Guìlín is a very popular tourist destination in China. It is one of the world's most beautiful places praised by poets, emperors and VIPs.Today Guilin has developed into an easy accessible town and remains a top tourist attraction that draws millions of tourists all over the world yearly. No matter where you are heading for in Guangxi,you will probably like to spend a night or two here. I was lucky to have an opportunity to visit this paradise of karst hills and glittering waters.
The Li River (漓江）, particularly between Guilin and Yangshuo has one of the most beautiful scenery under the sky. It is best experienced with a cruise or a leisurely hike along its banks.
Cruising on Li River is always enjoyable. You not only can breath the fresh air, feel the gentle breeze and appreciate the fabulous landscape on both sides of the river but also try tasting the unique catch from the Li River ie. Longevity fish, Chrysanthemum crab, Li River shrimp and Stone snail. It is a wonderful experience. I simply enjoyed the delicacies from the Li River.
At the southern end of Guìlín where the Li River and the Taohua River converge, you can see one of Guìlín's best promoted sights- the Elephant Hill Park where the Elephant Trunk Hill is partially extended to the river and dipping its snout into the water.
You can see tourists taking photos with the local fisherman's boat and cormorants. Something interesting is that fishermen in this region especially Yangshuo and Xingping use cormorants to help them catch fish from the Li River. Cormorants are medium sized birds whose diving skills are superb in helping them to hunt for fish under the water.
The birds are driven by the fisherman to dive into the water where they search for
fish. When the birds catch a fish they return to the boat and the fisherman removes the fish from their throat and places it in the basket. The secret to keep the bird from swallowing the fish is to place a cord around the bird's neck. With modern fishing techniques available today, this centuries old fishing skill is now mostly practised to entertain tourists.
Getting on a cruise ride from Guilin to Yangshuo is one of the most popular activities in a Guilin holiday. You may choose to join a group tour which includes hotel pickup and drop-off or tailor a private tour. A private tour will be more relaxing and an English speaking guide is tagged along to introduce the various scenic point.
Apart from cruising on a boat, you may also get closer to the water on a bamboo raft. It is a more traditional way, however it maybe more affected by the weather. It is a totally different experience to enjoy the scenery of the Li River and the route is shorter compared to those of the big boats.
Yulong River is a major tributary of the Li River. It is located about 6km southwest of Yangshuo. This part of the river that stretches from Yulong Bridge in Baisha Town, to Gongnong Bridge near Big Banyan, is known as the Yulong River Scenic Area. It includes some of the spectacular scenic views along each river bank and it is a must-see attraction for those who pay a visit to Yangshuo.
It costs about CNY 240 to drift along the Yulong River on a bamboo raft ride which usually starts from Jinlong Bridge to Gongnong Bridge. You may sit comfortably on the bamboo armchairs while enjoying the scenery and breeze or just stand on the raft as the water is quite calm. Each raft can seat two people and the whole journey takes about one to two hours. You may ask the raftman to stop anywhere during the ride to take photos.
It is both very relaxing and enjoyable while rafting on the water. Such beautiful scenes with the perfect combination of water, karst mountains and countryside makes this rafting trip one of the favorite choices of photographers and artists coming to the area. It is proclaimed that 'Guìlín's landscape is the best under the heaven' (桂林山水甲天下). Well...I could only say seeing it is believing. If you are going to China for a tour a second time, I would highly recommend Guilin which has many other place of interests eg. Yangshuo, Xingping, Liu Sanjie Impression, Moon Hill, Lotus cave etc.
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