[Photo from guilin.com]

Just half an hour’s drive from West Street, Yulong River, also known as the Miniature Lijiang River, is the second largest river in Yangshuo, surpassed only by Lijiang River.

Originating in the Guli River in Lin’gui county, Yulong River flows through over 30 villages in Yangshuo and flows southwards along the Guilin-Yangshuo Highway (National Road 321). It joins Campbell River at the Chuanyan Gurong scenic spot and finally flows into the Lijiang River.

With a total length of 43.5 kilometers and 61 meters wide in parts, the river flows slowly all year round with a normal water flow of about 5 cubic meters per second. There are many dams built along the un-navigable river, which is home to key cultural relics of Yangshuo county.

Yulong River features Xian’gui Bridge, the first ancient bridge in Guangxi; Yulong Bridge, the largest single-arch stone bridge in Guangxi; and Fuli Bridge, a single-arch stone bridge from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Carl Steinitz, Harvard University tenured professor and world-class expert on landscape design, once commented the Yulong River as the most beautiful place in the world after finished an on-foot field trip through the river basin.