As the elite the Guilin landscape, the Lijiang River is a bright pearl among China′s beautiful mountains and rivers. Originated in Mao′er Mountain at Xing′an County, northeast of Guilin City, the Lijiang River winds its way southeast for about 437 kilometers via Guilin City, Yangshuo City to Gongcheng Estuary of Pingle County in Guangxi Province. The 84-kilometer-long segment from Guilin City to Yangshuo City resembles a green silk belt, winding among the peaks and the chains of mountains. The miraculous peaks, green mountains and blue waters mutually embellish, just as a 100-kilometer-long scroll. For several thousands of years, a great number of bookmen and scholars have been intoxicated with it. A segment of the mountains and waters of the Lijiang River are printed on the back of the new version paper currency RMB 20.

The voyage of the Lijiang River from the Guilin City to the Yangshuo City is about 83 kilometers, and it can be divided into the following three segments:

The first segment is from Guilin City to Yangdi (total 46km; 4 hours′ voyage). The scenic spots are a bit far from the waterway. The scenic spots near Guilin City include the Elephant Trunk Hill, the Pagoda Hill (Sword Hill), etc. Two hills named "Chuanshan" on the east bank and "Guishan" on the opposite west bank resemble a pair of fighting roosters.

The second segment is from Yangdi to Xingping (total 17km; 40 minutes′ voyage). This segment has the most beautiful landscape of waters and hills. Many scenic spots are on both banks of the Lijiang River. For example, the ferry precipices of the Half-Side Ferry seem cut by knife, which is seldom seen in the world; the peaks are standing upright on both banks and the flying waterfall is being suspended highly at the Erlang Gorge; the precipice of the Mural Hill is even and straight as if cut by knife, interlaced and decorated with the colors of white, yellow, gray and black, etc. After boating out of the Siwang, one can see nine horses on the precipice of the Mural Hill, so it is commonly called as the Nine-Horse Painting.

The third segment is from Xingping to Yangshuo (total 20km; 2 hours′ voyage). When you can see the highest Green Lotus Peak in Yangshuo, you will reach Yangshuo City soon. Seen from the front side, the Green Lotus Peak is as smooth as a mirror, so it is also called the Jianshan (mirror hill).

One of the advantages to visit the Lijiang River is that the tourists do not need to worry about the change of the weather, since the views of the Lijiang River have different characteristics in different weather conditions: Tourists can view the inverted images of green peaks in sunny days ; view the clouds and mists covering the hills in overcast days and view the misty rain of the Lijiang River in rainy days. Even in the overcast and rainy days, the mist over the water is wreathing, the chain of mountains is gleaming, drifting clouds are moving among the miraculous peaks, and the rain curtain is covering the waters and hills as the lengthwise yarn, looking like many splash-ink watercolor paintings.

Source: http://www.chinaculture.org