Guangxi's "Guilin Mountains and Waters Are the World" can be said to be a famous scenic spot that is world-renowned. So how does it feel to visit Guilin in winter? The reporter chose here on January 22, 2007 for the last stop of the "South China Tour Group". At 18:53 that day, the reporters and his party boarded the Y354 tourist special train from Zhanjiang Railway Station in Guangdong and headed for Guilin, Guangxi.

Guilin North Railway Station, Guangxi (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Train Y354 arrived at Guilin North Railway Station in Guangxi at 6 a.m. the next day after running overnight. Li Guokun, a tour guide from Guilin, Guangxi, has already been waiting outside the carriage to welcome tourists. This is a quick-spoken, enthusiastic and cheerful little girl. It didn't take long for him to become friends with the tourists in the reporter's group.

Scenery of the Li River in Guilin (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

It was late in the south. When I walked out of Guilin Station, the street was still dark. All you can see are citizens exercising in the morning. Guilin is a key scenic tourist city and a famous historical and cultural city in China. She has unique national-level scenic spots and is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It seems that everyone on earth knows the reputation of "Guilin's mountains and rivers are the best in the world" since ancient times.

Corner of Yushan Park (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Guilin has a long history. Relics of ancient humans have appeared in Baoji Mountain, Zengpi Rock, Jiaozi Rock, Sakya Rock, Dangui Rock, Chuanshanxia Rock and other places. In January of the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), the provincial capital of Guangxi was located in Guilin City. After liberation, the provincial capital of Guangxi moved to Nanning, and Guilin was a municipality directly under the Central Government. In September 1998, with the formal approval of the State Council, Guilin City and Guilin Area were officially merged to form a new Guilin City.

Shaoyin Cave (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Guilin, Guangxi, has unparalleled karst landforms in the world. The mountains and plains here are uprooted and in various shapes; the water of the Li River twists and turns, as clear as a mirror; there are many holes in the mountains, with unique scenery and magnificent scenery; the strange rocks in the holes are dazzling and dazzling, thus forming Guilin's "Four Wonders" with "green mountains, beautiful water, strange caves and beautiful stones."

Stone Sleeping Buddha (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

After breakfast, tourists first come to Yushan Park located in the north of Guilin City. According to data records, Yushan Park is the mountain of Guilin's landscape tours and the origin of Guilin's history because of its beautiful gardens, temple spirits and strange mountains and secluded caves. Yushan Mountain, Huangze Lake and Shaoyin Cave in the park are known as Fairy Mountain, Fairy River and Fairy Cave.

Yu Emperor Temple (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

More than 4,000 years ago, Emperor Yu, one of the ancestors of Chinese civilization, visited here on his southern tour. The Qin people established a temple to commemorate it, which has lasted for more than 2,000 years. Throughout the ages, there has been an endless stream of people who have sacrificed to the emperor, giving Yushan and Emperor Yu Temple a strong Confucian cultural color and accumulating rich historical and cultural heritage.

Scenery of Yushan Park (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Yushan Park has novel gardening techniques and unique styles. It combines ancient and modern times, is compatible with east and west, and is exquisite and elegant. The main attractions are Yudi Temple, Yiqin Garden, Sanjue Monument, Wufu Pagoda, Wenshao Tower, Shaoyin Cave, Jiuchong Sky, Meiquan Palace, etc. The scenery is shining and attractive everywhere. Guided by full-time tour guides of Yushan Park, tourists enjoyed enjoying the entire unique style of Guilin gardens.

Guilin Lijiang Tour (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

After that, the reporter and his party drove to the pier on the bank of the Li River in front of the Guilin Art Museum to take a boat to tour the scenery of the Li River in Guilin City. There are generally several routes for Lijiang tours, but the main one is sightseeing in Guilin City; the other is the real Lijiang tour that stretches tens of kilometers from Mopanshan Wharf to Yangshuo. But unfortunately, due to the limited time in Guilin, Guangxi, and the dry season, tourists did not choose the latter.

Scenery of Elephant Trunk Mountain (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

The cruise ship sails in the calm river and has a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery along the coast. When passing by Elephant Trunk Mountain, the cruise ship stopped for people to take photos. When the reporter came to Guilin before, he had seen the beautiful scenery of Elephant Trunk Mountain from the land in the park. But this is the first time I have seen this mountain on the river. Doesn't feel as good as the angle on land.

Photo taken on Xiangbei Mountain (Photo: Huang Zhiguo)

Elephant Trunk Mountain is named after its mountain shape resembles a giant elephant with its nose sticking out to drink liquid water. It is called Xiangshan for short. It is 108 meters long and 100 meters wide. The mountain covers an area of 13,000 square meters. It is magical and spectacular, with both form and spirit. The water-moon cave created between its nose and feet is like a bright moon facing the water, constituting the wonderful sight of "Xiangshan Water Moon". Elephant Trunk Mountain is the symbol of Guilin City and the city emblem of Guilin.

Front of Seven Star Park (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

After more than 50 minutes of boat tour on the Li River, tourists came to Guilin Seven Star Park. Although the reporter came to this park for sightseeing for the second time, he had a regret, which was to make up for his long-cherished wish of not visiting Qixingyan for the first time. Because Qixing Rock is a cave wonder that has long been famous in my country.

Walking into Seven Star Park (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

As a national four-A scenic spot, Guilin Seven Star Park in Guangxi is located on the east bank of the Li River, covering an area of more than 120 hectares. It is the largest comprehensive park with the most concentrated scenery in Guilin City. Looking eastward from Jiefang Bridge, you can see seven peaks consisting of the four peaks of Putuo Mountain and the three peaks of Yueya Mountain. Their arrangement is like the Big Dipper, especially when viewed from the sky. Therefore, the seven peaks are generally called Qixing Mountains, and the park is named after this.

Yueyan Mountain in Qixing Park (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Seven Star Park has beautiful mountains, clear flowing water, strange steep stone forests, deep caves and unique charm. It gathers the essence of mountains, water, caves, stones, courtyards, animals and plants, cultural relics, etc. The main landscapes include Huaqiao, Putuo Mountain, Qixing Rock, Camel Peak, Yueya Mountain, Longyin Cave, Guihai Stele Forest,"Huaxia Light" Square, etc., are must-visit places for all tourists to Guilin, Guangxi.

Qixing Park Huaqiao (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Tourists enter the park first come to Huaqiao. Huaqiao is the oldest bridge in Guilin. It was built during the Jiaxi period of the Song Dynasty. It is located at the main entrance of the park, spanning the confluence of Xiaodongjiang River and Lingjian River, with a total length of 135 meters. There is a wind and rain corridor on the bridge deck, and the bridge pavilion is covered with green glazed tiles. The bridge is a rock and has a strong national style.

A swimming swan (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Every spring and summer, flowers bloom in full bloom and bloom like brocade. Peach blossoms and green bamboos are planted on both sides of the bridge. The small bridge is hidden among "flowers full of streams and half streams", hence the name of the Huaqiao. The current flower bridge is a four-hole bridge rebuilt in 1965 and built of bluestone. Under the bridge, the four semicircular bridge holes and their reflections in the water form four jade plates, shaped like a full moon, just like the beautiful scenery of the "Flower Bridge Rainbow Shadow" sung in the poem "Four bright moons accompany hibiscus, half into the Chengjiang River and half into the rainbow".

Qixing Park Memorial Stone (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

On the Huaqiao, tour guide Xiao Li pointed to a pavilion on the mountain and introduced it, which was the singing platform when the movie "Third Sister Liu" was filmed. It immediately aroused great interest from tourists, and everyone took photos on the bridge.

Huaxia Light Square (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Tourists stroll through the park and arrive at the "Light of China" Square located between Putuo Mountain and Yueya Mountain in the blink of an eye. "China Light" Square has a total area of 13520 square meters. It has two large-scale works of art: one is the Chinese Light stone carving mural, which is 106 meters long and 5 meters high. It is composed of more than 100 stone carvings. It integrates the four major inventions of ancient China, science and technology and other advanced achievements, reflecting the essence of the five thousand years of civilization of the Chinese nation.

Century Baoding (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

The second is the Century Baoding, which is 4.6 meters high. It holds the tripod on four legs and stands on a round granite pedestal, symbolizing the peace of the country and the peace of the people. The big tripod weighs 24 tons and is carved from a whole piece of curved stone. Every time the festival comes, the beautiful scenery of flowers surrounded by flowers under the Century Treasure Tripod is particularly eye-catching. These two works of art constitute the new landscape of Seven Star Park.

Photo taken in Qixingyan Cave (Photo: Huang Zhiguo)

In Qixing Park, Putuo Mountain is the main body of the park. It consists of the four peaks of Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji and Tianquan in the northwest of Qixing Mountain. At an altitude of 265 meters, it is commonly known as Putuo because of the worship of Guanyin Bodhisattva on the mountain. Putuo Mountain has rich landscapes, with many caves and pavilions. Among them, Qixingyan is the most famous, and the pavilions are particularly unique with Qixia Pavilion and Bixu Pavilion.

Stalactites in the cave (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

There is a Yuandong Tunnel at the western foot of the mountain. It is hot in midsummer, but the cool breeze blows here. From here, not far north along Guihua Avenue is Putuo Gate, where you enter the mountain. There are many landscapes on the mountain such as Putuo Stone Forest, Putuo Tower, Guanyin Cave, Xuanwu Pavilion, etc. Go to the Zhaixing Pavilion on Tianji Peak. When you climb the pavilion and look around, you can enjoy the magnificent scenery written by Liu Kezhuang, the great poet of the Song Dynasty,"Thousands of peaks stand around the wild, and a river holds the city flowing." There are many cultural relics and historic sites in Putuo Mountain. There are more than 200 stone carvings alone. The most precious ones include Yan Zhenqing's "Xiaoyao Tower" in the Tang Dynasty, Fan Chengda's "Bixu Ming" in the Song Dynasty, and the "Tortoise and Snake Unity" embossed in the Ming Dynasty.

Landscape inside Qixingyan Cave (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Since most of the tourists were middle-aged and elderly, they did not climb the mountain. Instead, go directly to Qixing Rock for sightseeing. Qixing Rock, also known as Qixia Cave and Bixu Rock, is located on the mountainside on the west side of Putuo Mountain. Over the long years, rainwater continued to penetrate, dissolve limestone, and crystallize in the cave, forming a variety of stalactites, stone pillars, stalagmites, stone curtains, stone flowers, etc., and there are many magnificent, unique and interesting scenery, known as the "Immortal Cave".

Shape of the Great Wall (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Qixing Rock is majestic and profound, with spectacular scenery. The cave is divided into three floors, and the entire journey is 814 meters. Currently for sightseeing is the middle layer, which is divided into 6 caves, with the widest part being 43 meters and the highest part being 27 meters. The cave temperature remains at around 20℃ all year round.

Beautiful and beautiful (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, Qixing Rock has become a tourist attraction, leaving many poems and inscriptions. Zhang Wenxi, a painter of the Ming Dynasty, called it the "first cave" and carved it on the stone wall, becoming the first sight for tourists to visit the cave.

"The First Cave of Heaven" stone carving (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

After coming out of Qixing Rock, tourists left the last group photo of the trip in front of Camel Peak. Camel Mountain is located behind Putuo Mountain and looks like a camel squatting on the ground. Because it looks like an ancient wine pot, it is also called a pot mountain. In the late Ming Dynasty, celebrities from Jiangnan lived in seclusion here and planted peach blossoms everywhere.

Photo taken in front of the camel (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Every spring, peach blossoms flourish and the flowers bloom like red clouds, as if to cover Camel Mountain with rosy clouds. The scenery is extremely beautiful. The ancients called it the "hump red glow" landscape and is one of the top ten scenic spots in Guilin. In July 1998, after US President Bill Clinton held an environmental symposium with Chinese non-governmental people in the Bonsai Art Garden next to the mountain, he delivered an environmental speech on the lawn in front of Camel Mountain.

Guilin Railway Station (Photo: Huang Zhiguo)

The reporter and his party finally came to Yueya Mountain in Qixing Park. Yueya Mountain is on the south of Putuo Mountain, facing the Light of China Square. This mountain is named because there is a crescent rock on the mountainside, which looks like a crescent moon from afar. There is Yueya Tower on Yueya Mountain, and vegetarian food here has a history of hundreds of years. That night, the team had the last dinner of their trip to South China at Yueya Tower at the foot of Yueya Mountain. On the morning of January 24, 2007, the reporter and his party began to board the Y364 train from Guilin Railway Station on the return journey, and took the last photo of the winter tour of Guilin before entering the station. (Photo and text: Feng Ganyong)