Before starting a tour of Guilin's hills, head 2km north of the train station to where Zhongshan Lu cuts between Rong Hu (Banyan Lake) and Shan Hu (Fir Lake), named after the trees which once grew here. The lakes originally formed the moat that surrounded the Tang city walls. Their last trace survives in Gunan , the old South Gate (now an expensive teahouse), and the area surrounding the moat has been landscaped and planted with willow, peach and kumquat trees. For an overall view of the city , wander east to the Lijiang Hotel on Shanhu Bei Lu, and take the lift to the thirteenth floor. From here you look south to riverside Elephant Trunk Hill , said to be the body of a sick imperial baggage elephant who was cared for by locals and turned to stone rather than rejoin the emperor's army. You can cross to the hill by ferry from Nanhuan Lu, or walk over via a bridge; either way it's ¥10 admission, which also gives you the chance to climb up to a crumbling pagoda, or have your photo taken holding a parasol while you sit next to a cormorant on a brightly coloured bamboo raft.

Guilin's three most central peaks are within a twenty-minute walk north of here, close to the river. Two kilometres up along Binjiang Lu is Fubo Shan , a hill where the giant Jie Die fought a demon which was descending on Guilin with a vanguard of deadly animals. The demon was vanquished and the city never troubled by evil spirits again. At its foot is Huanzhu Dong (Returned Pearl Cave), named after the story of a guilt-stricken fisherman who returned a sleeping dragon's stolen treasure. Climb to Fubo's summit and you pass three hundred Buddha images, carved into the rock during the Tang and Song dynasties.

A further ten minutes' walk north brings you to riverside Diecai Shan (Folded Brocade Hill), its limestone seams eroded into a series of small peaks, supposedly resembling a pile of interlaced fabric. The same distance west of Fubo is Duxiu Feng (Solitary Beauty Peak), which stands within the grounds of the mansion of Zhu Shouqian , Guilin's fourteenth-century ruler and grandson of the emperor Hongwu. Apart from the gate, there's little of the original left; the present building once served as Sun Yatsen's office and is now the home of the Guangxi Teachers' College. Three hundred and six steps lead to the top of the peak, where views once again make the climb worthwhile.