In My Eyes

Four Days in Guilin

Have seen many pictures of Elephant Trunk Hill, we decided to go there then. The park was located at the western bank of Li River in the southeast of the city. The Elephant Trunk Hill was the pride of the city and strangely and artistically shaped. We lost ourselves in the enchanting scenery for two hours, taking a lot of pictures. And most memorable experience was that we ate fresh fried fish on a bamboo raft.

Day 2: Longsheng

On the second day, we went to Minority village and Longsheng Terraced Field. Longsheng lies on the north of Guilin and lives many ethnic groups of China. The many ethnic minorities represent here include the Zhuang, Yao, Hui, Miao, Mulao, Maonan and Dong, etc., which enrich the cultural life here. 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.

The Longji Terraces are built into the steep mountain range named “The Dragon's Backbone” about 2 hours from Guilin by coach. The terraces look like ribbons as they wind from the foot to the top of the mountain. This ingenious construction makes best use of the scarce arable land and water resources in the mountainous area. There are about 66 square kilometers of terraced fields in the district. The Terraces were first built in the Yuan dynasty and completed in the Qing dynasty by the Zhuang people. Zhuang and Yao minority villages dot the area and feature traditional unique architecture where no nails are used in construction. The different minority customs and dressing styles are especially interesting. We were told that there are many ethnical festivals in Longsheng during the year, such as singing festival of Zhuang people and firework festival of Dong people in March according to lunar calendar, and Miao festival of Miao people in October. During each festival, various celebrations will be held. However, we were not fortune enough to witness any of them, which was really a pity.