!!!Guilin Mountains, Part 2

Photos by Sergey Semenov,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

24 July 2019

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Guilin Mountains, China

Guilin is one of the most interesting cities in China. It is famous for
its wonderful natural monuments and situated on the bank of Lijiang
river in the Southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Guilin's beauty
inspired people to give very poetic names to some of the local places of
interest, such as Seven Stars Park, Reed Flute Cave, Folded Brocade
Hill, and Green Lotus Peak. These are just a few of Guilin's sights.

[{Image src='01_Guilin Mountains.jpg' caption='Guilin Mountains, China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='479'}]

Guilin's history dates back more than 2000 years ago and it's a city
where natural monuments intertwine with man-made structures. In the
center of Guilin there is a 152-meter high Solitary Beauty Peak (Duxiu
Feng) with 300 steps leading to its summit. There are also ruins of a
royal complex that dates back to Ming dynasty and further to the south
there is Elephant Trunk Hill, that got its name due to its resemblance
to an elephant that drinks water.

[{Image src='02_Guilin Mountains.jpg' caption='Guilin Mountains, China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='539'}]

Lijiang river flowing through the city is very pure and transparent. In
the middle of the river stands Wave Subduing Hill (Fubo Shan) with a
Buddhist temple at the top. It houses unique objects, such as a 2.5 ton
bell and a kettle which can be used to cook food for one thousand
people.

Guilin's name is translated from Chinese as "Cassia Tree Forest".  Its
limestone pillars look like a giant stone forest.

[{Image src='03_Guilin Mountains.jpg' caption='Guilin Mountains, China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='560'}]

Long time ago limestone stratum that makes up the hills was accumulated
at the bottom of the ancient sea. Several millions of years later this
part of Earth's crust went up due to large earthquakes. Subsequently
heavy showers and snow befell on this region, eroding the bedrock that
was already weakened by cracks and ruptures. Later the upper limestone
stratum fell off, exposing spired limestone trunks, which are considered
by modern scientists as exemplary ancient karstic rocks. Nowadays
limestone pillars of China's mountains are stretched from the South
Central China to the northern parts of Vietnam. Cliffs, which sometimes
can rise 100 meters above their base, stand almost vertically and
pressed against each other. You can see Guilin's austere ridge tops for
kilometers and kilometers away.

[{Image src='04_Guilin Mountains.jpg' caption='Guilin Mountains, China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='450'}]

You can assume that nothing can grow on a bald cliff. But Guilin's
mountains are the most picturesque mountains in the world. The whole
mountain ridge is covered with vines and small trees clinging to rocky
slopes. During orchid blooming season you can see a variety of
multicolored flower islands light up on the slopes. Hazy mountains and
still waters of Li River have a magical aura that inspired painters and
poets throughout centuries.

[{Image src='05_Guilin Mountains.jpg' caption='Guilin Mountains, China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='333'}]

Guilin's unusual, and, in the literal sense of the word, unearthly
landscape was chosen as one of the shooting areas for Star Wars. Episode
III. Revenge of the Sith.

[{Image src='06_Guilin Mountains.jpg' caption='Guilin Mountains, China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='336'}]

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[17 panoramas of Guilin Mountains, Part 2|Geography/Asia/China/Pictures/Guilin_Mountains_2]

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