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Seven Star Crags is located on the northern outskirts
of Zhaoqing city of Guangdong Province. Seven limestone crags stand
in the formation of "the Plough" by the blue lake, hence the name
of "Star Lake". The lake area measures 8 square kilometers with
the seven crags of similar sizes closely arrayed, looking charming
and exquisite. Seen from afar and at a height, the Crags encircled
by a vast expanse of lovely waters resemble "The Big Dipper" inlaid
upon boundless Milky Way, inducing fantastic reveries.
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, 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.
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