Guilin Travel & Tour Packages - Seven-Star Park
Seven Stars Park, covering an area of more than 120 hectares
(297 acres), is the largest comprehensive park with mass scenery in
Guilin City. Located at the east bank
of Li River, the Seven Stars
park is 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) from the downtown area of Guilin.
The Seven Stars park was so named because of the seven peaks (the
four peaks of Putuo Mountain and three of Crescent Mountain) inside
resemble the form of the Big Dipper constellation.
The Seven Stars park is endowed with elegant mountains, clear
water, miraculous stone forest, deep and serene valleys, plentiful
animals and plants and valued cultural relics. It has been popular
since the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties. The main
sights contain Flower Bridge, Putuo Mountain, Seven Stars Cave,
Camel Hill, Crescent Mountain, Guihai Stele Forest and Light of
China Square.
Flower Bridge, built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), is
the oldest bridge in Guilin. Every spring and summer, it is set off
with blooming flowers and the streams, hence the name Flower Bridge.
The larruping point of the bridge lies in that the arch's inverted
reflection in water always looks like a full moon. It never changes
even though the quantity of water changes.
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.
Camel Hill, looking like a life-like squat camel, lies
behind Putuo Mountain. It was once called Hu Shan because it is
shaped like a flagon. A hermit in the Ming Dynasty once lived here
and grew large numbers of plum trees. In spring, the full-blown plum
blossom, together with the rays of the sunrises or sunsets drapes
the hill with a gorgeous glow. This is one of the Ten Scenes of
Guilin. Around the hill are bonsai gardens, a zoo and teahouses.
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.
Light of China Square is between Putuo Mountain and
Crescent Mountain. It boasts of two craftworks, one is the stone
carving murals and the other is Shi Ji Bao Ding (the precious Ding
of the century). The mural, made up of more than 100 stone carvings,
epitomizes 5000-year Chinese civilization. Shi Ji Bao Ding, a
four-legged Ding at a height of 4.6 meters (15 feet), symbolizes
that the country flourishes and people live in peace.
Thanks to the pleasant climate here, you can pay a
visit to Seven Stars Park at any time of year.
For tours, please visit Tour-Guilin
page for various tour packages.
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