Zhai Yuanxiu: Boating on the Li River
Boating on the Li River
Photo: Zhai Yuanxiu
Visiting Guilin in the middle of summer, to be honest, I was not too impressed by the scenery of the city. The boat ride from Guilin to Yangshuo and the scenery of the Li River made me unforgettable.
For breakfast, I picked a small restaurant - wonton stewed steamed buns suitable for the taste of Zibo people. Under the leadership of the teacher, a group of seven of us drove to the Mopanshan Wharf in the suburbs. During the summer vacation, the upper reaches of the pier are full of people, many students, and many foreign tourists come to visit the scenery, which is after all a karst world natural heritage site in southern China.
The cruise ship is divided into three floors, with a modern and exquisite style, which can accommodate more than 80 tourists. The top floor is an open-air deck for views of both sides. The lower level is surrounded by spacious glass doors and windows, and the cabin is equipped with rows of soft seats, and between the seats there is a long table with tea for drinking.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, the cruise ship departed from the pier in Guilin and went down the Li River. A rare landscape painting unfolds slowly.
Sail out of the wharf, there is a green peak sandwiched between the shore, blue sky and white clouds, cloudy and sunny. The water of the Li River is very clear, and the vegetation on both sides of the river is reflected in the turquoise color, the river flows slowly, and the boat winds smoothly through the mountains.
On both sides of the river, water-turned limestone rises from the ground, each of which is not connected. In addition to the changes in the earth's crust, the cause is that it has endured millions of years of wind erosion and rain, and thousands of peaks have shown different peculiar shapes, or such as nine horses, or like four Tang monks and apprentices, or like mica stacked, or like a woman who wants a husband, or Lucky Star Chinese Restaurant bamboo shoots, or like a turtle head, or like a picture screen, or like a saddle, elephant trunk, lion head, ape, round tower, thousands of scenes, invisible. The mountain is not high, although there are cliffs, but if it is majestic and magnificent, it is not to talk about it, the mountains of Yangshuo are better than Qiba Xiuyi, and there are many of them.
The river is busy and crowded, with boats coming and going, as well as motorized bamboo rafts. From time to time, the low sound of the ship's whistle broke the tranquility of the mountains in the illusion. The river is deep, and the cruise is feasible. The water near the shore is shallow, and there are fishermen who can fish in canoes and enjoy themselves. Occasionally, one or two white waterfowl will be in the water for a while, and then they will fly low against the surface of the water. There was also a pair flying on the upper right side of the boat. They not only embellish the green mountains and green waters, but also add a little smart charm.
Sitting across the long table were two mothers with five children, the eldest was in the fourth grade of primary school, and after conversation, I knew that I was Cantonese, and my Mandarin was not good, so I didn't have much communication. The child brought a lot of life to the journey. Whenever they see a teal in the water, or a dinghy coming from the opposite side, they will cheer and scream.
Standing on the top floor of the cruise ship, you can see the beautiful mountains and rivers at a glance. The river breeze caresses the face, which is extremely refreshing, and is the blessing of nature. Looking back at the stern, what I saw was another landscape painting, but it was just as exquisite and peerless. In all directions, up and down, it is like a fairyland. When I was in it, I lost my way, indulged in myself, and painted with the country. From time to time, clouds drifted overhead, dropping raindrops. The clouds passed, and the sun began to show its power again.
The abrupt mountains on both sides of the bank are covered with silk woven with green trees, and the leaky cover is the bare part of the mountain—the cliffs that go straight up and down, showing the brown color of the rocks, which contrasts with the green tone of the landscape, adding to the color of the scroll. There are some small waterfalls on the mountain that flow into the river, and there are dense forests of green bamboo at the foot of the mountain, which has become the boundary between the mountain and the water. Visually, the distant mountains and the pleasure boat go hand in hand, while the lush forest and bamboo sandwiched between the shore retreat rapidly, and only by being immersed in the scene can you feel this real sense of movement and layering.
I like to take a boat on the river, the air is moist, smooth and soothing, I want to see the scenery and walk on the deck, I am tired and have a seat to rest, leisurely and comfortable. I have taken two boats on the Yangtze River, from Chongqing to Nanjing, from Wuhan to Shanghai, and there are beds to stay overnight. The clipper boat went down the river, and there was a feeling of "a thousand miles of Jiangling in one day". The Guilin Mandarin imitated by Li Jinkai's children is fluent and natural, vivid, to the point of being fake, which is a small episode in the trip.
I have long heard that "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world, and Yangshuo's scenery is the best in Guilin". Immersed in the scene today, I know that it is not a lie. The people of Guilin told me that the climate is pleasant in autumn, and it is also the time when the scenery of the Li River is the most beautiful, the mountains and rivers are green, the rice grains are yellow, and the osmanthus flowers are fragrant. If you visit Guilin again, you must choose autumn.
