Private, and the cheapest
Private Longji Rice Terraces & Minority Villages Day Tour
From $68 per person
Check AvailabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. You will not be charged yet.
- Length10 hours
- On the hillAbout 3 hours hiking at Ping'an, plus 15 minutes at Huangluo Yao Village
- Leaves fromGuilin
- GuideGuide included
- Gate ticketTicket bought at the gate
- LunchNot included
- CancellationFree up to 24 hours ahead
Ten hours, a car of your own and a guide who drives it, for less than most coach seats. The trade is stated on the listing rather than buried: you buy the CNY 80 gate ticket and your own lunch, and everything else about the day is yours to shape.
What the day gives you
The highest rating here
5.0 from 85 reviews, and the guide gets named by name in almost every one of them.
Ten hours, door to door
Pickup at 8:30, and no fixed return, so a late afternoon on the hill is possible.
Three hours hiking at Ping’an
Long enough for both numbered platforms and the village between them.
Huangluo on the way in
A quarter of an hour among the Red Yao stilt houses before the climb starts.
A guide who also drives
One person for the whole day, which is why the fare is what it is.
Private, at a shared-tour price
$68 per person for a car nobody else is in.
Why this one costs $68
The fare looks wrong next to the other private days until you read what it leaves out. There is no separate guide and driver — one person does both — and neither the gate ticket nor lunch is in the price.
Bought at the gate, the ticket is CNY 80 and lunch in a village restaurant is a modest sum. Add both and you are still under most of the fixed departures, with a car that nobody else is sitting in.
That is the whole argument for this tour, and it is the reason to check the two figures rather than the headline: what you pay, and what you pay on top.
Ten hours, and three of them walking
The day is built the other way round from most. Instead of a long drive, a viewpoint and a longer drive back, it allows three hours of hiking in the Ping’an terraces and treats the rest as travel.
Three hours is enough to walk up to Nine Dragons and Five Tigers, traverse to Seven Stars with the Moon and come down through the village without watching the clock. Most tours here allow between two and five.
Before the climb there is a quarter of an hour at Huangluo among the timber stilt houses of the Red Yao. It is a short stop by design, and it is on the way rather than a detour.
The guide, who is also the driver
What you get is one person who knows the road, the villages and the ticket window, and who can change the plan while you are standing in it. Travellers here describe being taken to the quieter Dazhai side when Ping’an was busy, stopping at a tea house that was not on any itinerary, and having every entry ticket handled for them.
That is what one person doing both jobs looks like when it works: the day bends around you rather than around a booking form. It is also how this tour holds a five-star average across 85 reviews.
What the fare covers
In the fare
- ✓ English-speaking tour guide, who also drives
- ✓ Air-conditioned vehicle
Not in the fare
- ✗ Lunch
- ✗ Entry/Admission to Longji Rice Terraces (CNY 80 per person)
The day, hour by hour
- Hotel pickup in central Guilin at 8:30am
- Two-hour drive to the Longji scenic area
- Fifteen minutes at Huangluo Yao Village
- Twenty-minute drive on to Ping'an
- About three hours hiking the Ping'an terraces
- Return drive to your Guilin hotel
The sequence the operator publishes for this tour. Times shift with the traffic on the mountain road.
Who this suits, and who should book something else
This one suits you if…
Anyone who wants a private car without paying private-car prices, and who is comfortable buying a ticket at a window and choosing a restaurant. Two or three travellers get the most out of it, because the fare is per person and the car is the same size either way.
Choose something else if…
If you would rather arrive with everything settled — ticket, lunch, a licensed guide and a published timetable — there is a day here that does exactly that for $88. See the in-depth day trip with lunch.
Where you are collected
Your hotel lobby in central Guilin at 8:30am. The operator asks for your detailed hotel address or a meeting point when you book, and confirms the start time with you directly beforehand rather than assuming it.
Know before you go
- The CNY 80 ticket is not in the fare. Buy it at the gate as you go in; your guide handles the window if you would rather not. Bring cash.
- Lunch is not included either. Ping’an has village restaurants along the path, and bamboo rice is the thing to order. Budget for it and for the buggy if you would rather not climb.
- Built for walkers, not for wheels. Three hours of the day is stone stairways. If steps are the problem, the Dazhai ropeway on another day tour removes almost all of them.
- Not for travellers with heart conditions. The climb is sustained rather than steep, and it is named as an exclusion on the product. Take the buggy and the day is much gentler.
- Confirmation takes up to 48 hours. Longer than most tours here, which are confirmed instantly. Book a few days ahead rather than the night before.
- It is ten hours door to door. Pickup at 8:30 and back in the evening. Do not plan a train the same night.
What travellers said about this tour
Our guide offered to take us to the Dazhai side instead of the usual stop. It was quieter and the landscape was more dramatic, and we took the cable car up and walked an easy hour back down. A peaceful afternoon.
Thomas F. · Traveller · April 2026
Our guide sorted every entry ticket for us and then left us plenty of time to explore on our own. He covered Guilin, the village and the terraces as we went. A good way to spend a day out of the city.
Susan M. · Traveller · June 2026
Our guide’s English was perfect and he had a lot to say about the terraces and about Guilin. He also stopped at a tea house where we learned how Chinese tea is made. Not something we had expected.
Grace K. · Traveller · June 2026
Friendly, knowledgeable guide who talked us through the villages and the plants as well as the view. Well worth the day trip from Guilin.
Boas G. · Traveller · August 2026
Read all reviews on the booking page
Photographs from the terraces
See more photographs and live availability
Questions about this tour
Do I have to buy the ticket myself?
Yes — the CNY 80 scenic-area ticket is excluded from this fare and you buy it at the gate. Your guide is there and will point you at the right window; bring cash.
Is lunch included?
No. Ping’an has restaurants on the path and bamboo rice is the local dish. If you want the meal in the fare, the in-depth day trip includes a Zhuang lunch and the long-hair show.
Is the guide the same person as the driver?
Yes, and that is why the price is what it is. Travellers here rate the arrangement highly, naming their guide and describing changes made to the plan during the day.
Can it go to Dazhai instead of Ping’an?
The itinerary is written for Ping’an, and one reviewer describes being taken to the Dazhai side instead when it was quieter. Ask at the booking stage rather than assuming it.
Does it visit the Long Hair Village?
Yes, for about fifteen minutes at Huangluo on the way in. The staged performance is a separate ticket at about CNY 80 and is not part of this fare.
How long before I get confirmation?
Within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability. That is longer than the instant confirmations elsewhere here, so leave a few days rather than booking the night before.
Other ways onto the terraces
- Longji Rice Terraces Full-Day Private Tour from Guilin — From $119 per person, 7 to 12 hours
- In-Depth Longji Rice Terraces Day Tour with Lunch — From $88 per person, 10.5 hours
- All Longji Rice Terraces tours