Guangxi (广西) · 10 places · 5 cities
10 places in Guangxi, grouped by city. Under each one are two figures from the survey: how much daily life still goes on there, out of 100, and how far it has been turned over to visitors, out of 6.
Most common here: Old town (5), Old quarter of a city (4), Historic street (1). See all provinces, or the background on old towns.
3 places
Guilin (桂林)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Lingchuan Daxu Ancient Town (灵川大圩古镇)2.5km of stone streets along the Li River in Guangxi’s ancient “number one market town”, 13 docks, bamboo-weaving workshops, and old men smoking water pipes, almost completely untouched by tourism.Lived-in 80/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · easy to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Yangshuo Xingping Ancient Town & Fishing Village (阳朔兴坪古镇-渔村)UNESCOThe reach of river printed on the twenty-yuan note, with an 1,800-year-old river town beside it and a fishing village where pomelos are still grown and nets still cast. Quieter than West Street.Lived-in 75/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · known abroad · easy to reach | Old town | Lived-in, busy |
| Guilin Dongxi Alley & Jingjiang Prince City (桂林东西巷-靖江王城周边)Outside a 600-year-old Ming prince’s city wall into restored Qing-era alleys where locals still eat Guilin rice noodles at 6am, the old heart of the karst city that appears on the 20-yuan note.Lived-in 70/100 · Commercialised 4/6 · known abroad · very easy to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, busy |
2 places
Beihai (北海)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Beihai Old Street (北海老街)UNESCO1.44km of qilou arcade street, described as the longest and best preserved in South China, built by overseas Chinese returning from Vietnam, where old men still sing Tanka fishing songs and barbers cut hair in 100-year-old shops.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · easy to reach | Historic street | Lived-in, busy |
| Weizhou Island Fishing Villages (涠洲岛渔村)Volcanic-stone fishing villages on China’s youngest volcanic island, where 85% of 16,000 residents are Hakka fishermen who still build coral-stone houses (“breathing houses”), dry fish at their doors, and sing Tanka fishing songs.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · some effort to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, busy |
2 places
Liuzhou (柳州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Sanjiang Chengyang Eight Dong Villages (三江程阳八寨)UNESCOA cluster of eight living Dong villages where 10,000 people still build wooden drum towers and wind-rain bridges without nails, sing polyphonic Grand Song, and dye indigo cloth on their balconies.Lived-in 82/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · some effort to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, busy |
| Sanjiang Danzhou Ancient Town (三江丹洲古镇)China’s only water-locked ancient city, a Ming dynasty county seat on a 1.6sqkm island in the Rong River, reachable only by ferry, where 1,000 villagers of 61 surnames still grow pomelos and smoke bacon with pomelo branches.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
2 places
Nanning (南宁)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Nanning Yangmei Ancient Town (南宁扬美古镇)A 1,000-year-old river port on the Zuo River where villagers still make fermented black beans and yellow skin sauce, 100-year-old elders sit at village gates, and a bowl of vegetables still costs almost nothing.Lived-in 80/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Nanning Sanjie Liangxiang Historic District (南宁三街两巷)Still residential behind the arcades. Jinshi Lane holds the only complete Qing housing group left in central Nanning, and the Xinhui guild hall stages Yong and Cantonese opera.Lived-in 70/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · very easy to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, busy |
1 place
Hezhou (贺州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Huangyao Ancient Town (昭平黄姚古镇)UNESCOA 1,000-year-old town of black stone streets and ancestral halls where locals still make fermented black beans and yellow essence wine, far less commercialized than Yangshuo, with real residents behind every door.Lived-in 80/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, busy |
Which of These Is Still a Town
The two scores narrow the list, and the last step is local: which lanes are worth the walk, which day of the week the place is itself, and where to stay inside the walls. Tell our local team the provinces you will be in and they will say which of these hold up.