Xiajian River 下枧河

About Xiajian River

The head of Yizhou district's river-chief office describes the Xiajian as a Longjiang tributary running through Yizhou and as the principal outdoor location used for the film Liu Sanjie. The feature notes that the film, made more than sixty years ago, took the mountain songs of this place beyond the villages and overseas. The Guangxi Daily feature that quotes the office records that the river has for centuries supported more than 200,000 Zhuang, Han, Mulao, Maonan and other people along its banks and irrigates more than 80,000 mu of farmland; seven of the twelve long-settled ethnic groups of Guangxi live in its basin. In 2017 the Xiajian was voted a 'most beautiful home river' in the first such campaign run by the publicity and education centre of the Ministry of Water Resources, the only river in Guangxi chosen.

North of the Yizhou urban area the river forms part of the Liu Sanjie Homeland scenic area, a national AAAA-grade scenic area created where the Longjiang reach through the town meets the Xiajian reach at Liusanjie town. Its core is Liuhe village, which the district government says preserves the houses said to have been those of Liu Sanjie and A Niu Ge, together with a Zhuang village gate, Zhuang totems, farming implements, a tea house, the Tage bridge and a temple to the song immortal; the Guangxi Daily feature records several century-old longan trees in the village, known as the betrothal trees. Elsewhere along the river, the district's description of the Guwen rural tourism area in Xiangbei township lists natural features including the river, karst caves, islands in mid-river, striking peaks, sandbars, bamboo groves, farmland, flower fields and farmsteads.

What to look for

• Liuhe village, the core of the Liu Sanjie Homeland scenic area, with its Zhuang village gate, tea house, Tage bridge and temple to the song immortal
• The century-old longan trees at Liuhe village, known as the betrothal trees
• The confluence north of the town where the Longjiang reach meets the Xiajian reach at Liusanjie town
• The caves, mid-river islands, sandbars and bamboo groves of the river's course through Xiangbei township
• Mashantang, a rural tourism area on the bank of the Xiajian in the north of Yizhou, five kilometres from the urban area

Location & getting there

Getting to Xiajian River

Confirm the visitor entrance and which boat or walking routes operate on your date. Rainfall, water levels and weather can change access.

• Search for 下枧河 with 河池市 and 宜州区.