I was there in early Dec 2007. The river was pretty low - we had to travel an hour to board the boat and couldn't finish the cruise because of low water. We also scraped bottom at least 5 times, but there were lots of boats still cruising. It was worth it. Guilin is beautiful - I would love to go back!!!

By Christmas 2007 the cruises weren't running.

It is often better to take the express a/c bus from Guilin to Yangshuo, and then take the smaller boats up river to see the best landscapes. Stay overnight in Yangshuo and spend the next day touring.

The experience of the larger boat trip is nothing special. The scenery is the thing, which you will see by smaller boats and rafts on the southern section near Yangshuo.

i'm a local here,i quite agree with the last friend's advice that you can take a small private boat to enjoy the best view part of the river which is from Xingping to Yangti instead of taking the 4 hours big boat.

January is dry season, usually you can do river cruise from Yangdi to Nine horse hill and back to Yangdi for around one and half hour. Yangdi is a small town with the most beautiful section of Li river.