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| About 325 million years ago, today's Guilin and Yangshuo area was just a vast expanse of water. Movement of the earth"s crust pushed the limestone, deposited on the ocean floor, above the waters to become dry land. the special landscapes of peak clusters and forests, subterranean streams and karst caves gradually emerged as the result of wind and rain erosion. | The Lijiang River, part ofthe Zhujiang(Pearl River)system, originates in the Mao'er Mountain, the highest in southern China. Its course is 437 kilometers long.
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| The Lijiang River, like a green silk belt, threads through the grotesque peaks, everywhere is permeated with local feeling. |
The river is internationally known for the 83 kilometer stretch between Xiangbi(Elephant T11lnkl Hillin Guilin City to Bilian(Green Lotus) Peak in Yangshuo County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The Lijiang River area, which is typical of karst landscape and Guangxi sub-tropical karst topography, boasts diverse beautiful landscapes, peak forests£¬karst caves, deep pools, dangerous shoals, precipitous crags and rushing waterfalls. The picturesque peak forests along the fiver were formed by limestone rising from the seabed and undergoing years of erosion by continual high temperatures and rain. As their hardness and abruptness softened away, they merged with the life force of all creatures, composing an elegant picture of green towering peaks.
The beauty of the Lijiang River lies in its clear and graceful waters and its curious rock formations.
In the sunshine, its waters take all shades of green that keep on changing constantly-0ne moment like emerald, the next the colour of young leaves. Not only has the river created all creatures around it. it has also transformed water -this colorless. ordinary material-into a beautiful enchanting spirit.
The peaks here are neither tall nor steep. Dotted along the Lijiang River, they form a smoothly meandering line of dark green, The peaks follow on one after another, each close upon the heel of the one before. but each has its own story and associations. They stand together shoulder to shoulder, keeping watch over the area, bringing endless blessings, and witnessing its great changes.
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