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 park is 1.5 kilometers
(0.9 mile) from the downtown area of Guilin.
The 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 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.
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