For visiting Li Jiang / Guilin, which airport better to fly into?

I want to go somewhere with this view



And this

This is around Guilin so this is where you fly. Lijiang is very far from there.

But the first one is from Lijiang, right? I can see that in Guilin as well?

LJG is airport for the city of Lijiang 丽江 in Yunnan. Your photo is of the Li 漓(different character) River (jiang 江) in Guangxi, outside Guilin (KWL).

Both pics are taken in Guangxi.
So you better fly into Guilin.

Right, the Lijiang river and the city of Lijiang are two totally different places. These photos are all around Guilin.

I did not know there are two Li Jiang... Not having known the Chinese names certainly did not help. KWL it is then!

Will going to Guilin require a personal driver, or can there be taxi found to go to these scenic places?

LiJiang in Yunnan is a city, Li River in Guilin is.. .well a river.

I would recommend to stay in Yangshuo and Guilin.
You can take a boat or a bamboo from Guilin to Yangshuo on the Li river (the bamboo is just using the half way to Yangshuo but is not so overcrowded as the boat from Guilin).
In Yangshuo you can rent a bike or an ebike to enjoy the scenic.
Otherwise every hotel is offering tours to the scenic spots.

The karst hills in both photos are from areas near Guilin. The city itself is charming by Chinese standards, but it's not spectacularly scenic as one would have fancied. Instead, you would need to go outside of the city, at least to a town called Yangshuo. Very popular with both Chinese and Westerners, it's a great place to rent a bike and just ride around the countryside. A littler farther from Yangshuo is Xingping, a smaller, more charming town that's arguably the better place to view the karst hills via the bamboo raft on Lijiang (Li River, not Lijiang, the town, in Yunnan province). Near Xingping's boat dock is the location depicted on the 20RMB bill. There are also good hiking opportunities in Xingping.

If you devote 4-7 days, you can fly into KWL and experience all 3 of Guilin, Yangshuo, and Xingping. My personal experience: I went directly to Xingping first (KWL airport into Guilin city, bus to Yangshuo, and then a rickety bus to Xingping). Oneway bamboo raft up the Li River, and then hike back into town (iirc, there is also a tram that travels at least part of the way along the river). In Yangshuo, there are lots more outdoor activities that can be arranged (rock climbing, paragliding, etc.). Rental bikes are everywhere for $2/day (and that was probably on the expensive side). Cormorant fishing is actually now an evening performance. I don't know exactly where it takes place, but you can arrange it from your hotel in either Yangshuo or Xingping.
Safe travels!

Xingping, Guangxi

Lots of good info here, thank you! I am currently planning to spend 3 nights in Guilin and area, could stretch to four if must. But when I travel, I don't like to be in the same place for too long because I get bored easily. I will look into this more and post back if I have more questions. Thank you for all the info so far!

Since January you can take the train from Guilin to Xingping (Yangshuo Railway Station).

Thanks for this info. Now with the HSR, it will probably mean that Xingping's days as a sleepy little town are numbered.

What's the quickest way from Guilin to Yangshuo? Hired driver? So it is possible to do a daytrip to Yangshuo if based in Guilin?

I don't think the "highway" between Guilin and Yangshuo has been improved much, so that it's still about a 1.5 hour drive each way. A daytrip from Guilin is definitely doable, but depending on what you want to see and do in Yangshuo, imo it's better to spend at least a night there.

I wouldn�t do a daytrip to Yangshuo as there�s a lot to see.

Rent a bike for a day and cycle the area.
You�ll enjoy it.

Iwould stay stay there 2 nights at least.