1400-Year-Old Tree in Guilin, Guangxi, Requires a ¥20 Ticket, But Tourists Still Rush to See It
This is Xiao Yu’s travel diary, wandering around and experiencing the world with me.
Guilin, Guangxi, is one of China’s famous tourist destinations. The slogan ‘Guilin’s Li River is the best in the world’ is familiar to many friends. When visiting Guilin, the best experience is to take a bamboo raft along the riverbanks to admire the scenery. From Guilin to Yangshuo, the Li River rafting is a popular choice for most tourists.
However, after personally experiencing Guilin, I would recommend everyone to take the Yi Long River bamboo raft drifting, because there are three reasons: firstly, the scenery along the river is no less than the Li River; secondly, it is more original. Even if you choose to take a bamboo raft drifting on the Li River, it is a four-person motorized bamboo raft; while the Yi Long River drifting in Yangshuo is a truly handmade bamboo raft; and thirdly, it’s the ten-mile gallery scenery along the Yi Long River, which is a must-see experience.
Before coming to Guilin Yangshuo, I thought it was like Lijiang and Fenghuang – a place to wander around slowly in a town. When I came here, I realized that West Street is a deliberately created small-town atmosphere, and the real beauty of Yangshuo can only be found in Yi Long River – Ten Mile Gallery.
Take a bamboo raft drifting from Jinlong Bridge to Xieyang, admiring the beautiful scenery of Guilin mountains and rivers. Then rent a small motorcycle to start a ten-mile gallery cycling tour, which can fully experience the three-dimensional beauty of Guilin mountains and rivers.
There are many scattered small attractions along the Ten Mile Gallery, one of which is a 20 yuan ticketed attraction that is not expensive, but you can only see one tree inside. Even so, the tourists are still endless. A natural ancient banyan tree can become a paid attraction? I think it’s probably the most ‘weird’ tourist attraction in Guangxi. What’s the charm of this tree?
It’s a banyan tree that is 1400 years old. Guangxi has many banyan trees, and this tree is special because it’s the filming location for the movie ‘Liutao’, where Liutao and An Nu Ge had their romantic meeting. It was also known as ‘Love Tree’.
In Guilin’s Zhuang ethnic legends, Liutao is a beautiful song fairy. Around her there are many beautiful and legendary stories. When people talk about Guilin, they can think of Li River, mountains and rivers, Zhuang people, and beautiful Liutao. It can be said that Liutao has become a specific cultural symbol of Guilin. The later movie ‘Liutao’ directed by Zhang Yimou’s ‘Impression Liutao’ live-action dance drama is also a manifestation of this cultural symbol.
Therefore, this iconic banyan tree has become a tourist attraction for people to seek the footprints of Liutao. When you come to Guilin Yangshuo, and come to the Ten Mile Gallery, you can’t miss this banyan tree. Especially for many couples, they specifically come here to check in, hoping their love can be as pure and beautiful as Liutao and An Nu Ge.
This 1400-year-old banyan tree is really big, as soon as you enter the attraction, you can see a green giant umbrella far away, when you get to the foot of the tree, you feel a green overwhelming. Looking at the introduction, this banyan tree is 17 meters tall, the tree circumference is 7 meters, and the shaded area is more than 1000 square meters. Because the banyan tree is really huge, in order to protect the ancient tree, people set up many small sticks to support the banyan tree branches, like many pillars in a giant building.
Because of Liutao’s charm, 90% of the tourists who come to Yangshuo Ten Mile Gallery will come to see this banyan tree. Coupled with Yangshuo being a popular tourist destination, even with a 20 yuan ticket, the banyan tree attraction is still constantly crowded with tourists.
So, have you been to Guilin Yangshuo? What impression do you have of Yangshuo? If you come to travel, would you like to spend 20 yuan to see this ‘love tree’ at the banyan tree attraction?
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