Guilin – A Fairyland of Chinese Painting Landscape

Travel Biz News Correspondent —-

Guilin: Guilin, a popular tourist destination in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region , plans to be an international tourist city expanding its air connectivity with different countries of the world.

Guilin, covering an area of 27,797 sq.km and 5.05 million population , received nearly 2 million tourists in 2012.The city government aims to have the tourism industry account for 20 percent of its GDP by 2015.

According to Wei Xiang, Director of Guilin Municipal Tourism Bureau, Guilin municipal government has been implementing various plans to make Guilin an international tourist destination.

Since the ‘ Outline of Guilin International Tourist Destination Development Plan ‘ was officially approved last year, Guilin City has given priority in developing the city with its unique scenery of karst topography as a MICE destination. The city aims to expand international tourism cooperation and cultural exchanges.

Guilin attracts thousands of tourists from South Asian countries and aims to welcome more tourists from the Asian countries including Nepal each year, Wei Xiang said recently.

As Guilin is a blessed with picturesque mountains, fantastic caves, and graceful rivers, millions of inbound tourists from different parts of China visit the city each year. The name ‘Guilin’ means “forest of sweet osmanthus” in Chinese and the region is rich in osmanthus trees.

“People wishing for higher incomes are interested to live in metropolitan cities whereas people wishing for a happy and peaceful lifestyle enjoy life in Guilin,” Jin Bin of Guilin Merchants International Travel Company said.

Guilin’s unique topography and beautiful scenery of the Karst Mountains and the unsurpassed beauty of the Li River has attracted public figures including poets and artists since centuries.

Most of the tourists visiting the eco- friendly destination enjoy the beautiful scenery of Lijiang River and sightseeing of Yangshou County. The 54 km waterway of the twisty Lijiang River between Zhujiang Pier and Yangshuo depicts thousands of picturesque peaks. 

The Lijiang River, Taohua River, Shahu Lake, Ronghu Lake, Guihu Lake and Mulong Lake are connected together and waterway transportation is known as “Two Rivers and Four Lakes”.

According to officials of Guilin Municipal Tourism Bureau, the performance ‘ Impressiona Sanjie Liu ‘attracts thousands of domestic and international tourists in Guilin each day.

The large-scale performance ‘ Impressiona Sanjie Liu ‘ is the core project of The Lijiang River Mountain-Water Theatre, invested by Guilin Guangwei Wenhua Tourism and Culture Co.Ltd .

The performance expresses the beautiful scenery of the Lijiang River,the colorful culture of the ethnic groups in Guangxi and the excellent imagination of the artists including classical Sanjie Liu’s Songs.More than 600 actors and actress are invoIved in the 90 minute performance .

Another tourist attraction Elephant Trunk Hill (Xiangshan) is the badge of Guilin City, and was given its name because the hill looks exactly like an elephant drinking from the river with its trunk. It is a masterpiece of karst landscape, composed of pure limestone deposited on the sea floor 360 million years ago.

Situated at the foot of Guangming Hill in northeastern Guiln, Reed Flute Cave got its name from the kind of reed growing immediately outside the cave entrance, which is used to make fine flutes. It has been a tourist attraction for more than 1,000 years.

Inside the cave, there are various stalagmites, stone curtains, stone flowers and stone pillars, which constitute a unique charm, making it known as a palace of natural art.
Seven-Star Park is one of the top national tour attractions officially recognized by China National Tourism Administration, where Camel Hill, Natural Stone Hall, Seven-Star Cave and Crescent Pavilion attract tens of thousands of tourists each year.

The natural wonderlands in Guilin are Shangri-La(Shi wai tao yuan),Crown Cave ,Longsheng Hot Springs,Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terrace,Fengyu Cave,Yulong River ,Yaoshan Hill and Big Banyan Park.

The human made attractions are – West Street in Yangshuo , Impression Sanjie Liu , Ping’an Stockaded Village of Zhuang , Scenic Garden of the Third Sister Liu , The Mausoleum of Princes Jingjiang , Guihai Forest of Steles Museum, Flower Bridge in Seven-Star Park , Jianshan Temple, Guilin Museum , Li Zongren’s Official Residence , Relics of Zenpiyan Cave ,Yinshui Village of Dong and Baimian Village of Yao.

Similarly, West Street is the oldest street in in the center of Yangshuo County with a history of more than 1,400 years .Visitors are attracted to West Street by its unique mix of cultures and varieties of stores, bars, cafes and hotels.

Guilin rice noodles, rice dumplings,water chestnut cake, Fengli(Rice lump) , noodles and mushrooms are popular local cuisine in Guilin and other areas of Guangxi Zhuang region. Fish is one of the most popular cuisine in Guilin.

Different political figures and celebrities including former US president Bill Clinton opine that Guilin is incredible and one of the top destination in the world tourism map.

Deputy Director General of Guilin Municipal Tourism Bureau Chen Yun Chun expects a large number of tourists in Guilin in coming years .He urges the travel professionals of Nepal and other countries of Asia to promote Guilin in their respective countries so that people could visit the beautiful tourist destination of China.