• Reed Flute 
  
  

  	Located 5 kilometers northwest of Guilin city, the Reed Flute Cave is in fact a cave on the southern shoulder of the Guangming Hill (Bright Hill). Got its name by the reeds used for making flutes and pipes growing at its entrance, the cave is regarded as the largest and most impressive cave in Guilin city.  The cave is 240 meters long, whereas the touring distance is about 550 meters, mainly offering a magic fairyland of stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars, stone curtains, birds, plants and animals in fantastic shapes and colors.  One grotto, which called the Crystal Palace of the Dragon King, can hold about 1000 people. During the war, the grotto once served as an air-raid shelter. Over 70 wall inscriptions from the Tang
  	dynasty (618-907) were found in the walls, suggesting that the cave once been traveled by people in every dynasty. The highlight in this cave is a great slab of white rock hanging from a ledge like a cataract, with a human-shaped stalactite on its opposite.  It was said that a visiting scholar tried to write a poem depicting the beauty of the cave. It cost  him so much time to find the right words that he finally turned to stone. Another story goes that the slab originally was the Dragon King's needle. The Monkey King used it as a weapon to defeat the dragon's army and finally left it in the cave.  The cave was opened to public in 1962. Famed as the Palace of Natural Art, the cave is now equipped with artificial lighting system to emphasize visiting effect.

   

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• Seven Star Cave   
  
  

  	The cave got its for the seven peaks supposed to resemble the star pattern of the Big Dipper constellation - the four peaks in the north are called Putuo Hill, the three in the south are called Lunar Hill. The famous Seven Star cave is just located in the middle of Putuo Hill. The cave is famous for its stalactites of various shapes. The cave is divided into three parts. The upper part is so high and steep that one can hardly reach it, while the lower part is an underground river channel. The middle part, an 814-meter-long tunnel, with the widest place of 49
  	meters and the highest of 27 meters, serves as the main touring area. the temperature in this cave remains 20 degrees all the year round, providing a comfortable environment for visitors. Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, the cave has been a favorite tour resort, and many visiting poets, writers, scholars and nobles have  left their inscriptions on the wall. The cave leads visitors into a marvelous world. Recently, artificial lighting system was equipped in this cave to fully display the enchanting scenes to visitors.

  
  
  
  
  

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•  Elephant Trunk Park  
  
  

  	Situated majestically at the southeast of Guilin city and west bank of Li River, Elephant Trunk Hill is regarded as the symbol of Guilin landscape. Originally named "Li Hill", "Yi Hill" and "Chenshui Hill", the hill has a history of 3.6 hundred million years. Resembling an elephant leisurely sucking water from the river with its long trunk, this hill is famous as Elephant Trunk Hill for hundreds of years. With an elevation of 200m, the hill towers 55m above the water, measuring 108m in length and 100m in width. Between the trunk and the legs of the elephant is a cave, in the shape of a full moon, penetrating the hill from side to side. People named it "Moon-over-Water Cave". When the waters wave and the moonlight gleams, the scene is exceedingly enchanting. On the walls in and around this cave, over 70 inscriptions from the Tang and Song dynasties
  	were found, praising the beauty of hills and waters nearby. Halfway up the hill lies another cave, which goes through the hill and serves as the eyes of the elephant, through which visitors can overlook the beautiful scene of Guilin city. On top of the hill stands a pagoda named Puxian Pagoda. Built in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), it looks like the handle of a sword. In and out of the cave are many carvings and inscriptions, the most well-known of which is a poem by Lu You (1125-1210), one of the four great poets of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279).

  
   

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