10 Days Photography Tour in Guilin and Xiapu

Your private guide will meet you at the exit of the airport / train station. They are easy to recognize as they will be holding a welcome signboard with your name on it. You will be transferred to your hotel, accompanied by the guide and driver using a private vehicle.

If there is time after your hotel check-in, the introduction to your photography will be opened by snapping the Guilin urban panorama under the sunset. Standing on a peak at Chuanshan Park, you will look out over the residential buildings, as well as the lakes, rivers, bridges, and farmlands scattered among the peaks. Record the moving clouds turning slowly red and the city as it is being illuminated, with time-lapse photography.

We will take you to the north of Guilin city, driving for about 2 hours to get to the Longji Rice Terraces Scenic Spots. What awaits you is a natural picture, which is the culmination of both the wisdom and hard work of the ethnic minority people. Hike among the mountains and get to the popular platforms of Seven Stars with the Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers. The scenes totally vary from season to season, looking like ribbons in spring, green waves in summer, golden ripened millet in autumn, and white snow in winter.

After lunch, you can walk around Ping’an Village, where the Zhuang people live. Women in their national costume, unique architectural structures, and lifestyle are all good subjects to take photos of. We will head back to downtown Guilin in the late afternoon.

Today is a long day for you to admire the images of nature and people through your camera. Depart to Xianggong Hill in the early morning for the stunning sunrise. Climb up to the top, where you will be facing directly towards the most beautiful bend of the Li River. Overlapping peaks along both sides of the river are enveloped by mist. Our guide will provide some tips on how to shoot at the best time and at the best angle.

After that, we will take you to ride on a bamboo raft on the Yulong River. Stop by an over 500-year old Fuli Bridge on the way. Relax and fully enjoy the Karst peaks and water for 1.5 to 2 hours on the bamboo raft.

You will go to Xingping Ancient Town to photograph the images of the cormorant fishermen on the Li River with a gas lamp, also known as Guilin’s postcard. Take the sunset as background as the gas lamp lights up the fisherman’s face. How photogenic it is!
Stay overnight in Xingping Ancient Town

We will drive you to Muhuantou Village for taking photos of the so called “Glass Fields”. These fields are enveloped within the peaks. Get to the top of one the peaks and overlook pieces of rice paddies and fish ponds, you will find that they are like bright mirrors or pieces of glass reflecting the dazzling lights in different greens. Have lunch in the village.

Continue to Tianxin Village, which is another place to shoot pastoral scenery, where the Zhuangyuan Bridge is recommended as a must for photography. A local farmer with his water buffalo standing on the bridge will add a dynamic sense to your photos.

Lastly, you will go to Daxu Ancient Town with more than 800-year’s history. We can arrange a family visit if you prefer. An old house with a story and the locals’ daily life will be more spiritual in your pictures. Check in to the hotel in downtown Guilin.

The guide will take you to Guilin Liangjiang International Airport according to your flight schedule. After landing at Fuzhou Changle International Airport, you will take a taxi to Fuzhou train station and board the speed train to Xiapu.

Rise early and wait for the sunrise in Huazhu Village with a 40-minute drive. That scene of sunrise is the most famous in Xiapu. The first sun light dyes the sky red over the sea, lighting the rows of bamboo poles, and fishing nets.

Later, you will be transferred to Yangjiaxi Village. This village was once an unknown place and now has become famous for an internationally reward-winning photograph. As the sun rises, streaks of light filter through the morning mist into the old banyan trees. Villagers either lead oxen or carry buckets, walking on the paths among the trees. Enjoy the idyllic scenery of working in the rural areas of southern Fujian.

Take the sunset shots in Shajiang, which is a famous base for producing kelp. Thousands of bamboo poles drying kelp on the mudflat form a graceful "S" shape, which is nicknamed "Shajiang S Bay" in photography circles. The sporadic fishing boats add a touch of life to the curve.

Get up early and take some wonderful sunrise pictures of Mantou (Steamed Bun) Hill. Get everything at a glance in this open sea with a large area of mudflats. Dense bamboo poles hanging kelp nearby and fishing rafts in the distance are touched by the golden sunlight, and are especially enchanting.

When the tide goes out, we will take you to shoot the drift nets, which is a major feature of the Xiapu photography theme. Originally, it was just a tool for local fishermen to trap fish and shrimp. But now it has become an artistic prop for photographers. As the wind blows and under the backlight, the sparkling river reflects sunlight through the gauze, like a twinkling star.

See the sunset in Xiaohao Village, which has the unique sandiness mudflat. The fresh water flowing down from the mountains creates new twists and turns of ripples after each tide. From a distance, they look like bright neon lights refracted into different colors of light.

The sunrise over the sea is captured on the Xiaqingshan Bridge, reflecting the golden sunlight on the sea. You will have a broad vision of the piscatorial “Lian Family Boatmen” who are also called the “sea gypsies”. They make a living from generation to generation by fishing and collecting shellfish, living in a simple boat on the sea all the year round.

When the tide rises, it is the right time to photograph purse seine, which are a kind of fishing net used for breeding aquatic animals. They present colorfully in the light, and densely cover the whole mudflat, forming a striking "colorful seine".

You will spend about two hours in Banyueli, which is an ancient village of the She nationality. While preserving the most complete historical and cultural heritage of She, this village provides the most primitive look and can be considered as a great photography subject: the images of the elders in their national dress, scenes of daily life, and the original ecological atmosphere of daily work.

We will take you to see the hidden “mangroves” on the mudflat at the boundary between land and sea. It is a very quiet place, ideal for shooting in the morning when the fog is swirling, or in the autumn when the mangroves take up a larger area. The colorful fishing boats driving on this natural water course made up by mangroves create an unbeatable pattern at high tides.

Go to Beidou, which is one of the four major beaches in Xiapu. You can take some photos reflecting more the human characteristics of the fishermen's work: there are scenes of fishing boats returning, and fishermen weaving and repairing nets.

Your final destination is Dongbi Village, for shooting the sunset. Watch as the sunlight puts gold on the blue water, observe the moving fishing boats, and the layers of the clouds. Also the light as it glints on the moso bamboo used in cultivating seaweed. Even the sea seems to dance in the light.

Say goodbye to your guide and get on the speed train to next city.