Central Square

Although there is nothing much to see inside the pagodas, the view from the outside as well as the surrounding lake offers a good respite from the traffic and noise of Guilin's city center. The view is better at night than day.

Built in the 1940s to accommodate Li Zongren, a Guilin-born Kuomintang military leader who served as vice president of the Republic of China from 1948 to 1949 and acting president from 1949 to 1950. It is sometimes referred to informally as the 'Guilin Presidential Palace' (桂林总统府). The building is open to the public and has exhibitions about Li Zongren's life.

In the center of the city lies a small forbidden city, once home to the princes of the area. The palace buildings are now a museum.

Rises dramatically above the center of Guilin and offers spectacular views of the city and surrounding countryside. As with so many peaks and rocky upthrusts in and around Guilin, centuries of visits have led to the creation of a carved stairway leading to the summit. The pathway starts at Wang Cheng, the Ming Dynasty palace in the center of town, now home to the campus of Guangxi Normal University and also the site of nightly performances by local ethnic minorities. Only the city walls and some of the foundation of the original buildings are left, the buildings themselves are all recent.