Language of Guilin

Mandarin Chinese (Putong Hua) and Guilin Hua (Guilin dialect) are the most commonly spoken languages in Guilin. The local variant of Mandarin has a non-standard pronunciation characteristic of most regions in southern China and also exhibits influence from Cantonese.

English is not widely spoken in Guilin but you can expect reasonable-to-excellent English from staff in most hotels and hostels (especially those popular among Westerners) and tourist shops. Elsewhere, English proficiency is none-to-limited, therefore it is recommended to have hotel staff write down your intended destination for taxis or to carry a bilingual map and phrasebook. Expect to see the signs in Chinese only, though a growing number of tourist attractions include information displays in English as well.