Guilin Reed Flute Cave & Longji Rice Terraces: Private Day Tour

Limestone caverns and rice terraces carved into mountains by hand over centuries

A private day tour from Guilin visiting Reed Flute Cave, Longji Rice Terraces and Ping'an Village with a personal English-speaking guide and hotel pickup. The tour combines underground geology with agricultural landscape and minority culture. You walk through a cave lit by colored lights, then spend the afternoon among rice fields tended by Yao and Zhuang people in traditional wooden villages. Entrance fees to the terraces and cave are separate. Lunch in Ping'an is your own expense. The day runs 8 hours with departure from either your Guilin or Yangshuo hotel.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time spent at each

1. Reed Flute Cave1h
2. Longji Rice Terraces2h

Visit Reed Flute Cave and Longji Rice Terraces

• Meet guide and driver at Guilin hotel
• Drive two hours to Reed Flute Cave
• Explore Reed Flute Cave formations
• Visit Long Hair Village Huangluo
• Learn about Yao women's hair culture
• Travel to Ping'an Village
• Enjoy traditional lunch in Ping'an
• Walk through Longji rice terraces
• Return to Guilin or Yangshuo

The experience

Your driver and guide collect you at 8:30am from your hotel and drive roughly two hours to Reed Flute Cave. The cave is filled with stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars and stone flowers lit in colored light. The formations have accumulated over millennia and the cave itself is a geological record of how limestone dissolves and reforms underground. You walk through the cavern at your own pace with your guide explaining what you're seeing.

After the cave, you head to Huangluo, known as Long Hair Village because Yao women here grow their hair to spectacular lengths: some reaching 2 meters. Your guide shares how this practice fits into Yao culture and daily life. From there you climb into Longji Rice Terraces and reach Ping'an Village, where Zhuang and Yao minorities still live in traditional wooden houses and work the same terraced fields their ancestors carved out of the steep mountainsides centuries ago. The landscape is a patchwork of narrow rice paddies stacked up the slopes, and your guide walks you through the terraces explaining how they were built and maintained over generations. You have time to photograph and absorb the scale of the place before a traditional lunch (which you arrange and pay for separately).

The return journey leaves around 4:00pm from Guilin (or 4:30pm if you're staying in Yangshuo), getting you back by roughly 5:30pm. The exact timing shifts with traffic and time of day. This is a private tour with no shopping stops: the day stays focused on the sites and the guide's knowledge of the region's geography and people.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off from Guilin or Yangshuo.
• private vehicle for the full day.
• personal English-speaking guide throughout.

Options for this experience

2 options

Starting point: Guilin hotelGuide in English or Chinese · 09:00Pickup from a Guilin hotel is included, with drop-off back at that same Guilin hotel only.

Starting point: Yangshuo hotelGuide in English or Chinese · 08:30Pickup from a Yangshuo hotel is included. Drop-off can be at the Yangshuo hotel, or at a Guilin hotel, the airport, or the train station.

You pick the guide language when booking.

You'll see the exact price of each option when you check availability.See dates and prices

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 08:30 and 09:00

Book up to4h before

AgesAdult (10 and older) · Child (5 to 9 years) · Infant (1 to 4 years): free

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and Chinese

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 2 pickup points.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 2 days ago

Good to know

Moderate physical effortInfant seats availableNot recommended during pregnancyNot recommended with heart problemsNot recommended with back problems

Operated by happychinatours

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you want a private guide and driver rather than a shared group, and if you're comfortable with a full day of driving and walking on uneven terrain. The private format means your guide can adjust the pace and spend time answering questions about the minority cultures and landscape history without keeping to a group schedule.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and Chinese.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (5 to 9 years); Infant (1 to 4 years): free.

What exactly is inside Reed Flute Cave?

Reed Flute Cave holds stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars and stone flowers formed by limestone dissolving and reforming over thousands of years, all lit by colored lights as you walk through.

Do I need to be fit to walk the rice terraces?

The tour requires at least a moderate level of physical fitness. You walk through the terraces at Ping'an Village, and the terrain is uneven with slopes, though your guide sets the pace and you're not climbing the steepest parts.

Are the Yao women in Huangluo performing for tourists, or is this their actual village?

Huangluo is a real village where Yao people live and work. The long hair tradition is genuine to Yao culture, and your guide explains the practice and lifestyle rather than staging a performance.

What's included in the price and what do I pay separately?

The tour includes hotel pickup, private vehicle transport, and your English-speaking guide. Entrance fees for Reed Flute Cave (around 90 RMB) and Longji Rice Terraces (around 85 RMB per person) are separate, as is lunch in Ping'an Village.

Can I choose which village to visit in the terraces? Ping'an, Dazhai or Tiantou?

Ping'an Village is the standard stop, but your guide can arrange a visit to Dazhai Village with cable car access or Tiantou Village terraces if you prefer: discuss this when you book.

How long is the drive from Guilin to the first stop?

The drive from your Guilin hotel to Reed Flute Cave is roughly two hours. The full day is 8 hours including all stops, with return to your hotel around 5:30pm.