling enthusiast and can help you with eventual bicycle problems.

Maps of Xingping

A map of village center I don't have. I am not even sure if it exists. As the village is so small, you don't need a map too. A map of Xingping's surrounding however, is very useful. I went digging into my archives and found a good overview map.

Scenes in Xingping