Guilin Self-guided Tour

 
Huangyao town, locates at northeast of Shaoping County, Hezhou, Guangxi province, it is an ancient town with thousands years' history. This town was first built in Song Dynasty and it got its name just because almost all of the local residents' surnames are Huang and Yao.

 
Huangyao ancient town covers an area of 1 square kilometer with small bridge over the flowing stream, and here is the typical Karst physiognomy. There are 8 ancient streets in Huangyao and most of the houses here are with Ming-Qing style. Because of its special location - surrounded by mountains and the inconvenient transportation, Huangyao always keep its half-closed condition, which makes the old houses and the cultural relics are all kept very well.

 
You may take long distance bus from Guilin bus station at 08:00, and it takes only about 2 hours to arrive at Huangyao Old Town by highway. The bus will return to Guilin at 14:30 along the same way. Get off the bus and walk for about 5 minutes to reach the west gate of the ancient town, the admission fee is CNY68.00 per person. Go along and you may reach the scenic spot, there is statuary at the entrance, the ancient stage is on the left side, and the right side is the patriotic education base. This base protected many cultural celebrities during the Sino-Japanese War time, and now it is the National Patriotism Educational Center. Inside of the base, many historical photos of Sino-Japanese War and the relevant information of American Flying Tigers are displayed here. There are also an agelong banyan tree stands in the courtyard to witness the history silently.

 
The 8 streets here are all paved with flagstone and it is said that there are 99,999 flagstones altogether. After experiencing the hundreds years' of baptism, these blue flagstones now are grided as a mirror. A river named Yaojiang passes through the old town, thus, you may find the old bridges everywhere. After getting your tickets and entering the town, you may pass a stone bridge named Stone Jumping Bridge, this bridge is arrayed with many dis-connected blocks of stone, and the passerby need to proceed with bounds and leaps to get to another side, thus, the bridge got its name as Stone Jumping. It is said that the cattle and sheep of the local families are all used to this stone jumping bridge and they are can get to another side without failure. Just like the other famous ancient town, the rich people in Huangyao all have their own ancestral temples, and after hundred years' vicissitudes, more than ten ancestral temples were built and they are all historical witness of these rich and big families' vicissitude.

 
This old town is not big and you may finish your visit in two hours. Because the local condition is limited and you may not find good hostels in stay overnight, you are suggested to get back to Guilin or Yangshuo after your visit and lunch. You may catch that bus which runs from Gongqiao to Guilin passes Huangyao at about 14:30 in the afternoon, and you also can take long-distance bus to Guangzhou.