Scenes from the City of Guilin

10. Elephant Trunk Hill

The first phase of your trip from Guilin to the village of Yangdi brings you to Elephant Trunk Hill (Xiangbi). On the west shore, it has become one of the most popular parks and remarkable natural monuments. It resembles an elephant drinking from the Li River. Of course, all the great limestone formations in Guilin and down the Li River resemble someone or something. It helps to have a good imagination.

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).