Home Journeys Destinations About Us Inquire
桂 · 徽 · 村Journey No.2

Mountains & Water

Guilin · Huangshan · Ancient Villages  |  12 days  |  Fully private

The China that painters have chased for a thousand years — limestone towers over a slow green river, a sea of clouds breaking against granite pines, and villages whose whitewashed walls double in lotus ponds. Slow days, long light, and almost nobody in your photographs.

Guilin & the Li River

Days 1–5
Day 1

Arrive among the peaks

Private transfer through the karst towers to your riverside hotel. Dinner on a terrace with the mountains going blue in the dusk.

Days 2–3

The Li River, taken slowly

A private boat down the most painted stretch of river in the world, then a quiet bamboo-raft tributary the tour boats never find. At dusk, the old cormorant fishermen light their lamps.

Days 4–5

Yangshuo lanes & Longji terraces

Cycle village lanes between the peaks, then up to the Dragon's Backbone — rice terraces stacked a thousand layers high, and dinner with a Zhuang family above their own fields.

Huangshan — the Yellow Mountain

Days 6–9
Day 6

Into Anhui

Fly east and wind into the Huizhou hills. Evening on Tunxi's old street — ink shops, tea houses, and the smell of fresh sesame cakes.

Days 7–8

Two nights above the clouds

Cable car into the granite spires and stay on the mountaintop itself. When the day-trippers leave, the mountain empties; at dawn, the sea of clouds breaks below your balcony.

Day 9

Descend to the hot springs

Walk down through the pine belt — legs earn the soak. An evening of hot springs and Huizhou braised dishes.

The Ancient Villages

Days 10–12
Day 10

Hongcun, mirror of the hills

The village that was painted into "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Morning by the lotus pond before visitors arrive, afternoon with an ink-brush master in his studio.

Day 11

Xidi & the tea hills

Courtyard lunch in a nine-generation merchant house, then up into the green-tea terraces to pick and pan-fire your own batch.

Day 12

Farewell, slowly

One last unhurried morning among the horse-head gables, then a connection home via Shanghai — with tea in your suitcase.

Included

  • 11 nights — riverside retreats, a mountaintop lodge, heritage courtyard houses
  • Private guide and driver throughout
  • All breakfasts, 7 lunches, 5 signature dinners
  • Private Li River boat, rafts and cable cars
  • Domestic flight and all transfers
  • All entrances, workshops and tastings
  • 24/7 on-the-road concierge

Not included

  • International flights
  • Visa, if required — most Western passports now enter visa-free for 30 days
  • Meals not listed, personal shopping
  • Gratuities, always at your discretion
Photographers: ask about the sunrise-timed version of this journey.
From $8,600 per person

Based on two travelers sharing. Final price depends on season, hotels and party size — we'll quote precisely once we know who's coming.

Design Your Version of This Journey
A real person replies within 24 hours