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Guilin is Located in the subtropical zone in the southern part of China, and boasts a pleasant climate throughout the year. Built over 2,000 years ago during the Qin Dynasty and named after the fragrance of osmanthus, Guilin has been famous for its picturesque scenery; the peculiar landforms of Limestone Mountains and numerous caverns are renowned throughout the world and called the finest beauty under the heaven. Over the course of centuries many poets and painters have been drawn to these parts, and they have all praised the beauty of Guilin in their works. The Lijiang River flows from northeast to southeast like a jade ribbon.

I had a close visit to Guilin in holiday last summer, which is a tour not only to Guilin city itself, but to the beauty around the city: ethnic minority experience in Longsheng north of the city, cruise on Li River to Yangshuo in the south and a special show in the open air with the river as the stage. I remembered that I sent pictures of the hills of Guilin to friends back home, and few of them believed what they saw.

On the first day, we had an Ethnic Minorities Culture expedition at Longsheng Terrace. After three-hour drive we arrived at Longji Rice Terrace, which is located in the southeast of Longsheng County and is called the champion of the terrace world ? The terraces wind from the foot to the top of the hillside and show a picture of great momentum and imposing beauty. Layers on layers, some of them look like great chains, others look like ribbons. We hiked for about 1 hour up to Ping’ an village and visited the rice terraces of Dragon's Back Mountain where the Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Tribes have inhabited for hundreds of years.

For me, not the beauty but the local women with their long and black hair that is the most charming feature. From a local woman, I learned that long hair is a local tradition. All the Hongyao women can cut their hair at 16 years old; symbolizing the fact she is an adult who can look for a lover. But the hair cut off should be kept by her grandmother instead of being thrown away. That was really interesting!

We drove back to Guilin in the afternoon and freed at leisure for the rest of the day.

Departed from the hotel in the next morning, we were transferred to the Zhujiang Pier for wonderful Lijiang River Cruise. Lijiang River, the river of poems and paintings, is the soul of Guilin scenery. From Guilin to Yangshuo, the 83-km-long waterway forms a gallery of landscape painting, which is a fairyland in the world with "Nine Horses in Picture Hill", "Places of Interest in Xingping", ?ellow Cloth Shoal ? etc. After 4.5 hours we arrived in Yangshuo. Yangshuo is probably the most westernized backpackers’ town that I’ve been to in China. The foreigner street here, literally called ?est Street ? is full of bars, hostels, and the requisite foreigners. I was impressed by the picturesque mountains, peaceful green fields, farms and villages with water buffalos, cows wondering around on both sides of the river bank, etc.

I rented a bicycle and wandered through the back parts of town, which was really wonderful!

In the evening, I enjoyed the Show of Impression Liu, a brand-new performance produced with a natural stage setting of Guilin scenery. The performance is based on a lady Liu Sanjie who was well known for her beautiful voice and she always sang while working in the fields. The production aims to provide an insight into the lives of the region's ethnic groups through song and dance.

We lodged in Yangshuo and had a cool night. We returned to Guilin city on the third day by bus, and today’s highlight is a half days' city tour of the most famous hills and caves in Guilin. We first visited the Elephant Trunk Hill, which is situated majestically on the west bank of Li River, and resembles an elephant sucking water from the river with its long trunk. It is supposed to be the landmark of Guilin landscape. To our guide, I knew that when the moonlight sprinkles over the river, the mirror-like water reflects of the moon-like cave, and hence the name 'Moon over the Water'.

Then we came to the Reed Flute Cave, which is known as "the Palace of Natural Arts". The cave got its name from the verdant reeds growing outside it, with which people make flutes. Inside this water-eroded cave is a spectacular world of various stalactites, stone pillars and rock formations created by carbonate deposition.

We were free at leisure in the rest day, I tasted the famous local delicacy - Guilin Rice Noodles and went for shopping on the Zhongshan Road in the evening.

We departed Guilin and headed for home on the next morning. Coming close to Guilin is a dream in my life, now I hope to sleep in my dream and never wake up. The verdant mountains, elegant waters, and fantastic caves deeply impressed me. Guilin, I wanna dream in your charming land forever!

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