The most special 'May Day' holiday has arrived. Affected by the pandemic, Chinese people have reached a consensus on travel: no crowding, with safety and health as the top priority. Guilin, renowned for its unparalleled natural landscapes, has become one of the most popular domestic tourist destinations due to its superior natural environment.
Taking a night boat tour of Guilin's city card—the Two Rivers and Four Lakes Scenic Area—has become a must for tourists and locals. Currently, the routes of Guilin's Two Rivers and Four Lakes Scenic Area (Rong Lake, Shan Lake, Gui Lake, Mulong Lake, Li River, and Taohua River) have fully resumed, and the 'standard version' night tour mode has officially launched, with the spectacular ancient city wall light show also open to the public.
Ancient City Wall Light Show: Getting Close to History
Warhorses neighing, drums and horns sounding, beacons blazing across the sky. Then, by the ear, a thousand drums thunder, vaguely echoing the shouts of soldiers charging on the battlefield—eight hundred years ago, the 'Jingjiang Battle,' where Song Dynasty prefect Ma Ji of Yongzhou led his troops to stubbornly resist the Yuan army in Guilin, unfolds before people's eyes like a reversal of time, shockingly presented.
Suddenly, the scene shifts to a beautiful love story: the song fairy Liu Sanjie and Brother A Niu, dressed in exquisite Guangxi ethnic costumes, dance gracefully amidst falling petals, rivaling the timeless tale of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.
This is the exhilarating ancient city wall light show, combining Mulong Lake's real landscape, smart lighting, and virtual imagery. Immersed in it, visitors trace back through Guilin's long history and cultural allusions, enhancing the depth and richness of their sightseeing experience.
Night Boat Tour: A Dreamlike Experience
In Guilin, 'a thousand peaks stand in the wild, one river embraces the city,' and the Two Rivers and Four Lakes Scenic Area, which occupies the largest 'green lung' in the city center, with pavilions, terraces, towers, and lush trees, has become a popular spot for locals and tourists to take a 'healthy lung-cleansing' walk and relax.
At night, when all the scenic area lights turn on, a dreamlike scene appears: a dazzling display of lights, a night of flowing brilliance. The gleaming Sun and Moon Pagodas, one gold and one silver, complement each other, while over twenty bridges of various styles, draped in rainbow light, span the lakes. Famous mountains along the shore, accentuated by the lights, reveal a unique charm. Taking a night boat ride with a gentle breeze, the enchanting night scenery, dreamlike and mesmerizing, gradually captivates the visitors.
Watching Cormorant Fishing: Witnessing a Tradition
The fishing fires on Gui Lake, a heritage of the thousand-year-old cormorant fishing technique, stand unique here. Cormorant fishing is an ancient skill passed down for millennia in China. While taking a night boat tour of the Two Rivers and Four Lakes Scenic Area, visitors can watch this thrilling fishing fire show up close.
On the lake, bamboo rafts with fishing fires line up, their starlike dots forming a flowing Milky Way. Amidst vigorous and powerful shouts, the fisherman raises his bamboo pole high and slaps the water heavily. The cormorants, receiving the command, dive nimbly into the water and, moments later, resurface with live fish in their beaks. Immersed in the scene, it carries a strong ancient ethnic charm.
