Destinations: Guilin + Yangshuo + Guiyang + Libo
Curated by PandaStudyTour, this 7-day advanced geography field program is tailored for global students passionate about earth science and physical geography. Centered on a professional dual World Natural Heritage karst comparison, the tour connects Guilin's exposed peak forest karst landforms with Guizhou's primitive forest-covered karst systems. Students will conduct on-site contrast research on two completely different karst development modes, summarize the geographical differences between Guangxi and Guizhou landforms, vegetation ecosystems and regional ethnic cultures, and complete an independent professional comparative geological report. This textbook-level dual karst field classroom provides ultra-high academic value for geography students.
Core Program Highlights
Why Consider This Program?
This professional geoscience field course is designed for student groups majoring in geography and natural science. It breaks the limitation of single landform sightseeing and focuses on horizontal comparative academic research. Students can intuitively understand the evolution logic of karst landforms under different climatic and vegetation conditions. PandaStudyTour provides full pre-reservation, professional geological tutor guidance and international student-friendly services to ensure high-standard academic field study experience.
Day 1: Guilin Arrival | Urban Karst & Ancient Water System Enlightenment
Settle in downtown Guilin and attend the opening ceremony to receive study manuals and group division arrangements. Start foundational karst knowledge training and clarify the core research direction of dual-landform comparison. In the afternoon, explore Duxiu Peak Royal City to experience ancient imperial examination culture and stone carving rubbing intangible heritage, and conduct on-site observation of urban karst mountain structures at Elephant Trunk Hill. In the evening, cruise the Two Rivers and Four Lakes to investigate ancient urban water conservancy projects. Students will record the basic morphological characteristics of Guilin's exposed karst landforms to build preliminary geological cognition.
Day 2: Lijiang River & Xingping | World-Class Peak Forest Karst Research
Conduct full-day field research on the Lijiang River basin's typical peak forest landforms. During the cruise, students observe peak cluster structures, river erosion landforms and river beach deposition features, and verify the formation mechanism of Guilin's mature karst peak forest. Visit the iconic 20-yuan banknote landscape to record typical peak forest combinations. In the afternoon, explore Xingping Ancient Fishing Village to study the site selection logic of ancient settlements adapting to karst mountain and river environments. Evening group discussion focuses on sorting out the developmental characteristics of open karst peak forest systems.
Day 3: Yangshuo Ecology & Cave Stratigraphic Research
Carry out ecological field research on the Yulong River basin. Students complete on-site water quality testing and rural agricultural vegetation surveys to understand the ecological characteristics of human-developed karst basins. In the afternoon, visit Silver Cave to observe the layered growth structure of stalactites and stone pillars, and conduct preliminary comparative analysis with Guilin urban caves to summarize the developmental differences of karst caves in different regions.
Day 4: Guilin to Guiyang | Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau Geology Pre-Study
Systematically organize and sort out all geological specimens, field data and hand-drawn records accumulated in Guilin and Yangshuo to form a complete open karst data system. After arriving in Guiyang, visit the Guizhou Provincial Museum to learn the overall geological evolution of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, regional landform distribution and multi-ethnic cultural characteristics. Students will preview the basic features of Guizhou forest karst to prepare for subsequent field contrast research.
Day 5: Libo Xiaoqikong | Primitive Forest Karst Field Survey
Conduct in-depth field research at Libo Xiaoqikong, a core World Natural Heritage site for forest karst. Under professional guidance, students observe alpine waterfalls, underground river systems and unique water forest landscapes. Different from Guilin's exposed peak forest, Libo's karst is completely covered by primitive subtropical vegetation with dense surface water systems. Students will complete on-site temperature and humidity monitoring and subtropical vegetation ecological surveys to record the structural characteristics of closed forest karst.
Day 6: Maolan Primitive Karst & Shui Ethnic Culture Study
Take a gentle field hike in Maolan Karst Forest Reserve to explore rare surface funnel landforms and natural hidden caves, and further summarize the geological differences between Guizhou and Guangxi karst. In the afternoon, visit traditional Shui ethnic villages to experience Shui embroidery intangible cultural heritage. Students will compare the living cultures and folk customs of Guangxi Zhuang people and Guizhou Shui people, and understand the connection between geographical environment and ethnic lifestyle.
Day 7: Academic Summary & Closing Achievement Defense
Students integrate all field data, ecological records and geological observation results of Guilin and Guizhou. Each group completes the professional Guangxi-Guizhou Karst Landform Comparative Research Report and conducts academic defense and achievement sharing. Outstanding learning outcomes will be commented by professional tutors. All participants will receive the official PandaStudyTour study certificate, before concluding the full professional geoscience field study program.
Important Notes
This professional dual-karst comparative study tour provides rare cross-provincial geological field experience, enabling students to master core karst geography knowledge and obtain valuable independent scientific research capabilities.
