Just as Beijing is a must when you travel to China, so is Guilin. A popular Chinese saying goes: The scenery in Guilin is the finest, but Yangshuo's is still better. The well known poet Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty described Guilin's landscape: "The river forms a green gauze belt, the mountains are like blue jade hairpins." All this words will give you a general impression of this beautiful city.
Located at the northeast of Guangxi Province, Guilin is one of the oldest cities there; therefore, there are sites of the Neolithic Age dating back to about 10,000 years ago. Guilin City was set up in 1940. It is not only a famous tourist destination but also a renowned historical and cultural city in China, eulogized as "the most beautiful landscape on earth". Moreover, its unique karts landform and the beautiful Lijiang River make it the world-famous tourist resort. In short, its beautiful scenery can be summarized as "strange mountains, limpid waters, beautiful rocks, and odd caves". Naturally, countless tourists both at home and abroad are deeply drawn by its scenes, local customs, and history and culture.
Most of the sights in Guilin are scenic. Although the mountains are the usual peaked mountains, they are rounded at the top and there are tons of them, very picturesque. Traditional Chinese painting often features exotic and imaginary scenes of mountains and rivers. But as many visitors to China exclaim, the scenery at Guilin looks just like a traditional Chinese painting. Perhaps many of those painting scenes were not imaginary after all.
About 30 ethnic groups like Zhuang, Hui, Miao, Yao, and Dong inhabit in the city. Each minority has its own unique customs and festivals and this means that they are much more abundant here than in many other places elsewhere in China. Travelers can enjoy these pageants at the Li River Folk Customs Center.
The new city, composed of former city of Guilin and the Guilin Prefecture, encompasses 27,797 square kilometers. The city is rather compact when compared with other leading cities in the country. However, situated within this area one can find green mountains, crystal clear waters, unique caves and beautiful stones. Major attractions include Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Cave, with remarkable stalactites and stalagmites. Seven-Star Park, which dates from the Sui Dynasty over 1000 years ago is said to be one of the nicest city parks in China. The seven stars refer to the seven peaks in the park which are said to resemble the layout of Ursa Major, the Big Dipper. A boat trip down the peaceful Li River is the absolute high point of any visit to Guilin. You can also take some spicy Guilinjiang, a type of pepper sauce back home.
The new government gives top priority to tourism and makes better opportunity for the city to optimize tourism structure and improve tourism services. Either comprehensive resiliency, scale of tourist industry, quality of tourist service or infrastructure, subsidiary facilities, leading function come to a higher level and grade. Because the convenient transportation, you can enter Guilin by air, by train or by bus and get around on free buses. From luxury hotels to hostels, from splendid restaurants to local snacks, you are sure to find that your needs will be met beyond your expectations.
With the Lijiang and Tianjia Rivers surrounding it outside, Yangshuo is famous for its "green mountains, transparent waters, strange peaks and wonderful caves". If you bored of the hustle and bustle of city life, or want to have a breath of natural fresh air, or even curious about diverse cultures and exotic flavors in China, please come to Yangshuo, a small county in southern China full of what you want.
