Elephant Trunk Hill

Elephant Trunk Hill (Xiangbishan) is one of the Lijiang River's most famous sights. The hill is situated on the western bank of the Lijiang River, to the southeast of Guilin. It looks like an elephant, dipping its snout into the Lijiang River, hence the name "Elephant Trunk Hill". This sight is very representative of the landscape around Guilin and is a symbol of Guilin itself.

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).

How to get there: A boat can be hired to take you to Elephant Trunk Hill for to RMB20-RMB40. This area can also be reached by bike from Guilin.

Admission Tickets: RMB15