Some three hours from Guilin, LONGSHENG sits on the torrential Rongshui River , known for the tiny quantities of alluvial gold found in its tributaries which still entice the occasional Chinese dreamer up into the hills with shovels and pans. It's also a busy marketplace for those interestingly shaped rocks that end up in miniature gardens and bonsai pots throughout the land, a trade that was illegal until the late 1990s.

 

Longsheng itself is unattractive, but it makes a convenient base. Turn right out of the bus station and it's a short walk to the comforting "English Spoken" sign outside the Riverside Hotel (¥30-75), a basic, friendly hostel run by an English teacher. Past here you reach a bridge which crosses east over the river to the town centre, a messy couple of streets running parallel to the bank. North near the market, the Foreign Trade Hotel (¥30-75), with reasonable rooms, is the best of several accommodation choices, while the Jinhui Fandian, not far away on Xinlong Lu, has an enthusiastic manager and good food. Also check out the accurately named "Shop of Strange Stones and Root Carving", housed in a former temple one street back on Jilong Lu; people come all the way from Taiwan to buy their stock of curiously weathered and patterned rocks here.

Scores of daily buses run on from Longsheng to Sanjiang (¥15) or Guilin (¥10) between about 6am and 5pm; there are also four luxury coaches to Guilin at twice the price. Minibuses for local destinations leave from a depot more or less opposite the Jinlong Fandian on Xinlong Lu; get here early on in the day.