Guìpíng

Introducing Guìpíng

This grey mess of a town is wildly friendly to the point of being surreal. (Where else in China do baton-swinging cops pepper visitors with ‘Hello! How do you do? Welcome to Guìpíng!’ before running off in giggles to their patrol cars?!) Perhaps there’s something in the famous Xī Shān tea.

As for the town’s more formal sights, Guìpíng is known for its gorgeous Xi Shan Park (; Xī Shān Gōngyuán; admission Y33; dawn to dusk), with a modest mountain climb of 880m. To get there, walk 15 to 20 minutes west of the public square along Renmin Xilu. The mountain’s Xī Shān tea is famous all over China and there are shops selling it everywhere.

Only 20km northwest of town is Dragon Pool National Forest and Park (; Lōngtán Gúojīa Sēnlín Gōngyuán; admission Y50), which gives you the opportunity to delve into the rustic wilderness of Guǎngxī’s only remaining old-growth forest.

Direct transport to Dragon Pool Park doesn’t exist. From Guìpíng, get the bus to Jīntiáncūn (Y2) and ask the driver to drop you off at the Dragon Pool Park access road (Longtan Lukou). Motorcycle taxis waiting at the intersection will take you to the park for about Y30. A two-day trip with the Forestry Department (338 0413) in Guìpíng, including guide, food, transport and accommodation, is about Y200.

Just 25km north of Guìpíng, Jīntiáncūn () is the birthplace of Hong Xiuquan, the schoolteacher who declared himself a brother of Jesus Christ and eventually led an army of more than a million followers against the Qing dynasty in what came to be known as the Taiping Rebellion – one of the bloodiest civil wars in human history. A museum, Qǐyì Jìniànguǎn (; admission Y20) now stands at the site of Hong’s home.

To reach Jīntiáncūn from Guìpíng, take a minibus from the main square at the corner of Guigui Lu and Renmin Lu (Y4 to Y5, 40 minutes). Backtrack 500m from the bus drop-off in Jīntiáncūn to the motorcycle taxis, from where the museum is a further 4km. The last bus back to Guìpíng departs Jīntiáncūn around 6pm.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009