The Li River (LiJiang) meanders south for 85km between Guilin and Yangshuo through the finest scenery that this part of the country can provide, and the six-hour cruise from the docks above Elephant Trunk Hill is, for some, the highlight of their trip to China. Others find the cost extortionate, the journey too long, and, with some two thousand people a day in peak season, the river overcrowded - the Li's banks have recently been concreted in the early stages to reduce erosion caused by the volume of cruise boats. If any of this seems likely to bother you, the Li can be explored in a cheaper and more leisurely manner from Yangshuo itself.

You can book cruises through hotels, agents or more cheaply, direct at the docks in the vicinity of the Sheraton on Binjiang Lu. Cruise boats leave daily at 8am, and the ¥460-¥500 price tag to Yangshuo (¥460 one-way) gets you a comfortable seat, decent food, running commentary in Chinese and a bus from Yangshuo back to Guilin. Alternatively, ¥150 buys you a two-hour excursion down to Zhujiang , which, while missing the most impressive peaks, presents a beautiful scene in autumn, with the banks coloured red by maple trees. In winter, the river runs so low that boats for Yangshuo have to start from Zhujiang anyway, and passengers are taken there by bus.

The cruise is a generally tranquil experience despite the legend that the spirit of every sailor who ever drowned on the Li River rocks boats as they navigate the rougher shoals. Along the way you'll pass cormorant fishermen poling their almost submerged bamboo rafts, buffaloes wallowing in the fields and, of course, scores of grotesquely shaped hills with exotic names. About a third of the way down is Wanfu Shi (Yearning for Husband Rock). The story goes that while sailing downriver a family ran out of rice and moored on an island so that the husband could look for help. When he failed to return, his wife picked up their baby and eventually found him fossilized on a hill top; mourning for him, she turned to stone too. The atmosphere ends abruptly after docking at Yangshuo, when several hundred stallholders descend on passengers and desperately try to push their faked coins and glass animals before the Guilin buses arrive. Yangshuo has a far better side, but you'll need to stay overnight to appreciate it.