Guilin magazine

GUILIN印象桂林

Guilin City LiRiver Four Lakes Guilin Lifestyle

WWW.WONDERLANDGUILIN.COM

VOL. 15, NO. 1MAY,2015

$ 5.00TRAVEL ISSUEMAGAZINE

Wonderland of China.

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CONTENTS目錄

“I would rather live in Guilin than in heaven”.

願做桂林人，不願做神仙。 1. GUILIN CITY.Guilin is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Z hua ng Autonomous Reg ion, China ,The cit y has long been renowned for its scenery of karst topography and is one of China's most popular tourist destinations.

城

02-07

2. LI RIVER.The Li Riverin Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. It f lows 83 kilometres from Guilin to Ya ngshuo, where t he ka rst m o u n t a i n s a n d r i v e r s i g h t s

highlight the famous Li River.

Located in picturesque Guilin City, Two Rivers and Four Lakes Scenic Spot refer to the landscape located around the city which includes Li River,Taohua River, Mulong Lake, Guihu Lake, Ronghu Lake and

Shanhu Lake.

"I would rather live in Guilin than in heaven". This is how Guilin locals

say about their homeland.

3. FOUR LAKES. 4. LIFESTYLE.

江湖享

08-11 12-19 20-23

02

This is a chity based on natural landscape. With an amazying karst landform.

GUILIN CITY VIEW

GUILIN CITY. GUILIN

03

GUILIN CITY.

O n first arriving in Guilin, China, you

may feel like you have stumbled into

J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. At

any moment you might see Gandalf the Wizard

galloping across the plains on his white steed or a

dragon roaring down from the sharp cliffs. Guilin,

however, is no trick of a novelist’s imagination.

Its more than 5,180 square kilometers of karst

landscape is the result of a perfect alchemy of

geological conditions. consed qui que endi

amenimento ium ande ernat mincimolupta et excepe

volupta tinvel int est aborepelibus ut liqui incipsam

a nobitat.

Located in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang

Autonomous Region, Guilin is one of China’s

leading tourist locations. The Guilin Liangjiang

Airport serves approximately 50 domestic and

international air routes. Most Western visitors spend

a day or two in Shanghai or Hong Kong before

coming here, which is only an hour away by plane.

Many people prefer, however, to take the train

rather than fly. A sleeper car on the train gives ample

opportunity to enjoy southern China’s landscape at

a leisurely pace. A number of bus routes also service

Guilin. If you are up for an adventure, road travel

in China is something you are likely to remember

for a long time. When I rode the bus from Yunnan

Province to Guilin, we spent three hours in a rice

paddy in the middle of the night surrounded by men

in pickup trucks while our driver exchanged some

type of “goods” off the top of the bus.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic in

1949, Guilin has developed a fledging industry,

producing a variety of products such as pharmaceuti-

cal 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.

There are more than 30 noted scenic spots within the

GUILIN GUILIN CITY.

Guilin is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China,The city has long been renowned for its scenery of karst topography and is one of China's

most popular tourist destinations.

A NATURAL LANDSCAPE CITY DESIGN.

04 GUILIN CITY. GUILIN

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 con

stellation, 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.Guilin’s most

renowned feature is its dramatic karst terrain. Ris-

ing sharply at odd angles, limestone peaks look like

giant teeth growing out of the green plain. Karst

topography is characterized by many caverns

and sinkholes that form by the dissolution of

limestone or other carbonate rocks. Florida and

Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley are good

examples of where karst can be found in the United

States. However, the topography looks completely

different from that in China, thanks to conditions

that exposed China’s karst and eroded its softer

limestone faster. The specific conditions for forming the

magnificent topography of Guilin “are fourfold,”

according to Ray Beiersdorfer, a geologist at Young

town State University in Ohio. “First, you need hard,

compact carbonate rock. In Guilin, it’s Devonian

limestone. Secondly, you need strong uplift, in this case

provided by the collision of India with Asia to form

the Himalaya. Third, you need a Monsoon climate

of high moisture during the warmest season. Finally,

the area must not have been scoured by glaciers,

which this region wasn’t.”

Two types of karst landscapes predominate in

Guilin: fenglin or peak forest (isolated towers) and

fengcong or peak cluster (linked-base towers). The

two types may have evolved sequentially from peak

forest to peak cluster, or they may have evolved

simultaneously. Beiersdorfer described this

landscape, which he saw during a recent visit to

China: “China in general and the Guilin area

specifically boasts some of the most spectacular karst

topography in the world.”

The river forms a green gauze belt, the mountains are like jade hair pins. - Han Yu, a Tang dynasty poet.

05

This is a photo of karst land-scape at city .

GUILIN CITY VIEW

GUILIN GUILIN CITY.

A good sense of what the Gui-lin region is karst topography.

MOON HIL

06 GUILIN CITY. GUILIN

A good view from Fubo hill.

GUILIN CITY VIEW

07GUILIN GUILIN CITY.

A good view from Yu hill.

GUILIN CITY VIEW

08 LI RIVER. GUILIN

Guilin’s shan-shui - its otherworldly moun tains, lakes and rivers - seemed straight out of

a Chinese landscape painting.

09GUILIN LI RIVER.

10 LI RIVER. GUILIN

LI RIVER.The Li Riverin Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. It f lows 83 kilometres from Guilin to Yangshuo, where the karst

mountains and river sights highlight the famous Li River cruise.

L i River, one of China’s most famous

scenic areas, was listed as one of the

world’s top ten watery wonders by

America National Geographic Magazine. It was

even picked by CNN as one of “World’s 15 best

rivers for travelers”.

Originating in Mao’er Mountain in Xing’an

county northeast of Guilin, the Li River winds its

way southeast for about 437 km, passing through

Guilin, Yangshuo, Pingle, Zhaoping and finally

meets Xi River in Wulin. It boasts the largest and

most beautiful scenic area in China and attracts

thousands of visitors each year.

It is like a masterpiece. The landscape is decorated

with rolling hills, steep cliffs, fantastic caves, lei-

surely boats and is lined with bamboo. A poem

says: “The river is a green silk ribbon, and the hills

are jade hair-pins”.

Here the Li River snakes through a fairy-tale landscape of conical limestone peaks, its smooth waters exquisitely mir

roring the magical scenery.

Cruising on Li River is always a pleased thing. You

can breathe the fresh air, feel gentle breeze and ap-

preciate the fabulous landscape on both sides of Li

River. In spring, tourists may stand on the front of

a boat and let the mizzle falls onto their faces. It is

really a wonderful experience.

“I have visited more than 80 countries and over a

hundred cities. I have found that no city can sur

pass the beauty of Guilin. Guilin is really a bright

pearl in China.” said the former US president

Richard Nixon. Besides, former US president Bill

Clinton and George Bush, Comrade Deng Xiaop

ing and former Chinese president Jiang Zemin

ever cruised on Li River.

Mostly the cruise starts from Zhujiang Wharf. It

is about 40 minutes drive from Guilin city. And

then 4 to 5 hours cruise will take you to a beauti

ful and sedate ancient city - Yangshuo.

11GUILIN LI RIVER.

12 FOUR LAKES. GUILIN

A bridge builded with glass, amazing vision.

FOUR LAKES

13GUILIN FOUR LAKES.

GUILIN CRYSTAL BRIDGEColorful lights, clean water and fantastic bridges, all

you see will make your Guilin tour as a memorable

experience in you whole life.

水晶橋

14

FOUR LAKES.

I t is said that a city without water is a city

without vitality. Guilin is richly endowed

with water. Two Rivers and Four Lakes Scenic

Area is a water system located in Guilin’s down

town area that should not be missed. It is a peac

eful oasis in the middle of bustling Guilin.

Guilin’s Two Rivers Four lakes is a park-like scenic

area. As the name suggests it consists of two rivers

and four lakes. The two rivers are the Li and Tao

hua (Peach Blossom) Rivers. The three of the four

lakes are named after trees that grow along their

banks and the fourth is named after a cave located

nearby. The four lakes are the Rong (banyan tree)

Lake, Shan (Chinese fir) Lake, Gui (Osmanthus

tree) Lake, and the Mulong (Wooden dragon)

Lake. The Mulonghu Lake is named after the Mu

long Cave which overlooks the lake. The cave is

located in Guilin’s Diecai Hill Park.The four lakes

are surrounded by beautiful ancient trees and

flowering plants. There are pavilions, statues, and

stone carvings scattered around the area. Guilin’s

ancient South Gate, part of the ancient city walls

is located between Rong and Gui Lakes. The area

is very beautiful and quite peaceful. In the mid

dle of Ronghu lake is an island with a teahouse.

The island is built in the style of a Chinese gar

This project made up a beautiful scenic area surround the city as a circle and cre ated a park-like scenic area for visitors.

FOUR LAKES. GUILIN

15

den with rock formations, bridges, and beautiful

plants. There is also a marble boat docked next

to the island. The centerpiece of the island is a

teahouse built in traditional Chinese style archi

tecture. There visitors can sit overlooking the lake

while enjoying a cup of China’s wonderful tea. To

get to the island, visitors must cross a marble zig

zag bridge. There are two identical arched marble

bridges located next to each other between Rong

and Gui Lakes. There are several pavilions located

on the banks of Gui Lake.

They are wonderful places to sit and enjoy the

beauty and peace of the area. Shan Lake is famous

for its Twin Pagodas, the Sun and Moon Pagodas.

The 9-storied Sun Tower is 41 meters high, made

of solid bronze, while the 7-storied Moon Tower

is 35 meters high, made of wood and glazed tiles.

They have become another symbol of the city of

Guilin. Both pagodas are located in the middle of

the lake. The Moon Pagoda can be reached by a

bridge, but the Sun pagoda must be reached by an

underwater passage located between the two pa

godas. Altogether there are 19 bridges connecting

the two rivers and four lakes. These 19 bridges are

styled after famous bridges at home and abroad.

Two Rivers and Four Lakes is a tour project which integrates all the famous

attractions in Guilin City.

GUILIN FOUR LAKES.


There is a cruise that travels through the Two

Rivers Four Lakes area each evening. The trip is

a wonderful experience. As the slow moving boat

travels through the area the extraordinary scenery

passes by like a moving postcard. There are per

formances located along the route including local

Guilin Opera, dancing fountains, and traditional

music. The performances are located in buildings

located on the riverbank. These cannot be viewed

by people who just walk around the scenic area,

but are reserved for people on the cruise.

Even though it is located in the center of down

town Guilin, the Two Rivers Four Lakes Scenic

Area is very peaceful. Every evening after dinner

local Guilin residents can be seen walking along

the meandering paths of the area. It is a wonderful

oasis from the hustle and bustle of downtown.


Named after the Chinese fir trees growing on the shore

CHINESE FIR LAKE


The word sun and moon in Chinese character writ ten together meant brightness. Some say it symbo

lises the future of Guilin is bright.

SUN AND MOONTWIN PAGODAS

The word sun and moon in Chinese character writ-ten together meant brightness. Some say it symbo-

lises the future of Guilin is bright.

SUN AND MOONTWIN PAGODAS

20

GUILIN LIFESTYLE.

CHINESE NEW YEAR

“I would rather live in Guilin than in heaven”.

GUILIN LIFESTYLE. GUILIN

21

I would rather live in Guilin than in heav-

en”. This is how Guilin locals say about

their homeland. Guilin is a blessed land

filled with picturesque mountains, fantastic caves,

and graceful rivers, where people live in a happy

and peaceful lifestyle. Guilin people are easy going,

hospitable, and really enjoy their life. Visitors often

find they are so quickly fell in love with Guilin, and

so envious about the locals. Some of them chose to

settle down, and never want to leave.Read on, and

take a glimpse into the daily life of Guilin people.

Early morning:

When the sun is just above the horizon in the early

morning, elderly people can be seen walking the

streets heading towards one of Guilin’s parks, or

open areas for their morning exercises. Guilin’s el

derly believe strongly in exercise and it gives them

an excuse to visit with friends, share common in-

terests and chat. They can be seen throughout the

city practicing tai chi, martial arts, ballroom danc

ing, singing, or doing the local drum or dancing

with a Chinese fan. Family relationship

They will then sit and chat for hours. Often, the

elderly women have their grandchildren in tow.

In Chinese society, the grandparents watch the

children while their parents are working. The

grandparents will then go to the local markets to

buy food for the day. Chinese people believe that

if the food wasn’t picked that day, it isn’t fresh and

not worth eating. - See more at: Family relationship

They will then sit and chat for hours. Often, the

elderly women have their grandchildren in tow.

In Chinese society, the grandparents watch the

children while their parents are working. The

grandparents will then go to the local markets to

buy food for the day. Chinese people believe that if

the food wasn’t picked that day, it isn’t fresh and not

worth eating. - See more at: In the evening

Guilin really comes to life in the evenings. People

return home from work for dinner, which is always

a family affair. Normally dinner is eaten at home

made by the grandmother, but occasionally people

will go to a local restaurant, or roadside stand to eat.

After-dinner stroll and night market.

After dinner, everyone steps out into the street for

a stroll. There is an old idiom in Chinese that says

“100 steps after eating is good for the digestion”.

Hence, the night markets in Guilin are thrived.

Families can be seen walking down the night mar-

ket along the streets, chatting and spending time

with each other. They will frequently stop and chat

GUILIN GUILIN LIFESTYLE.

What makes Guilin such a wonderful destination is not just its breathtaking landscape, but also its people. The people of Guilin have a warm spirit and

are happy to greet visitors. They do their best to make people feel like at home.

with neighbors and friends, or occasionally stop at a little roadside stand to pick up a snack. After their walk

people will get together to play chess, mahjong, or cards.Living in the “most scenic place under heaven”,

weekend is the time Guilin folks upgrade their leisure time to the countryside. Hang out with family or friend

to the beautiful town such as Yangshuo and Longji, or peaceful villages along the Li River. Outdoor activities

such as trekking and rock climbing are extremely popular within generations.

22 GUILIN LIFESTYLE. GUILIN

When summer coming, kids like play and swim at Li river

to spend happy times.

PLAY AROUND

23GUILIN GUILIN LIFESTYLE.

CHINESE NEW YEAR

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