Just to the north of Guilin are the rice terraces so wonderfully named the Dragon’s Backbone. The highlight is the view from the Nine Dragons and Five Tigers viewing point, but the surrounding area itself with its stilt house villages and sharp river valleys is also beautiful and 100% the day trip from Guilin.
This is very short entry as we ended up simply taking a day tour from Guilin rather than adventuring ourselves, but I would highlight this a must-do if travelling through this part of China and should be linked up with a boat ride down the Li River through the spectacular scenery south of Guilin. For more tips on this experience see the entry for Drifting down to Li River and cycling in Yangshou.
Extra tip and something I wish we’d done – the 4 hour trek from the village of Dazhai to Pingan. The area around here really is beautiful so would make a great hike. Plus you’d quickly get away from the crowds which, this being China, are fairly consistent.