The bus can be caught at the Nanning tourism centre just past the main gate and Luban Lu subway station on the south side of the street. An 8:30 bus gets you there around 10-10:15 depending on traffic.
The town itself is small, and a day trip is certainly enough to see it. That being said, there is a hotel right on the waterfront charging 100Yuan for a night (about $14USD) with nice views of the river, especially from the 3rd floor.
view from the hotel
The city is on the Zhuo river, a tributary of the Yong river which flows through Nanning. The term ancient is a bit misleading, as the oldest building in the city are closer to 100 years old than the 1000 advertised. Still, it is a neat old town.
Before the republican period, the city was a centre for shipping local produce to the bigger cities and even for export. A few merchants grew rich and the city prospered. As the republicans replaced river transport with roads and rail, the city lost its importance and became a backwater, and to this day very little has changed. Unfortunately, any history on the place is written more to glorify than inform (in this spot some hero of some revolution did something), so actual history of the village is hard to come by beyond what is here.
There is a fair bit of walking/light hiking, and some old ruins. The trail runs along the river for almost 15kms before looping back in to the city. Along the trail are old barge wrecks, farmers still using ox carts to get around. The Confucius temple, destroyed in Mao's Cultural Revolution, was partially rebuilt and now sits quietly by the river, which is where I wound up having a few Yanjing beers after the sun went down. The city itself has some old Qing era buildings, and is a great place for a stroll in itself, though the waterfront was the highlight for me.There are boat cruises that last about 45 minutes for 30rmb that are well worth the expense as well, as the river has some great scenery just outside the town. The locals are also wonderful. The restaurant attached to our hotel was family owned, and they insisted their 12 year old daughter take our orders - in English - for practice. But it wasn't in that 20 questions way that makes me leery of being approached in that way (where are you from? Do you like Chinese food? Do you know ......?). Her English was actually quite good and she was fun.
Beyond that there is not much to actually DO, but I could easily spend 3-4 days there just relaxing and experiencing it. It is a part of China that is disappearing quickly, replaced by neon lights and smokey restaurants full of adults shouting at each other or playing card games. Brick houses replaced by concrete boxes and river cruises replaced by phone games. I guess that in progress in the PRC..... I suppose I just don't understand what the Chinese see as progress.
In any event, it is a cool place to visit if you happen to be in Nanning for a few days, or want out of this grey concrete jungle.
