Paseo en balsa de bambú por el río Li

Bamboo rafting on the Li River between Xingping and the Nine Horses Fresco Hill is the most intimate way to experience the most photographed stretch of the famous river that links Guilin and Yangshuo. Unlike the larger cruise boats that run the full Guilin-to-Yangshuo route, the bamboo rafts operate on short, targeted segments of the river, carrying small groups of passengers on quiet, low-to-the-water drifts through the heart of the karst landscape.

The most popular segment runs out of Xingping, the old market town on the east bank of the Li River about an hour north of Yangshuo. From the Xingping dock, motor-assisted bamboo rafts carry passengers upstream past the Yellow Cloth Shoal and on toward the Nine Horses Fresco Hill, a towering cliff whose streaked rock face is said to reveal the shapes of nine horses to those with a sharp enough eye. The reflection of a karst peak near the shoal is the very view reproduced on the back of China's twenty-yuan banknote, and the raft pulls in here specifically so passengers can photograph it from the water.

The appeal of the bamboo raft, compared with the bigger cruise boats, is intimacy. Sitting only a few centimeters above the water, with the karst peaks towering overhead and the raft sliding almost silently past the shallows, you see the river at the level of the fishermen and water buffalo that still work its banks. The boatman poles or motors gently upstream, and at each bend a new composition of pinnacles, cliffs, and bamboo groves opens up.

Trips typically run around ninety minutes round trip, with a short stop at a small riverside stall near the turnaround point before drifting back to Xingping. Wear shoes that can get wet, pack phones and cameras in a dry bag, and bring sun protection in summer, as the rafts have no shade. Early morning trips usually have the best light and the calmest water, and they avoid the midday rush of group tours.

The stretch of river the rafts cover sits within the Guilin Karst, a component of the South China Karst UNESCO World Heritage serial property. For travelers building an itinerary around the classic Yangshuo landscapes, the combination of a Xingping bamboo-raft trip, a sunset at Xianggong Mountain, and a wander through Xingping's old streets is the single most concentrated dose of karst scenery the region has to offer.