Situated in the northeast corner of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guilin is hailed by many as the most beautiful place in China and is one of the must-see destinations for most foreign tourists. According to a popular Chinese saying, “Guilin’s scenery bests all others in the world.” Its shapely-rising limestone towers and crystal-clear waters are often portrayed in Chinese artworks. Adding to its natural beauty are many fascinating caves.
The city of Guilin was founded in the Qin Dynasty in 314 BC as a small settlement on the Lijiang River. It became increasingly important following the construction of a canal joining the river with another further north, providing a transport link with the Yangzi. The imperial court could thus send food and provisions by water from the Yangzi plains to its armies in the far south. The town becamguiling the provincial capital in the Ming Dynasty, and remained so until 1914, when the capital was moved to Nanning.
Since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Guilin has developed a fledging industry, producing a variety of products such as pharmaceutical goods, tires, machinery, fertilizers and silk. From its noted profusion of flowering cassia trees, which have a strong sweet scent, it produces a number of specialties including perfume, wine, tea, cinnamon, and herbal medicine.
Beautiful Li River, Guilin
There are more than 30 noted scenic spots within the boundaries of Guilin Peak. Among them are a hill standing in solitary loftiness in the center of the city; the Elephant Trunk Hill, the city's symbol, so named because of its resemblance to an elephant’s sipping water from the Lijiang River with its trunk; the Piled Festoon Hill that is broken here and there with its rock strata exposed on its sides like piles of fancy festoons; and the Crescent Hill that is named after its moon-shaped cave opening.
There are two fantastic caves in the area--- the seven-star-rock cave, which derives its name from the arrangement of surrounding peaks resembling the pattern of the stars of the Great Bear constellation, and Reed-Flute Cave, named after the reeds growing around the cave mouth. They both contain spectacular stalactites and stalagmites.
The city also boasts other beautiful hills, such as the Fubo Hill, which is supposed to restrain the waters of the Lijing River, and Nanxi Hill that stands magnificently like a huge screen.
A boat trip from Guilin along the Lijiang River presents one of the finest excursions on your tour of China. The journey downstream to Yangshuo offers 30 miles of breathtaking scenery.
One of the first points of interest is the pagoda-capped Elephant Trunk Hill, or Xiangbishan, long used as the symbol of Guilin. A little further downstream you will pass, on your left, Baotashan with a Ming Dynasty pagoda on top. East of it stands Chuanshan, or the Hill with a Hole. Then begins a series of beautiful scenes that unfold as you glide away from Guilin on your journey south.
Coming close to the Erlang Gorge, a huge cliff comes into view. This is the famous "Picture Hill" that resembles horses of different colors in different positions.
On the right, after passing Picture Hill, is Huangbu (Yellow Cloth) Beach. Here the river is wide and flows gently. Seven graceful peaks are likened to seven quiet young girls standing shoulder to shoulder. The fabled Xingping Wonderland begins here. Xingping is a famous, ancient town. Caishi Hill looms high in front of the town, with thick bamboo groves in the back. The cruise ends at the colorful market town of Yangshuo.
Elephant Trunk Hill
The hill is at the confluence of the Lijiang River and Yangjiang River inside the city. This hill is so named because it outlines a vivid image of an elephant sipping water from the river with its trunk. Between the body and the trunk there is a round-shaped space, known as "water moon" arch, which is about 10 metres high and 20 metres deep. The river flows through the arch resembling a "bright-moon". Sailing through the arch, one feels like being under a huge arch bridge.
Crescent Hill
Located to the east of Guilin, the hill gets its name from a new-moon shaped opening of a cave in the western slope of the hill. The hidden Dragon Cave at the food of the hill has a stretch of water and a food path, Yihong Pavilion", "Xiaoguanghan Temple" and other buildings are located half way up the hill.
Fubo Hill
It is located to the east of the city with half of the hill reaching into the Lijiang River. The hill stands in solitary loftiness with a thrusting peak. It seems to restrain the swelling water when the river is raising with violent torrents and waves, hence the name Fudo (restraining waves). On the hilltop there is a Fudo Temple and the Returning Pearl Cave. At the foot of the hill, there are other scenic spots.
Seven-Star-Rock Cave
Formerly known as "Qixia Cave" and "Bixu Rock", It is on the Seven star-Rock hill to the east of Guilin. The cave presents a twisted extension of more than one and a half kilometres. This cave, the biggest and the most fascinating cave of Guilin, includes "Liudongtian Cave" and Liangdongfu Cave, offers numerous spectacular views and is big enough to hold ten thousand visitors at a time; originally, the cave was an underground channel and became a tourist attraction as early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties (581 A.D.-907). Inside the cave, well-developed stalactites and stalagmites form numerous fantastic scenes such as `Monkey Picking Peaches`, `Two Lion Fighting for a Ball`, or in the shapes of fruits, forests and gigantic waterfall.
Reed-Flute Cave
The cave is at the Guangming Hill about six kilometres northwest of Guilin. This huge cave, eroded out of karst formation and with a maximum height of 18 metres and width of 93 metres. This ancient scenic spot dates back to more than 1,000 years ago, It has been widely claimed as Art Galley of Nature" because of its dazzling beauty of strange karts formation and marvellous scenery.
Lijiang River
A well-known part of the Guilin River, it flows from the Piled Festoon Hill to "Bilian Peak" in Yangshou, covering a distance of 83 kilometres. This green ribbon-like river runs zigzag through a multitude of hills against a backdrop of steep peaks, luxuriant flowers and green hills along the shores are mirrored in the blue water, giving the visitor a poetic inspiration. In drizzly days, the peaks embraced by clouds and mists and river.
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