Guilin Travel Guide

Seven Star Park

Seven Star Park is one of the best urban parks in China. The park is in the east bank of Lijiang, about 1.5 kilometers from the downtown area of Guilin;Seven Star Park is the largest park in Guilin with the theme of rock caves.

The park is named after the seven peaks located throughout here that are shaped like the Big Dipper constellation. Amongst the peaks are several explorable caves, including "Seven Star Cave", which is quite famous for having stalagmites, stalactites and other natural formations that resemble animals and landscapes. The rest of this fantastic park is filled with trees and gardens. With its beautiful peaks, caves and gardens, this park has enough to keep any visitor entertained for hours.

Flower Bridge
It is the main entrance of the park. the bridge was first built in Song dynasty. In ancient time, the area surrounding the bridges planted various flowers. When in the late spring and early summer, the flowers bloomed and the bridge was sheltered in flowers hence the name. But in the Qing Dynasty, the flowers gradually declined and today, visitors can not see any flowers surrounding the bridge.

Camel Hill
It is a wow sight in the park. In Guilin, you will find all the limestone hills look like somebody or something. This hill looks incredibly like a huge camel standing in vast grassland. When in a bright morning or afternoon, the sun sets on the hill, reflecting a brightly glow. On foot of the hill stretches a patch of grassland which offers a pleasant stroll. The place is very popular with the locals; many can be seen leisurely walking around in early mooning or late afternoon. Nearby you will find a zoo, which once hosted a Giant Panda named Meimei which died last year. Now the zoo only houses a few animals and we advice foreigner visitors to avoid it for the conditions of Chinese zoo are a little bit brutal for animal lovers.

Putuo Mountain
Putuo Mountain where Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is worshiped, is the main body of the park. It abounds with caves and pavilions. At the southwestern foot of the mountain lies the natural air condition Xuanfeng Cave. At halfway up the mountain, you will see Putuo Jingshe (a two-storied pavilion). At the west belly of the mountain, you will see the renowned Seven Stars Cave, which is also called Qixia Cave or Bixu Cave. With the multifarious stalactites, stalagmites and stone pillars formed by the dissolved limestone, the cave was called 'Residence of the Immortals'. Turning right and go on climbing the mountain, you will see the Tomb of the Three Generals and the Tombs of 800 Heroes. On the top of the mountain, there are Putuo Stone Forest, Xuanwu Pavilion and Zhaixing Pavilion. In addition, there are numerous valuable tablets on the mountain.

Crescent Mountain
Crescent Mountain is to the south of Putuo Mountain. It was given this name due to the crescent-shaped stone at its belly. The mountain is reputed for its maigre food, which has a history of more than 100 years. The Nun Noodles are really worth tasting. Walking along the stone steps, you can see Banyue Pavilion, Crescent Rock and Guanghan Pavilion. Standing here, the sights of Guilin City even come into sight! At the southwestern foot, there is Guihai Stele Forest, which consists of Longyin Cave, Longyin Rock. The stele forest has more than 220 tablets, referring to politics, economy, culture and military affairs in forms of poems, posies, couplets and images. The characters in the tablets are inscribed in regular script, cursive script, seal characters and clerical script.

Seven Star Cave
Nestling at the belly of the Putuo Hill, the cave is well-known for the dazzling stalagmites and stalactites within it. The cave stretches around 1,100 meters, with 50 meters at the widest point and 20 meters at the highest point. The cave has been a tourist attraction for hundreds of years. As early as song dynasty, some explorers adventured the cave and left their marks inside. With various oddly shaped karst formations, the cave is indeed overwhelming and well values your time and money.

Guihai Stele Forest
Guihai Stele Forest is set to the south of the Crescent Hill where about 218 stone carvings and inscriptions are well preserved. Most of these carving works were from Tang and Song Dynasties which have been of great importance in Chinese calligraphy culture. If you won’t have time to visit the Famous Forest of Stele in Xian, this one, however, will provide a ideal alternative.