8 Best Old Villages around Guilin & Yangshuo

Although Guilin area is well known for its stunning karst landform and countryside scenery, old towns and villages compose the other feature of the city. In these villages, you can either enjoy the nature beauty or explore the ancient buildings, local crafts, or traditional customs.

Bird's Eye View of an Old Village around Guilin

 Xingping, a 1,000-year-old town in the northeast of Yangshuo, is a shining star along Li River as it gathers the best scenery of the river. In the 1-km-long (0.6 mi) slate street, you can see well-preserved buildings from Ming or Qing Dynasties (1368 -1911). Another unmissable thing here is the 1,700-year-old banyan tree. It is said that its root is wrapped by a stone engraved with 5 Bodhisattvas.

Xingping Town Houses

Ancient Alley in Xingping

 Fuli is very famous for its once developed education and rich cultural heritages. In the past, it’s the hometown of many government officials. Nowadays, the town still preserves the custom of admiring literati. Also, due to its delicate painted fans, Fuli is known as the home to Chinese painted fans.

Visitors Making Fans in Fuli Town

Painted Fans

 Daxu Ancient Town was once an important business center. With 3 sides surrounded by river & 1 side by mountain, Daxu is immersed harmoniously into the nature. 

Bustling Daxu Ancient Town

 

Xiong Village's Old House

Xiong Village is located in Lingchuan County, some less 30 km (19 mi) east of Guilin, near the famous Daxu Ancient Town. Established during the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), it has a history of more than 2,000 years. Once as a busy transport hub, now the village is abandoned with only a few elderly people living here. Luckily, most of buildings and houses in the village remain pristine and unchanged. In the village, you could find slogans during Chinese Cultural Revolution. Spend a lazy afternoon here to see its unique architecture layout and experience its historical atmosphere. 
 Jiangtou Village is situated on the beautiful Hulong River, a tributary of Li River, in Lingchuan County. With mountains surrounded on its three sides, the village is very appealing for the vast farm fields nearby. Like Xiong Village, Jiangtou Village also owns a long history, which can be confirmed by so many well-preserved ancient wooden buildings and houses, blue bricks and grey tiles. Their huge sizes endow this village with a lot of historical and cultural relics.

Most of villagers share the same family name, Zhou, as they considered themselves the descendants of Dunyi Zhou, a famous writer and philosopher in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Zhou’s philosophy has great influence on the villagers’ life even today. 
 Located about 22km (14 mi) from Yangshuo, Langzi Village is another typical ancient village full of old buildings. If your trip includes Yangshuo or you are into history and architecture, this village is a good choice. There are more than 60 well-preserved big ancient residential complexes and an artillery battery. All of them boast many different kinds of wood carvings and fineness characters on the walls and ceilings.

Because it is less touristy here, the local traditional culture and history have been preserved better than other villages. With slow life pace, antique architectures and simple life style, a visit to Langzi Village is worthwhile

Langzi Village's Traditional Residence

Stone House in Langzi

Nestled between a karst mountain ridge in the east and the Yulong River, a tributary of the Li River, in the west, Jiuxian is a small ancient village with traditional style buildings and beautiful surroundings. A visit to this village can be easily combined with a Bamboo raft tour on Yulong River. After landing at Jiuxian, you can start cycling through the countryside along the lower part of the river.
You can ride your bike or just walk around the village, enjoying the quiet atmosphere & finding ops for very nice pictures. There are several beautiful hidden little boutique hotels and restaurants, where you can enjoy a nice meal, to rest from the agitation of the tourist spots.
 If you are looking for an off-the-beaten-track adventure, the Stone Village in Putao Town makes a great trip. It is an abandoned little village with stone buildings, located about 25 km (16 mi) away from Yangshuo. Entering the village is like stepping back in time. All the stone houses are decrepit and abandoned, which makes for very nice photos. Villagers build new houses with bricks and modern features next to the ancient village. It is a wonderful contrast to see the modern farm houses with the ancient stone structures. You need to climb up the hill for 30 to 50 minutes from the new village to the old one. It is quite possible that you would spend a couple of hours exploring and photographing this ancient village with almost no other travelers.