Dragon Art Tiles
New Li River and Four-lake Cruise
It was a raining day, everything was covered in mist. For me, it is a wonderful day to have a New Li River and Four-lake Cruise.
As the saying goes, the spring Kunming, autumn in Beijing, Shanghai at night and the raining Guilin is the most beautiful view in China. Scattered around the downtown Guilin, the four lakes—Gui, Rong (Banyan Lake), Shan(Chinese fir) and Mulong are like four pieces of green jade which connect Li River in the east and Taohua River(Peach Blossom River) in the west. They together basically restored the round-the-city waterway attraction which got started in the Song Dynasty(960~1279 A.D.).The first three lakes are named after trees that grow along their banks and the fourth is named after Mulong Cave which overlooks the lake.
It was 3pm; I went to the famous Elephant Trunk Hill park to get on our cruise.
Sitting on a modern cruise with transparent glass, I was charmed with a succession of bewitchingly beautiful scenes of nature, which looked like so many canvasses of landscape painting. The cruise started from the famous Elephant Trunk Hill—-It is the symbol of Guilin, and located on the western bank of Li River. The shape of the hill is just like a huge elephant drinking water from the river with its trunk, so it is called Elephant Trunk Hill. Today it is surrounded by fog which made the Elephant Trunk Hill just like a real elephant come from wonderland.
Then, the cruise slowly moved ahead in the Li River, everything looked amazing. The most wonderful thing was that many birds were following our cruise. They are swallows and egrets who are called as the gauge of environmental quality.
They sometimes flied very close above the water surface. In threes and fours, sometimes they flied lightly and graceful, sometimes they pecked some little fish and plankton from the water, and sometimes they just stopped flapping their wings and had a short rest.
They flew up, down for a while, and then slowly, fast for another while, as if they wanted to tell me that how wonderful their life were. Actually, they have a happy life. There was some little island or shoal in the river which would be the home for birds. There are no pollution but plenty of foods and new friends.
It was really fantastic and I could not help watching them for a long time. While, the ship has arrived at the Mulong (Wooden dragon) Lake cruise entrance. I have to get off the ship and go ashore. Next, along the narrow footpath, I was very impressive by the beautiful scenery and stone carvings of Diecai hill. During this period, the ship has sailed through the shiplock and awaited at the serene Mulong Lake scenic spot—which includes Song Street, Half-side Street, Mulong Pagoda, and Ancient Song City.
Then, we moved on to the Gui (Osmanthus tree) Lake which is the biggest and oldest lake among the four lakes. Gui Lake comprises the inner lake of Lize, Baoxian and Xiqing lakes. With a large number of precious arbors and flowers along the lake, I could feast my eyes with banyan tree garden, gingko garden, white pines garden, redwood garden, magnolia garden and palm garden.
There are some bridges crossing above the lake. The reinforced concrete bridge in front is Rongxi Bridge, sister of the famous Zhaozhou Bridge, one of the most beautiful, stone arch bridges in ancient China. The traditional Chinese auspicious creatures like dragon and phoenix are caved on the white marble arch, indicating happiness and luckiness. There are smaller arches at each end of the bridge which allow some water to flow through when the river floods, thus alleviating the pressure on the main body.
Next is YingBing Bridge, meaning welcome. Lize, Baoxian and Xiqing bridges are named after the three gates along the ancient western city wall. Passing Baoxian Bridge, we come to the Xiqing Lake. At the northern part of the Gui lake, water narrows into a natural swimming pool. The dynamic water from the river keeps flowing here, so the water is especially clean. Whether in summer or in winter, many local residents swimming here, enjoying the nature.The last bridge above Gui lake is Xiqing Bridge. It is a foot bridge and made of costly red pine wood.
The ship arrived at the third lake- Rong (banyan tree) Lake, which lies in the middle of downtown and is connected to Shan Lake through the Yang Bridge. It is admired for its green land, peacely and quietly in the middle of the noisy city.
Here, water, rocks, plants, pavilions and corridors are artfully laid out, performing a Chinese classical garden. The stone boat, with its delicately designed carvings and dragon head, reminds me of the QingYan Fang of the Summer Palace, Beijing.
The last lake is Shan (Chinese fir) Lake. There are two pagodas in the middle of Shan lake, , one is Yan Ta, or the Sun Pagoda, a 9-storied bronze pagoda, 41 meters high. It is painted gold and the taller of the two. In the night it is lit with bright yellow lights.
The other one, made of colored glaze tiles, 7-storied, is called Yin Ta, or the Moon Pagoda. It outshines white lights at night. The two towers are open to the public and there is an underground tunnel viewing the surrounding linking the pair. The towers are Buddhist pagodas style.
Finally, the ship pull over in the Zhiyin dock and end this wonderful trip, where north of Zhiyin Dock, a statue stands driving the quill. He is the very poet who wrote the best-known verse, “East or west, Guilin’s scenery is the best.”
There is no words to describe how beautiful the scenery along is! Come to Guilin, donnot miss the scenic spot of Two Rivers Four lakes!
About the Author
Carved wood ceiling Roman Catholic Saints Geroge Slaying Dragon Dining Room Hearst Castle
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