Xingping-Altstadt

Xingping is an old market town on the east bank of the Li River about an hour north of Yangshuo, with a recorded history stretching back more than seventeen hundred years. Once a thriving regional trading center, it is now the most popular base for travelers who want to explore the most photogenic stretch of the Li River, including the famous Twenty-Yuan Note viewpoint, and for many visitors it is the most atmospheric place to stay in the wider Yangshuo area.

The old town preserves a network of narrow stone-paved lanes lined with Ming and Qing dynasty courtyard houses, several small temples, an open-air theater stage, and old stone bridges spanning the small tributaries that feed the Li. The pace of life in the old lanes is slow, with vendors selling dried river fish, local fruit, and handicrafts from the doorways of family houses, and small restaurants serving regional dishes such as beer-fish, a Yangshuo specialty. The historic core is small enough to wander in an hour or two, and noticeably quieter than Yangshuo town in the evenings.

The reason most travelers come to Xingping, however, is the river. The bamboo-raft piers at the edge of town are the main departure point for short trips upstream to the Yellow Cloth Shoal and the Nine Horses Fresco Hill, the most famous viewpoints on the entire Li River. Just downstream from the pier, a small causeway and viewing platform look out over the exact bend in the river whose reflection of a karst peak appears on the back of China's twenty-yuan banknote, and the spot draws daily crowds of visitors holding up the note against the real landscape.

For independent travelers, Xingping rewards a longer stay rather than a day trip. The town makes a quieter, more scenic base than Yangshuo itself, with guesthouses and small hotels lining both the old lanes and the riverbank, and the early morning and late evening light along the river is some of the most memorable in the region. Climbing up to a nearby viewpoint such as Xianggong Mountain for sunrise, then returning to the old lanes for a slow breakfast, is a classic Xingping routine.

The karst landscape that surrounds Xingping is part of the Guilin Karst, a component of the South China Karst UNESCO World Heritage serial property, and the stretch of river the town sits on is widely considered the single most beautiful section of the entire Li River. For visitors who want to anchor a Yangshuo trip in the most scenic and historic corner of the region, Xingping is the natural choice.