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Elephant Hill

The Elephant Hill, also called the Elephant Trunk Hill, lies on the conjunction of the Li River and the Peach Blossom River. It is the badge of Guilin city.

The whole hill looks exactly like a huge elephant stretching its trunk drinking water by the Li River. It is the masterpiece of karsts landscape, composed of pure limestone deposited on seabed 360 million years ago.

Between the "trunk" and the "body" is a vast round cave which resembles a full moon on water hence the name "Moon-over-Water" Cave. When the waters wave and the moonlight gleams, the scene is exceedingly enchanting. This cave intoxicated innumerous poets through the ages. Many lines can be found giving high honor to the cave.

On the top of the hill stands a pagoda-Puxian Pagoda. Built in Ming dynasty, it has a long history. At the foot of the hill is Yunfeng Temple, inside which is now the exhibition of "The Revolution of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Guilin".

Seven Star Park

Situated on the eastern side of the Li River, Seven Star Park is the biggest (with an area of 134 hectares) with the best natural environment in Guilin. It includes such sites as Flower Bridge, Camel Hill, Seven Star Cave and others.

The elegantly constructed Flower Bridge is the main gateway to the park. It was first built in the Song dynasty and renovated in the Ming dynasty. It's said that in the ancient time the bridge was well surrounded by wild flaming flowers in spring, thus the name of the bridge. Unfortunately, the number of flowers reduced greatly during the Qing dynasty and now visitors can't find any.

The Camel Hill is a wow of a sight. Being in the shape of a huge camel, it was named so. The hill is so life-like that it seems to be elaborately forged by human. Actually it is entirely a natural formation.

The Seven Star Cave is a fantastic karsts cave with a large number of stalagmites and stalactites, which decorate the cave into an eye-dazzling beautiful place.

Other famous scenic spots here are: Crescent Hill, Putuo Hill, Guihai Stele Forest.

Li River

Li River is the focal point of your Guilin tour, as is one of the highlights in China. It begins at Cat Mountain in Xing'an county and flows through Guilin, Yangshuo and enter into West River in Wuzhou, totaling 437 kilometers. The 54-kilometer Waterway on the twisty Li River from Zhujiang to Yangshuo covers hundreds and thousands of unique peaks (karsts), forming a picturesque scene. With the river winding its way like a green ribbon and peaks lining up like bamboo shoots, the landscape appears to be a beautiful sketch. Wonderful appreciation of a stirring "Movement with Mother Nature"!

Fubo Hill

The beautiful Fubo Hill, in the northeast of the city, is well known as the Wonderland on Waves with its exquisite peak rising high and its foot half in water and half on land.

The east of the cave curbs the river stream, causing the formation of a deep pool, so the hill is named Fubo Hill (Wave-Curbing Hill).

At the southern foot of the hill is a garden full of bamboos, palm trees and flowers, a quite and interesting place.

There is a stone path on the southern side of the hill. Half way up the hill is a Sight-Seeing Terrace from which you can see the Old Man Hill northwest to it, resembling an old man in the hood looking up to the south. It is so life-like that you can even distinguish his brow and beard. The way from the Sight-Seeing Terrace to the summit of the hill can be compared with the way to the West Peak in the Hua Mountain. It is narrow and steep. Only the brave ones dare to scale the heights and find the climbing interesting.

At the foot of the hill is the famous Pearl-Returning Cave, which is composed of many side-caves, linked like a labyrinth. A several-meter stalactite column, thick on top and tapering downwards, hangs all the way from the ceiling to the ground. It is so strange that no visitors will see it without amazement. Since the space between the column and the ground seems to be the result of a sword cut, it is named Sword Testing Stone.

The steps beside the Sword Testing Stone wind their way up to the Thousand Buddha Cave, in which are more than 200 Buddha statues made in the Tang Dynasty.

Fubo Hill is also famous for its stone inscriptions.

Reed Flute Cave

Situated at the foot of Guangming Hill in the western Guilin, Reed Flute Cave adopted its name after a kind of reed growing in the neighborhood, which can be made into melodious flute.

It is a splendid karst cave with a myriad of stalactites and stalagmites of all strange shapes: some like lions, some like frogs and some like a crystal palaces. What impresses visitors most here are the stone curtains, which not only boast fantastic forms but resonant sounds. When struck, some give a booming sound as a drum; others produce a ring sound like a piano. The forms and sounds here make the cave "the art palace of nature".

First officially opened to the public in 1962, the cave now is a main attraction in Guilin. It is an fantastic place where imagination will fly with strong wings. It is of course a must for all the visitors to Guilin.

Sun-Moon Towers

Towering high up in the Shan Lake, the two towers-Golden Tower and Silver Tower are quite an eye-striking sight.

The Golden Tower is a nine-storied architecture of 41 meters high. Built with copper, it ranks as the highest tower of its kind. The Silver Tower, 35 meters high, is decorated with colored glaze allover. The two towers are linked by aquarium under the water. Bearing colorful designs on the doors, windows etc. they look stately, yet graceful.

When in fine day, the breeze ripples the lake and the two towers shine like diamonds, which is especially charming.

Li River, Taohua River, Shanhu Lake, Ronghu Lake, Guihu Lake and the newly dug Mulong Lake are connected and linked up. The waterway transportation makes up of Guilin's central round-the-city water system, called "Two Rivers and Four Lakes". More than 1000 years ago, there was formed in Guilin a complete moat river system. Tour and Recreation on water had been very much in a fashion in the Tang and Song dynasties.

However, as history deposited, the river courses were silted up and rivers and lakes were separated and hindered, water quality became bad and cultural relics were buried. The great pomp of Guilin on the water didn't exist any more.

The Two Rivers and Four Lakes at the turn of the century dredged the thousand-year-old Waterway and make it a combination of historical and modern culture and a galaxy of natural landscape and ecological harmony between man and nature. The wonderful scene of the water city as described in the poem "A thousand hills stand around the city, a river flows through it" reappears.

Jingjiang Mausoleum

Located at the foot of Yao Mountain, 7km east of Guilin, the Mausoleum of Prince Jingjiang is an important historical site and attraction in Guilin.

The Mausoleum is where eleven princes of the Jingjiang family during the Ming dynasty were buried. The site covers an area over 100 square km with more than 300 tombs. In front of each tomb stands Huabiao (ornamental column erected in front of the palace tombs), official stone statues, various animals (tiger, lion, unicorn). These stone works were exquisitely made, primitively simple and stately.

The tomb of the third king and his consort is now opened to tourists. On the top of this tomb, visitors can get a panoramic view of the whole mausoleum: red walls and ornamental halls nesting in the lush vegetation.

Folded Brocade Hill

Located north of Guilin city by the Li River, the Folded Brocade Hill is one of the three most famous hills in Guilin (the other two are Fubo Hill and Elephant Trunk Hill). It consists of Yuyue Hill, Siwang Hill (Looking-in-Four-Direction Hill), Crane Peak and Bright Moon Peak. The hill is so named because layers and layers of multi-colored rocks one atop another like a great pile of folded brocade.

Half way up the hill, a cave penetrates from north to south. With two spacious mouths and a narrow middle, the cave takes a shape of a calabash. The cave adopted its name for a cool breeze continually blows in the cave all year round. It is well-known for 90 Buddha images of the Tang and Song dynasties. After thousands of years' rain and wind, these images are still vivid and life-like.

On the top of the hill stands the cloud-catching Pavilion, which commands a panoramic view of the city below.

Others impressive sights here include: Folded Brocade Pavilion, River-Viewing Pavilion and Yuyue Pavilion.

West Hill Park

West Hill Park is located 2 kilometers west of Guilin and covers about 2 square kilometers. It includes the Hidden Hill, West Hill and the Guilin Museum. The hills are surrounded by a lake called West Lake , by which stands a temple called Xi Qingling. West Hill is well known for its Buddhist statues. Xilinqing Temple was built in Tang Dynasty and was one of the five most famous Buddhist temples in south China. Today, over 200 Buddhist statues still remain on the cliff. The hill consists of West Peak, Stone Fish Peak, Dragon Head Peak and Qianshan Peak.

Hidden Hill features a great number of caves. All caves are connected with each other. The most famous caves are Sunset Cave, South Glory Cave, North Window Cave, Lotus Cave and White Bird Cave.

Guilin Museum

Situated in the West Hill Park in Guilin city, the museum occupies an area of 10 square kilometers. It is built in a unique architectural style of both the East and the West. The museum mainly exhibits items of historic or cultural value such as antiques, chinaware from Ming and Qing Dynasties and classic handicrafts of different minority groups. It also has a collection of 30,000 pieces of antiques and artworks.

 Qingshi Reservoir

 The Qingshi reservoir lies on the upper reaches of the Li River, 50 km from Guilin. Occupying an area of 30 square km and with a storage capacity of 600 million cubic meters, it is reputed as the best reservoir in South China. The surrounding mountains, flaming flowers, melodious songs from birds and the clean, non-polluted water make the reservoir an ideal resort for your vacation. Hosted variety fish, it is also a best place for leisure fishing. It is said that once, over 50kg of fish were caught by locals. The deep and broad water well shelters these creatures within. Most of these fishermen go there only to come back empty-handed. However, it is an excellent place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and relax.