Guilin Zhangjiajie and Huangshan Photo Tour

The Landscape Capture of China

This 6 days Guilin photography workshop offers you the best photography sessions at the best times of year.

You can probably capture seas of clouds, mist-shrouded mountain peaks, sunrise over flooded rice terraces, long-haired minority women walking in rice paddies, a buffalo farmer on an ancient bridge, old people sitting in front of their wooden houses, and cormorant fishermen casting their nets against the charming sunset.

Days 12
Trip Type Photography Tours
Time of Year Apr - Nov
Cities & Landmarks Guilin - Zhangjiajie - Huangshan | Li River, Avatar Mountain, Yellow Mountains

Tour designed by Mercier Zeng "The first Guilin photography tours local operator"

Highlights of The Tour

#1 Gaslamp Fishermen Portraits at Dusk

#2 Sunrise Over Misty Karst Mountains

#3 Avatar Mountains In Wulingyuan

#4 Golden Sunrise Over Yellow Mountains

#5 Ancient Architecture Shoot At Night

Day-By-Day Itinerary

Guilin arrival, and stay overnight in downtown. Enjoy the nightlife of city lakes.

Start early, head to Xianggong Hill to shoot sunrise over mountains and the Li River.

Drive to a small ancient town. Take a visit of a local family, shoot indoor portraits in old wooden house.

Start out in the late afternoon. Meet an old cormorant fishermen at river side, and shoot the sunset and gas lamp portraits at dusk.

Leave early to catch sunrise and mountain reflections. A cormorant fisherman will join us as the sun rises.

Take a visit of a local market, see how locals selling and buying things.

Go back out in the late afternoon for sunset overlooking a valley, with mountains as backdrop. We wait until after sunset, before continuing back to the hotel for a late dinner.

We drive for an hour to a village, where we photograph a buffalo farmer on an ancient stone bridge, with mountains in the background. Watch how local people feed hundreds of ducks in the wild. This is really a relaxing place, with absolutely no tourists.

Head to Longji Rice Terraces in the afternoon. Capture the sunset over terraced fields and minority villages.

Take Bailong elevator up to explore the Real Padora World - Yuanjiajie. Yuanjiajie is world famous as the mountains here inspired the floating mountains in the Hollywood movie AVATAR. Shoot the original of Hallelujah Mountain in the film of AVATAR, the First Bridge under the Heaven, stand on the Bridge Viewing Terrace to shoot the First Bridge under Heaven, and other amazing lesser peaks and grotesque rocks stand in the valley.

Then, take sightseeing bus to Yangjiajie. Yangjiajie is a relatively newer part of the Wulingyuan National Forest Park as beautiful as Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountian. Shoot the main attractions such as Tianbo Mansion, Oolong Village, Natural Great Wall, Corridor the Cliffs, and capture sunset in One Step Under the Heaven.

Headingb to Laowuchang which is a perfect place to photograph the mixture of mountains and rice fields. Shoot the most interesting sight - Fields in the Sky, terraced rice paddies on the top of the peaks.

On this day, you'll go to Tianzi Mountain where you can have a stunning view of the peaks rising one after another. Atop of the mountain offers a full extent of the whole scenic area, which is magnificent and spectacular. Tianzi Mountain is the highest place that photographers could capture the panoramic view of Wulingyuan Scenic Area.

Referred to as the 'Soul of culture and spirit of Zhangjiajie', Tianmen Mountain boasts miraculous and unique geographic landform, unparalleled natural landscape, profound cultural connotations.

Experience the longest cableway in Asia with a length of 7200 meters, take photos of Avenue toward Heaven with 99 turns from cable car. On the top of Tianmen Mountain, enjoy the Cliff-Hanging Walkway and avoid the crowds to take some photos. Then, visit the natural mountain-penetrating Karst cave - Tianmen Cave. The foot of the cave is wonderful photo opportunity with the hole in the mountain as the background. It is worth waiting for the sunlight to shine through the hole with mist or smoke illuminating the way.

After the tour, fly to Huangshan.

Drive to the Yellow Mountains. The cable car provides a good opportunity to enjoy the scenery and pine trees from above.

Your guide will first take you to Shixin Peak, with many other photography spots along the way, where you can shoot amazing rocks and pine trees.

After lunch in a hotel, you proceed to Lion Peak, one of the best locations for rocky mountain and valley photography. Expect to shoot a sunset, or mist in the valley.

Starting at 5 am, climb Lion Peak to shoot the rocky mountains at sunrise.

After breakfast, move on to the next big photography location: West Sea Grand Canyon. This is a great place for photography of the mountains, seas of cloud, pine trees, canyons, and birds.

Take some amazing shots in Cloud-Dispelling Pavilion, an ideal spot for shooting the stone forest and U-shaped valley. Then walk down in an hour to the bottom of the canyon, and shoot spectacular rocks close up.

After a short break at the next hotel, walk to a cliff-side to shoot the mountains and stone forest at sunset. This is the most likely place from which to obtain good photographs of the sea of clouds.

Shoot the sunrise from a view point near the hotel.

Get down the mountain and head to Hongcun Ancient Village. Hongcun has been nicknamed "the village in the Chinese painting", with 800 years of history. It is one of the locations featured in the Oscar-winning movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". At any time, it is a perfect place for shooting traditional houses or reflections.

Trip Notes

What's included?

English-speaking expert photographer guiding
All transportation in the itinerary: overnight train from Guilin to Zhangjiajie and flight from Zhangjiajie to Huangshan
Accommodation (comfort or boutique) for 10 nights
Personal processing instructions
Fresh Coffee if outdoor in early morning

What's not included?

Flight/train to Guilin
Travel insurance
Airport/train station pick up and transfer
Tips for the guide and driver if satisfied

How many people in my group?

Max. number of participants: 8; Min. number: 3.

What's the accommodation situation?

Accommodation is provided in local best hotels and based on 2-people per room.

What gears should I bring?

Two cameras will be very helpful, it will save your time to change the lenses. Better to have one full frame body with regular lens, and one half frame for zoom lens.

For sunrise, 24-70 and 70-200 are needed; at sunset, 70-200 is more useful.

Besides, if would be great if you have a primary lens with big aperture (1.4 or 1.8) for low light indoor photography.

Tripod is very necessary of course. We prepare at least 2 tripods for backup, you can bring your ball head only and use it on our tripod if concerning about the weight of your luggages.

I don't think you will use polarizer filters or ND filters in Xiapu.

Besides, it will be great if you can bring a mini tripod for your mobile phone, lots of opportunities to film time-lapse when tide coming.

Level of Difficulty

The tour is not suit for everyone.

Guilin: medium.

Zhangjiajie and Huangshan: you need to walk about 3-4 hours, around 2000+ steps every day.

Booking Policy

Deposit: a USD 300 non refundable deposit is required to reserve your spot.
Full Payment: is required 40 days prior to the tour starts and is accepted by PayPal.
Refund Policy:
- a full refund if you could find a replacement.
- there will be a 50% refund of balance payment on cancellations made less than 30 days prior to the scheduled date of departure
- a 25% refund between 30 and 15 days prior date of departure
- a 10% refund on cancellations made less than 15 days of departure
- Initial deposit will be retained.

Other Important Information

Due to the local hostels on mountain top in Wulingyuan National Park were closed since June, 2019. Then after, no possibilities of sunrise and sunset session in Zhangjiajie.