Guilin & Yangshuo Booking Guide 2026: Li River & Yulong River Rafts with a Passport

🛶 Yulong River bamboo rafts

Real-name ticketing with a twist: the online channels only accept Chinese ID numbers, so foreign passport holders CANNOT book online — buy at the dock ticket windows with your original passport and go through manual ticket check.

What you need to know

• Online booking (official 「遇龙河」 WeChat account / mini program) pre-sells the next day's rafts at 20:00 nightly and takes 3–7-day advance slots — Chinese ID numbers only
• Foreign passport holders (and HK/Macao/Taiwan permit holders) buy at the dock ticket windows with the original document and use the manual ticket-check lane
• Double rafts are priced per raft (180–320 yuan by route, 2 people each); children under 1 m and seniors 70+ may only ride the big leisure rafts
• Docks run 8:00–17:30/18:00 depending on the pier; arrive 30 minutes early for your queue number; no luggage storage and no phones/cameras on the rafts

How to book

• Dock ticket windows (all piers) Passport accepted

  Buy with your original passport, manual ticket check, pick up a queue number on site

• WeChat 「遇龙河」 official account (Chinese ID only)

  Next-day tickets pre-sale at 20:00 nightly; show the original ID at the gate

Sources

• http://www.ylhdjq.com/

⛰️ Li River rafts at Xingping

The scenery on the 20-yuan banknote is at Xingping — the Li River rafts use the same real-name ticketing; buy at the official Xingping raft ticket hall or the Chaobanshan dock window with your passport.

What you need to know

• Tickets are sold at the Xingping raft ticket hall (opposite the Xingping Rural Commercial Bank) and the Chaobanshan dock window; the shuttle-bus upgrade ticket is redeemed at the hall
• Same real-name mechanism as the Yulong River: check whether your purchase channel accepts passports — if not, buy at the window
• Rafts stop when the river rises; weather cancellations are fully refunded; Yulong River online tickets can be cancelled until 16:00 the day before your slot
• Queues at the docks are longest on Golden Week and summer weekends — morning slots give the best experience

How to book

• Xingping raft ticket hall / Chaobanshan dock window Passport accepted

  Buy with your passport at the window; keep the ticket for the shuttle and boarding check

Sources

• http://wglj.guilin.gov.cn/

ℹ️ Guilin & Yangshuo: General Booking Rules

Rafts are the only scarce ticket; most Guilin city sights are standard admission — but buy through official windows only.

What you need to know

• Buy raft tickets only at official windows or the official mini programs — the scenic area explicitly warns against third-party touts; keep receipts for refunds (full refund for weather/force majeure)
• Refund rules: Yulong River online tickets are refundable until 16:00 the day before; no-shows after your slot are not refunded
• City sights (Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave) sell standard tickets; passport accepted at ticket windows
• Getting there: high-speed rail to Yangshuo station, then bus or taxi to the docks; leave buffer time on holiday weekends

Sources

• http://wglj.guilin.gov.cn/