Guilin Photos

I hope my Guilin photos inspire you to visit China one day. Guilin’s a place like no other in China. Guilin’s diversity, unique landscapes, culture, and the iconic imagery of the Li River and cormorant fishermen to the hill tribes found in the Rice Terraces of Longji means it’s the best location for a jam-packed photography tour.

Guilin’s best photography locations are not easy to find, they are off the beaten track, in between towns, and away from public transport. My best photos are taken in areas never visited by overseas tour operators but join one of my photo workshop or private photo tours, and you’ll get access to beautiful locations and photogenic locals homes, you’ll be sure to come home with amazing photos.

Guilin’s Cormorant Fishermen

The cormorant fishermen featured in my photos are the last of the traditional cormorant fishermen in China. These men have come from at least 5 generations of fishermen, a line that can be traced back not only in folk tales but at their countryside ancestral home records. Some of the fishermen’s records show 200 years of fishing history.

A Guilin cormorant fisherman returns home by kerosine lamp on the Li River in Guilin, China.

Chinese Fisherman casting his net on the Li River in Guilin, China.

Guilin cormorant fishermen puts out his kerosine lamp on Guilin's Li River, China.

Guilin cormorant fishing releases his cormorant bird into the air during the golden evening light on the Li River in Guilin, China.

Guilin's cormorant fishermen reflecting on the calm Li River with their kerosine lamps in the dusk light.

Guilin Li River storm passes overhead as a cormorant fisherman waits it out on his raft in the river.

Guilin cormorant fisherman braves a storm

A cormorant fisherman night fishing in Guilin China by lamp light

A cormorant fisherman in Guilin China takes five on his raft

Today the last seven fishermen we know are all 60 to 84 years old, all retired, and all called Mr. Huang, and so the fishermen go by nicknames, such as Blackbeard or ‘The Two Brothers’. Over my 7 years in Guilin, my wife and I have become a close family friend to all the fishermen, especially the ‘Two Brothers’ and ‘Blackbeard’. It’s our relationship with them and their pride in their dying tradition that enables us to take photos in their home, to arrange them to fish with birds or cast nets in the most spectacular corners of the river at 4 am, with lamps before dawn or at sunset.

This large panorama image is animated by layering video into the photo. It’s compressed to a low-res animated gif, so there might be some color banding. It might take a few seconds to load fully.

guilin cormorant fisherman landscape cinemagraph — Guilin cormorant fisherman cinemagraph sunrise landscape

It’s a real honor to spend time with these guys, to learn how they train the birds, see how they live, eat with them and understand the struggles they had in life as young fishermen, as society ranked them beneath a farmer, as they had no land and lived transient on the river. Today they still live incredibly simply, the two brothers nearly ruined by medical bills of the younger brothers recently passed away wife. You can read more of their story here soon.

If you’re wondering why I ended up focused on China, you can find out here.