Can you arrange a photographer and set up the ceremony moments?

Not on this version, and we will not pretend otherwise. A professional photographer, ceremony-moment styling and a guaranteed river-view suite are the three things a honeymoon on this route should have, and none of them is contracted with a supplier yet, so none is in the price and none is sold as an add-on. That is also why bookings are not open. What you do get in the meantime is the raw material those things would have been built around: the sunrise from Xianggong Hill, the raft on the Yulong River, the fishing boats at last light, and a guide and vehicle that are yours alone at every one of them. Tell us your dates and we will write to you the day the three are real.

Four and a half hours on a boat. Isn't that a long time?

It is long, and that is the point of day five. There is no other water link between Guilin and Yangshuo, so the choice is this boat or a car on a road, and the car saves you three hours you have nowhere else to spend. On board you sit, you eat something, you stop naming the peaks after the first hour. It is also the only leg of the trip where neither of you has anything to do. The boat class and deck for your order are written into your quote, and the sailing time for your dates is confirmed before you pay.

Do we have to get up in the dark?

Once, on day seven, and only if you want to. The Xianggong Hill sunrise leaves before first light, it is the one start earlier than 8:00 on the whole route, and you are told so in writing before you order. You can decline it on the order: day seven then starts late and runs to Xingping Ancient Town instead, at the same price. If you keep it and the morning comes in wet or misty, there is no color from the viewpoint and we will not claim otherwise; four nights in one hotel means the guide and vehicle are still yours to try the next morning, with the cave and the sunset moved back half a day.

Why fly back to Shanghai for one night instead of going home from Guilin?

Because Yangshuo has no airport and no port of entry, so every version of this trip goes back through Guilin anyway. From there you either connect through another airport on the day you fly home, or you sleep one night in the city you started in and leave from a port you already know. We chose the second: day nine is a boat town in the morning and a hotel bed in Shanghai by evening, and day ten is a breakfast walk on the plane-tree street from day two, then the airport. Both internal flights and the road transfer to Guilin airport are in the base price.

Most guests on this route do not. UK, most European and Canadian passports enter visa-free for stays days, and so do Australian and New Zealand passports. Before you pay we check your 10 days plus any extra days in China against that window. The current policy runs through December 31, 2026, and this version sells October departures, which finish well inside it. US passports are the exception: this route is not offered on a US passport at present, because Shanghai in and Shanghai out on a US round trip does not form the onward third-country leg the ten-day visa-free transit policy requires, and ten days leaves that policy no margin. We would rather tell you that than sell you a trip you cannot legally take.

The Water Sets the Clock

Overview

A wedding is ten months of organising other people. This plan is built to hand the organising over to something else, in this case a river. Shanghai gets the first three days, because the two of you have just flown a long way and a city is easy to be tired in. A garden, plane-tree streets and the waterfront after dark. Then the same water from a tower next morning, and again from the commuter ferry at dusk. Then the schedule lets go. You fly to Guilin, sleep once, and the next afternoon a boat carries you out of one city and into another with no road in between. Four nights follow in the same room in Yangshuo: a raft, a sunrise, a cave and a riverbank at last light. One of those afternoons is only tea. On day nine you fly back to Shanghai for one last night, because Yangshuo has no airport and we would rather that night be a proper ending than a scramble. Somewhere in the middle of the river afternoon you'll notice neither of you has said anything for twenty minutes, and that it was fine.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates and what you want these ten days to feel like. First reply within four hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day. On this route we will also tell you plainly where the suite, the photographer and the ceremony setup stand before you are asked for anything, because right now the honest answer is that they are not bought yet.

Why you'll love this trip

Three cities, one river. Yu Garden, the Huangpu ferry, a cruise downriver and the karst hills of Yangshuo, with English-speaking guides city by city.
10 days from the Shanghai skyline to a bamboo raft. Drift down the river with just the two of you.

Change cities by water: the Li River sailing carries the two of you from Guilin down to Yangshuo in a single afternoon, and it is the only water link between them, so the afternoon is the journey rather than a detour from it.
Unpack once for four nights in Yangshuo: no bags in the middle of the trip and no early check-outs. The raft, the sunrise, the cave and the sunset are all reached from the same front door.
Climb the steps at Xianggong Hill before dawn and watch the peak forest turn silver, then gold, over the great bend of the Li River: the one morning in ten that starts in the dark, and the one you will keep photographs of.
Spend an afternoon by the river in Yangshuo with tea in front of you and hills on three sides, with nothing scheduled afterwards.
Stand on the Bund after dark with your guide beside you, then look straight down on the same stretch of water from the Shanghai Tower observation deck the next morning: one city, two heights, twelve hours apart.
Cross the Huangpu at dusk on the ferry Shanghai takes to work, not on a sightseeing boat, for the twenty minutes when the lights come on along both banks.
Devote day four entirely to the flight: nothing is scheduled around it, the hotel morning is yours, and the afternoon is one flight and nothing else.

Things to do

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Itinerary

Arrivals

Shanghai · Day 1 - Day 3

Day 1 · Land, and stop

Your driver meets the flight, whatever hour it lands. The first day asks nothing of either of you.

Airport pickup Your driver and vehicle are waiting for the flight number on your confirmation, and the run into the city is yours to sleep through.

Shanghai through the window Elevated roads, then a street of plane trees and lit shopfronts. The country you flew to shows up before you have unpacked anything.

Evening Nothing is scheduled and the Bund is deliberately not tonight; it is tomorrow with your guide. Dinner near the hotel is recommended and booked for you if you want it, on your account.

Day 2 · Three Shanghais in one day

A garden in the morning, plane trees in the afternoon, the river after dark. You end the day standing between two versions of the same city.

Yu Garden and the old city Pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that never runs straight, dropped inside the oldest quarter of the city. Send each other ahead around the rockery: the path is a loop and it always brings you back to the same bridge.

Former French Concession and Wukang Road Plane-tree streets, old residences and small shops, at walking speed. This is the afternoon to buy nothing in particular and sit down twice.

The Bund and the Pudong skyline after dark The historic waterfront on one bank, the Pudong towers on the other, a hundred years apart across the water. Stand at the parapet with the towers behind you and the old buildings lit at your back: that is the fifteen seconds worth filming. Your guide is with you the whole evening.

Day 3 · Up, then across

Up to the observation deck in the morning, across the water at dusk. Today you look down on the place you stood last night.

Shanghai Tower observation deck The elevator does the climbing. From up there the Huangpu makes its curve and the waterfront you walked last night is a thin pale line on the far bank, with the whole city arranged around it.

A Shanghai art space Two hours in one of the city's art venues, chosen for your dates and named in your confirmation. Today is the slow day of the three in Shanghai, and it is placed here so the flight tomorrow lands on a rested pair of people.

Huangpu River ferry The boat the city takes to work, half an hour, at dusk. Stand at the rail on the open deck as the far bank lights up: on a sightseeing cruise you are cargo, on this one you are just two more people crossing the river.

Flight

Guilin · Day 4

Day 4 · Shanghai to Guilin

A whole day for one flight. Nothing else is scheduled, and that is the plan.

A slow morning The morning is spent at the hotel. We request a late check-out from your Shanghai hotel, and we make it clear that this is a request rather than a promise; either way, your driver works around your check-out time, not the other way round.

Transfer and flight Hotel to airport, the flight, then airport to hotel in Guilin. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are written into your quote.

Arrival into Guilin The drive in runs between limestone hills standing up on their own out of flat ground, one behind another. In the last of the light they read as shapes rather than mountains, and tomorrow you spend an afternoon inside them.

Li River cruise

Yangshuo · Day 5 - Day 8

Day 5 · Downriver

A short morning in Guilin, then the afternoon belongs to the river. You change cities without touching a road.

Guilin old town on foot Two hours through pedestrian streets and riverside snack stalls. Guilin means osmanthus forest, and the trees the city is named after still line it. The morning is kept light on purpose, because the boat is a long sit.

Elephant Trunk Hill An hour at the limestone hill on the riverbank whose arch reads as an elephant with its trunk in the water. It is a short stop and the last thing you do on land today.

Li River cruise to Yangshuo Roughly four and a half hours downstream, the boat carrying you out of one city and into another. Most plans put a car on this leg and save three hours; those three hours are the reason day five exists. The stretch you pass is the one China prints on its 20-yuan banknote.

Day 6 · A raft and a table

A raft in the morning, tea by the water in the afternoon. Today the two of you have nothing to organize.

Yulong River bamboo raft Ninety minutes on a smaller, quieter river than the Li, on a raft low enough that your hand reaches the water from the seat. Water level and the operator's safety rules decide whether rafts run that day; when they do not, the tea and the rest of the day stand and the raft is not charged.

Riverside afternoon tea A table by the water, hills on three sides, ninety minutes with nothing scheduled after it. Halfway through the pot you'll notice you have stopped checking what time it is.

An early night Today finishes by nine so tomorrow can start in the dark. Dinner is recommended and booked by your guide near the hotel, on your account.

Day 7 · Before light

The one early start on this route, and the reason it is here. You watch the peaks change colour before the town is awake.

Xianggong Hill sunrise The drive goes out in the dark and the climb is up stone steps to the viewpoint, about two and a half hours end to end. Below you the river makes a wide bend, and as the sun comes up the peak forest turns silver first and then gold. Stand at the rail and film fifteen seconds without moving the phone: the light does all the work. You will both stop talking for a while up there, and neither of you will mind.

Not a morning person? This start can be declined on your order. Day seven then begins late and runs to Xingping Ancient Town, at no change in price.

Xingping Ancient Town Stone streets and low shopfronts by the water, ninety minutes on foot, taken straight after sunrise while the town is opening up: shutters, breakfast steam, a boat or two going out.

The rest of the day Nothing further is scheduled. The four nights in one hotel exist so that a morning like this can be followed by an afternoon of nothing.

Day 8 · Underground, then last light

A cave in the daytime, the river at sunset. The day ends with the two of you sitting still on a hillside.

A karst cave near Yangshuo Ninety minutes underground, walkways and lighting throughout, in one of the limestone caves around the town. Which cave runs on your dates is confirmed with the operator and named in your written confirmation, so we do not name it here. Anything sold inside, photography services included, is on your own account.

The Li River at sunset with the fishing boats A short climb to a viewpoint where the river curves between layers of karst peaks, timed to last light, with fishing boats working the water below. The hills go blue in layers, nearest to farthest, and then the water keeps the light a few minutes longer than the sky does.

Your own photographs This route arranges no photographer, and the sunset is sold as what it is, a place and an hour that the two of you reach with your own guide and vehicle. See Special Notes.

Flight

Shanghai · Day 9 - Day 10

Day 9 · Back to the water you started from

The town in the morning, Shanghai by evening. The last night returns to where the journey began.

West Street Ninety minutes on the street the town's evening life runs on, walked in the morning instead: shutters going up, breakfast, deliveries. Buy the thing you noticed on the first evening; it is the last morning you can.

Road to Guilin airport About ninety minutes by private vehicle. Yangshuo has no airport and no port of entry, so both the way in and the way out run through Guilin. The way in was the boat; the way out is this road, and we time it with room to spare rather than trimmed to the minute.

Flight to Shanghai Airport to hotel at the other end. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are written into your quote. Nothing is scheduled tonight: the city is outside the window and it keeps until morning.

Day 10 · Breakfast, then home

A last hour on a plane-tree street, then the airport. The plan ends the way it began, on foot and without hurry.

Wukang Road breakfast walk An hour back on the plane-tree streets from day two, breakfast on the way, at no extra charge. It runs when your flight time allows and is dropped when the flight is too early, and your driver builds the morning around your check-out rather than around a schedule.

Airport drop-off Your driver takes you to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

Departures

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Hotels

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Included / Excluded

What's Included

Private vehicleAir-conditioned private vehicle for all listed touring in all three places; airport pickup on day one and drop-off on day ten; hotel and airport transfers for both internal flights; the pre-dawn drive to Xianggong Hill on day seven; the road transfer from Yangshuo to Guilin airport on day nine
GuideLicensed English-speaking guide on all touring days, including the first evening at the Bund from start to finish
Internal flightsTwo internal flights: Shanghai to Guilin on day four, Guilin to Shanghai on day nine. Cabin class is being finalised, so the cabin class for your order is stated in writing in your quote
Li River cruiseThe full Guilin to Yangshuo run on day five, both the day's main experience and the only water link between the two cities. Boat class and deck are being finalised, so they are stated in writing in your quote
Hotels9 nights at your chosen level, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included: Shanghai 3 · Guilin 1 · Yangshuo 4 · Shanghai 1. Hotels named in your written confirmation. Room type is not promised on this version, see Special Notes
Tickets & experiences, ShanghaiYu Garden and the old city · the former French Concession and Wukang Road · the Bund and the Pudong skyline after dark · Shanghai Tower observation deck · a Shanghai art space, named in your written confirmation · the Huangpu River ferry crossing
Tickets & experiences, GuilinGuilin old town on foot · Elephant Trunk Hill
Tickets & experiences, YangshuoYulong River bamboo raft · Xianggong Hill sunrise · Xingping Ancient Town · a karst cave near Yangshuo, named in your written confirmation once operating conditions are settled · the Li River at sunset with the fishing boats, watched and photographed by you · West Street
Meals9 hotel breakfasts, days two through ten, plus one arranged item: the riverside afternoon tea in Yangshuo on day six
Departure-morning walkThe Wukang Road breakfast walk on day ten, when your flight time allows it, at no extra charge
InsuranceTravel accident insurance

Not Included

International flightsFlights into and out of Shanghai
VisasVisa fees and processing for guests who require a Chinese visa
MealsBeyond the 9 breakfasts and the one afternoon tea: lunches and dinners are recommended and booked by your guide, on your account. Food and drink bought along West Street and in the old towns are on your account
On-site spendingAnything bought inside the listed venues: cave photography services, boat-side vendor purchases, tea-house retail, museum shops. None of it is bundled
Honeymoon service layerProfessional photography · ceremony-moment styling and setup · a guaranteed river-view suite category. None of the three is in the base price on this version, and none is sold as an add-on either, because no supplier is contracted and no price exists. See Special Notes
PersonalGratuities, single or extra-room difference, personal spending. This route is quoted on two guests sharing one room

Special Notes

A few things on this route follow the calendar, the season, a supplier's confirmation, or a decision we have not yet made. Here they are, told straight.

Bookings are not open yet — three things a honeymoon on this route should have are not contracted with any supplier: a river-view suite held for four consecutive nights in Yangshuo, a professional photographer, and the styling of the ceremony moments. Until they are real and named here we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we will write to you on the day it opens.
What we sell instead — the sunrise, the raft and the sunset fishing boats are sold as what they are, places and hours that the two of you reach with your own guide and vehicle. They are not sold as photographed or styled occasions, because we cannot yet buy that.
October departures only on this version — the Li River enters its low-water season in November and December, and that stretch of river is both the main experience of day five and the only water link from Guilin into Yangshuo; the raft day and the sunset fishing boats read off the same water level. The winter arrangement, a road link of about ninety minutes in place of the boat plus the day's re-plan, is being finalized. November and December departures open only once it is settled and written here.
The one early start — Day seven leaves before dawn for the Xianggong Hill sunrise, and you are informed of this in writing before placing an order. You can decline that start on the order: day seven then runs as Xingping Ancient Town on a late-morning start, at no change in price. Nothing else on this route starts before 8:00.
Sunrise weather — a sunrise is weather, and no one sells weather. Rain or heavy mist means no colour from the viewpoint, and we do not pretend otherwise. Four nights in one place is the cushion: on a lost morning the guide and vehicle are yours to try again on the following day, with the cave and the sunset moved back half a day. What holds either way: the climb, the view of the bend, and a morning nobody else in the town is having.
Departure calendar — Departures during the national holiday week, 1 to 7 October, are confirmed on a case-by-case basis against boat and hotel availability before a date is held.
The cave is not named before you book — which cave runs on your dates is settled with the operator against operating conditions, then named in your written confirmation.
Two flights and a boat — This route holds two internal flights and one river cruise seat block, so a date change touches flight inventory, boat inventory and four consecutive Yangshuo hotel nights at once. The flight numbers, times and cabin class are written into your quote, as are the boat class and deck. The autumn schedule on both legs is confirmed for your dates before anything is charged.
The Bund on your first evening — your guide is with you end to end. People approach visitors on that waterfront with an invitation to practise English or see a tea ceremony, and it is a known scam that ends in a bill. It is a standing rule on this route, not an option you choose.
Visa window — the 30-day visa-free policy currently runs through December 31, 2026. This version sells October departures, which finish well inside that window; later departure dates are quoted only after the official renewal is announced.
US passports — This route is not offered to guests travelling on US passports at present. Shanghai in and Shanghai out on a US round trip does not form the onward third-country leg that the ten-day visa-free transit policy requires, and ten days sits flush against that policy's stay ceiling with no margin. Until the entry route for US passport holders is settled we do not quote it. Guests who entered China under that transit policy cannot take this trip either, for the same two reasons, and we say so before payment rather than after.
Confirmation and changes — the confirmation-time commitment and the change and refund terms are being finalised with our ground partners. Until they are settled, each quote states in writing its own confirmation deadline and its change and refund conditions.

Is Ten Days Your Length?

Fewer than ten days?

The two halves come apart cleanly: Shanghai stands on its own, and the Guilin and Yangshuo stretch stands on its own. What we cut is days rather than the pace, and the first thing we protect is the four consecutive nights in Yangshuo. Tell us your dates and we will show you both versions.

Good to Know

Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size.
Pace: Three places in 10 days: Shanghai 3 nights, Guilin 1, Yangshuo 4, plus one final night back in Shanghai. One whole day given to a flight, one afternoon given to a boat
Effort: Two climbs on stone steps to viewpoints, one before sunrise and one before sunset. Otherwise town walking, riverbank walking and time on the water. No altitude
Ports: Shanghai in, Shanghai out; airport pickup on day one and drop-off on day ten. Yangshuo has no airport, so both the way in and the way out run through Guilin, by boat on day five and by road on day nine.
Visas: UK, most European and Canadian passports enter visa-free for stays days, and so do Australian and New Zealand passports. Checked order by order against your dates. This route is not offered on US passports at present
Language: Licensed English-speaking guides throughout, city by city
Payment: When this route opens for booking: From 1 guest. A 10% deposit (minimum $399) locks your dates. The balance is due 14 days before departure. "Or similar" never means a quiet downgrade
Season: October 2026 departures on this version. November and December wait on the low-water arrangement for the Li River. Departures in the October 1 to 7 holiday week are confirmed order by order

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The Water Sets the Clock

Overview

Why you'll love this trip