Just before Japan’s Golden Week in May 2025, I checked my mileages with various airlines and found that I had 60,000 miles with All Nippon Airways (ANA) expiring in April 2026. Considering miles expiring by the end of 2026, they were more than 70,000 miles. At that point, I already had Golden Week plan for Mexico flying Japan Airlines (JAL) and summer vacation plans for Uzbekistan flying Asiana Airlines, so I had no immediate use for the ANA miles.
I started considering destinations using the miles. I could not find a time for another long vacation, so I had to choose international flights within Asia. This was meant as a trip with my family.
Since award tickets were likely unavailable during the New Year’s holiday season, a realistic schedule would be around autumn. Hong Kong, being in its dry season, first came to my mind but every feasible timing slot was on a waitlist. Taking my mother on a red-eye flight to Southeast Asia sounded too much, and using miles for a shorter sector, namely Tokyo/Seoul, would not use the miles up. Besides, with more people traveling together, I could not take an unforeseeable chance such as waiting for cancellations. I decided to go to mainland China, where was relatively easy to find award tickets.
When I asked my mother where she would like to go, she only mentioned scenic spots in inland region of mainland China. Since I had not fully recovered from stomachache from Sichuan Province visit, I briefly researched and rejected them all.
Searching for award seat availability, I noticed there was a public holiday on a Tuesday in November, with seats available on flights to/from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Near Guangzhou, Guilin is famous for its scenery. Guangdong Province is the home of Cantonese cuisine, far from the fiery heat of Sichuan cuisine. Furthermore, like Hong Kong, it should be in dry season. Or so I thought.
At this point, it was the day before the Mexico trip departure. To keep putting off award ticket booking made no sense, without researching Guilin at all, I decided to book the award Guangzhou tickets. I committed sinful act of using JAL’s in-flight WiFi on the way to Dallas to reserve ANA award ticket and then putting off dealing with everything else.
After returning from Mexico, I began my research. I simply thought that taking a boat trip would be a good idea when visiting Guilin, but it seemed to take nearly a full day. Meanwhile, I found a spot with an incredible sunrise view, but it was quite far from downtown Guilin. Fitting everything together in the limited schedule seemed difficult. After carefully looking into, I found truly spectacular viewpoints on the boat trip were rather limited, so I decided to stay in a rural town near the sunrise scenic spot. That town has a Hilton hotel. I probably would not stay there alone, but it would be acceptable with my family.
When I talked about my plan to a friend who visits China often, I got a harsh critique. First off, Guilin is not in Guangdong Province; it belongs to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Then, Guangxi (広西 – west) has a distinct cultural sphere, different from Guangdong (広東 – east), with its own unique cuisine. They were quite far from my initial assumptions.
Also, I was told that when it comes to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, “rural town” means the real rural area. I countered that the hotel was a Hilton, but the friend warned not to overestimate Hilton hotels in Chinese rural towns. Hmm.
Ultimately, it came down to trusting my friend or trusting the Hilton. My friend had helped me a lot on previous trips to China, so I should probably trust the friend than Hilton. However, there seemed no other suitable options in the limited schedule, I decided to take a chance on Hilton.
We arrived at Guangzhou Airport slightly earlier than scheduled. It was clear and sunny, much warmer than Tokyo. Since taking the subway would take too long, we met up with the driver I had arranged and headed to Guangzhou South Station.
Considering possible flight delay, I booked train tickets later on that day. We killed time at the station, doing some shopping. From what I learned beforehand, all the restaurants in the rural town seemed to close around 9 PM. The Hilton was likely no exception, so we stopped at a restaurant, stocked up on groceries at a convenience store, and then boarded the 5:57 PM train. A little risk hedging for the rural town.
By the time the train left Guangzhou, darkness had fallen. Artificial lights gradually faded from view. Being a high-speed rail line, the tracks must run through remote areas. Or so I thought.
We arrived at Yangshuo Station, one stop before Guilin. Though it is called Yangshuo Station, it was likely built on an easily secured land near Yangshuo City on the most direct route possible between Guangzhou and Guilin. To put it bluntly, aside from a few taxis, it was a station where seemed to be nothing but despair. In an English expression, it was “middle of nowhere.” Still, we managed to meet up with the driver who had been arranged for us. A small risk hedging for the rural town too.
Our hotel was in the town of Xingping. Upon arrival, I did not feel the town was particularly rural. After dropping off luggage and heading out, I found a few restaurants were still open late, and there were even two convenience stores. Although it was deserted, a few souvenir shops were open too. Moreover, this town had not only a Hilton but also a Mercure.
Considering the question of which one to believe, it seemed the conclusion was here. While one should not overestimate Hilton hotels in Chinese rural towns, a town with two international hotel brands probably should not be considered as a rural town.