Hey! I'm currently trying to decide where to travel in Southern China during the National Festival Holiday. Can anyone vouch for Guilin, Chengdu, or Lijiang? Or do you have an even better suggestion?

I really enjoyed Guilin/Yangshuo last October. Great scenery, lots to do, though very touristy, the same as Lijiang. Chengdu, I didn't like it all that much. It depends what you are interested in seeing.

Avoid Lijiang...the crowds...shudder.

Agreed with Alex. Touristic places will be crawling with visitors, which might mean that other cities will have less people

During the Chinese holidays traveling in china sucks in general. Laos is the same distance (give or take) from Kunming to the places you mentioned. Nicer and way less crowds!

Vote for Guilin. I have had a nice trip last year. The scenic city of Guilin is certainly attractive - fantastic karst landscape & idyllic rural villages in Yangshuo, and spectacular Longji rice terraces and colorful ethnic culture.

I agree that the highway to Lijiang isn't great at holiday times but no matter where you go you will caught in a crowd. Personally i avoid train journeys, due to crowds and on long journeys you may not even get a seat (unless you have bullet train or 'soft seat' /1st class tickets).
Airports can also be hell.

Lijiang gets crowded, but about 3km outside LJ is a small resort village, in a national park, called ShuHe. Few crowds, no cars allowed, small hotels, and walks in the countryside. You can actually relax here, even during holidays.

Avoid all the places you mentioned above. During Golden week all the trains are booked and tickets sold out days in advance. Best bet is to go to the train station and just ask for some tickets to a few places and you will see how impossible it is. I never take a 6+ hour train ride on a hard seat. No way to get sleeper during this time. During this time they overbook and sell more tickets then seats. Nothing like a crowded train with everyone spitting sunflower seeds all over the place. Bus is best bet because they have more buses during the holidays. Stay local and go to the small out of the way places that most people do not go to.

I agree. Stay in town or stick to nearby locales. If you want to experience how Chinese travel, take a 10+ hour train ride during Golden Week. The aisles fill up with people sitting on little stools, desperate people will grab your seat and you get very close to total strangers who will smile and repeatedly say hallo.

maybe buy a folding commode seat to reduce toilet nightmares and double up as a normal seat