The Stone Forest above the Water in the Longjiang River

The Stone Forest above the Water in the Longjiang River

Tourists can take a pleasure boat trip down the river from a pier near the Longjiang Bridge. When the boat goes westward for another 200 meters, tourists find themselves in the stone forest above the river, which stretches for about 8 kilometers, until it reaches the foot of the dam at Yemao Hydropower Station. On the way to the station, tourists can set their feet on the Luosi Isle, where they can play hide-and-seek or barbecue while having a rest.

Along the banks of the river, tourists can see a beautiful array of interesting-looking rocks. They are grotesquely shaped yet are also oddly pleasing to the eye. These rocks come in a range of different sizes with some that are almost 9 meters high, some that are almost 300 meters long and others being smaller than a fist. All these rocks form the unique stone forests above the water, a natural landscape in northwest Guangxi which can be favorably compared with the Stone Forest in Lunan county, Yunnan province.

The stone forest in Yizhou is very beautiful in four aspects. The first is the beauty of mountain-shaped rocks. From here one can witness the grandeur of the Five Mountains (Taishan, Hengshan, Huashang, Hengshan, and Songshan), the dangerously steep mountains of Lushan and Tiantaishan, the quiet and peaceful Mt. Yandang and Mt. Emei, the 12 peaks along the banks of Wuxia Gorge, and the beautiful Guilin landscape.

Viewed from the every direction, each mountain-like rock is a wonderful sight to be appreciated. When tourists come to this very place and see the panorama of famous mountains and rivers, they will definitely gasp in admiration at its awe-inspiring sights.

The second is the beauty of its unique and imagistic rocks which resemble different animals or scenes such as “a tortoise on pilgrimage”, “a camel drinking water” or “meeting on the broken bridge”. Different tourists may form their own interpretations of these rocks from their own perspective.

The third is the beauty of pebbles. According to crude statistics, there are almost 10,000 pebbles on the Luosi Isle. Having been on the riverbed for so many years, they are up to the aesthetic qualities of being vibrant, irregular, smooth and transparent.

The fourth is represented by the integration of rocks and water. A boat trip down the river takes tourists to different sections with wonderful sights, with some looking like the majestic Three Gorges in the Yangtze River, some like an exact reproduction of the landscape in Guilin, or others resembling a complicated labyrinth.

For these aspects of beauty, the Scenic Zone of Stone Forest above the Water in the Longjiang River has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Yizhou during the dry season in autumn and winter.