Guilin: Waterscapes and Rock History

Waterways and City Views

When looking for a hotel in Guilin, you can start by choosing your destination based on your interests: waterscapes, city views, and historic inscriptions each offer a different perspective. The Two Rivers and Four Lakes water system consists of Rong Lake, Shan Lake, Gui Lake, Mulong Lake, the Li River, and the Peach Blossom River. The four lakes and two rivers form a scenic belt around the city center.

A boat trip through Two Rivers and Four Lakes is considered a preferred way to see the new city of Guilin. At night, you can see more than ten traditional mountains, including Elephant Hill, Fubo Hill, Diecai Hill, Laoren Hill, and Baoji Hill. The Guilin Two Rivers and Four Lakes·Elephant Hill Scenic Area is located in the central urban area and covers about 3.1 square kilometers.

Diecai Hill offers elevated views across all of Guilin. One of its four peaks is Mingyue Peak, described as the highest peak in the urban area, with a relative height of 73 meters. While the water system forms a scenic belt around the center, Diecai Hill offers views across the city as a whole.

Hills and Historic Inscriptions

At Elephant Hill, where the Peach Blossom River and the Li River meet, lies Water Moon Cave. It contains 22 historic cultural inscriptions from the Tang and Song periods, comprising a total of 3,065 characters. Elephant Hill was declared a landmark of Guilin in 1995.

Fubo Hill has 112 rock inscriptions. Among the most artistically significant are a self-portrait and a handwritten name inscription by the Song-era artist Mi Fu. Diecai Hill’s Wind Cave contains 178 stone inscriptions and 24 niches holding a total of 98 rock statues. These sites offer different highlights: the number of characters is a notable detail at Water Moon Cave, Fubo Hill is associated with two works by Mi Fu, and Wind Cave brings together inscriptions and sculptures in niches.

Fubo Hill also offers a distinctive landscape perspective: it is considered a scenic representation of Guilin, bringing together mountain, water, cave, and rock. These landscape features stand alongside the rock inscriptions as another facet of the site.

A Historic Landmark on Rong Lake

The Old South Gate Tower on Rong Lake is a protected cultural heritage site in Guilin. It was built in 621 by the Tang general Li Jing. This adds another named heritage site along the water system to the inscriptions on the hills.

Karst in the Wider Travel Region

In the wider travel region, the Guilin Karst component of the South China Karst World Heritage Site is located in Guangxi Province within Lijiang National Park. It includes tower and cone karst formations. This regional karst context adds two more landscape forms to the urban perspectives on Guilin.

Discover more destinations: Hezhou, Guigang, Chongzuo, Bose, Yangshuo, Beihai, Qinzhou, Fangchenggang.

Back to the wider travel overview: Guangxi.