👌🏻 highly recommended for foreign travellers to Guilin - Our trip was on a Saturday, 22-Apr. Since China had just opened up, there were no English tours available. Nora (our contact person from the tour company) informed me about this before finalizing the bookings. Rather than joining the default Chinese group tour (w/c included coach service from Guilin hotel to cruise port and from Yangshuo to Guilin hotel), we agreed on the ff. customized booking: ✅ 🚗 Private car from hotel 🏨 to cruise port ⛴️; driver helped claim our cruise tickets 🎫 at the port - he barely spoke any English, but he was very friendly and helpful 🙂 We were able to get by trading few words of English & Chinese (I studied basic Chinese), with matching improvised hand-gestures 😋 ✅ ⛴️ 3-star Li River cruise ⭐⭐⭐; ⏳4hrs from Guilin to Yangshuo; inclusions: 💺assigned seat, 🍽️ packed lunch, 🍵 unlimited complimentary tea, 🎤 Chinese-speaking guide (who speaks very clearly, so translate apps are able to convert her Chinese speech to English text well). There's also a pedestal toilet 🚽 onboard (a rarity in China). Again, staff onboard did not speak English, but they were very hospitable 🩷. We were the only foreigners onboard, but we felt like we received the same quality of service as the locals. We were lucky too that our fellow passengers at our table on the cruise were polite & friendly. ✅ 👣(Free time to explore Yangshuo on our own) ✅ 🚗 Private car from Yangshuo 🏯 to Guilin hotel 🏨; ⏳ total travel time was around 2hr (departing Yangshuo at 5pm; heavy traffic at the city/town centers due to a local holiday/festival) The change from shared coach to private transfers required an additional payment, but it was well worth it. Nora was very helpful 🙏🏻 On top of arranging all the bookings, she kept in touch with us online (via WeChat) during our tour day to continue helping us. For example, she would speak to one of our drivers (who did not speak English) on our behalf. I highly recommend this service to foreign tourists (esp. first-timers in China) because it spares you the trouble of having to book transport & cruise tickets yourself, which is VERY challenging if you do not (1) speak Chinese and (2) have WeChat/AliPay. Note that: [] Most local websites (to buy tickets or make bookings) are in Chinese only, so they may not even turn up in your Bing search. (No Google in China) [] Most establishments only accept WeChat/AliPay (i.e. cash/card not accepted); you can only setup accounts for those if you have a Chinese bank account or credit card ...so, it's a BIG deal that you just pay once on Viator (via card or PayPal) for all those travel bookings.

Tour went smoothly, transport back to Guilin not provided - Driver arrived on time to send us to the ferry pier. The cruise went smoothly and the staff on board were professional. They gave explanations in Chinese about the scenic attractions and local specialties. Packed lunch with rice, meat, and corn was provided. The cruise ended at yangshuo. Note that this tour did not include any transport from the ferry pier at yangshuo to yangshuo town, and transport back from yangshuo to Guilin. Given this, it might be cheaper to book the ferry cruise and car ride to the pier yourself or through your hotel. We had a leisurely 15 min walk from yangshuo pier to the town area along the river. We explored the town area for some time and booked a didi car back to Guilin which cost slightly above 200 yuan.

Stunning views of the famous Guilin mountains and peaks - The views of the mountains along the river are incredible. So worth it. The cruise itself was pleasant. The duration of the cruise was about 3.5-4 hours. Plenty of time to relax, take photos, eat food and reflect about your trip!