Xiangshan District 象山区

History

From 1368, under the Ming, the seat of Lingui County (临桂县) stood inside today's district, on the site now occupied by the Guilin hospital of traditional Chinese medicine on Lingui Road; it was the first county seat within the district's area. Peiyi District (培义区), formed in 1942 and kept after 1949, was the district's forerunner, and Xiangshan District itself was set up in July 1979 when Guilin replaced its urban communes with four districts. Remains found in Zengpiyan (甑皮岩) and Baojiyan (宝积岩) caves show, according to the Guilin city government, that people lived around Guilin about 10,000 years ago; the Zengpiyan site is on China's list of the hundred great archaeological discoveries of the past century.

What to see

Elephant Trunk Hill stands where the Li River meets the Peach Blossom River (桃花江) and is named for its likeness to an elephant drinking from the river. The scenic area covers about 11.88 hectares, holds cliff inscriptions and Buddhist carvings, was made the city emblem in 1995 and was rated 5A in 2017.

The Sun and Moon Pagodas (日月双塔) were rebuilt in 2001 on the base of a Tang-dynasty pagoda and stand on Guilin's central axis beside the hill; their underground museum shows Buddhist objects excavated from the Tang pagoda, and the district government bills the copper Sun Pagoda as the tallest copper pagoda in the world.

Nanxi Hill (南溪山), about a kilometre from the railway station, became a public park in 1974. Its two peaks carry about 180 cliff inscriptions left since the Tang, a national key cultural relics site since 2003, and its caves include White Dragon Cave (白龙洞), the largest, and Liuxian Rock (刘仙岩), linked to the Song Taoist Liu Zhongyuan (刘仲远).

Highlights

• Elephant Trunk Hill 象鼻山: Guilin's city emblem since 1995, at the meeting of the Li and Peach Blossom rivers; 5A scenic area since 2017.
• Sun and Moon Pagodas 日月双塔: Rebuilt in 2001 on a Tang pagoda base, with an underground museum of excavated Tang Buddhist objects.
• Nanxi Hill 南溪山: About 180 cliff inscriptions from the Tang onwards, a national key cultural relics site since 2003.
• Zengpiyan Site Museum 甑皮岩遗址博物馆: Cave site showing human activity around Guilin about 10,000 years ago; listed among China's hundred great archaeological discoveries.