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Guilin's Fubo Hill

Guilin’s Fubo Hill Park

My Mother came to Guilin to visit me and my new baby last month. She knew of Guilin’s famous scenery and asked me what we could go see. Last year we took the Li River cruise, so we decided to check out Guilin’s five famous mountains.


The first one we visited we Fubo Hill. Its name means Folded Brocade Hill because the mountain looks like layers of folded brocade. The park is rather small, but very nice and offers wonderful views of Guilin and the Li River. The Park’s namesake, Fubo Hill is located right on the bank of the Li River. The hill, like most of Guilin’s hills is filled with caves. The park area surrounding the hill is nicely landscaped. It features meandering paths that are well maintained and pass under sprawling banyian trees and topiaries.


The hill itself has stairs that lead to the top. My Mother and I climbed the hill to enjoy the view. Halfway up the hill is a small pavilion which looks over the surounding neighborhoods. The weather was really hot, but there was a very nice breeze there so we sat for a while and cooled down. We then continued our climb to the top of the hill. From the pavilion on top of the hill we got a spectacular view of Guilin City and the Li River. The day was very clear and we could see for quite a long distance. The Li River was high and the passing rafts made for wonderful photos. Since we were so high, and with the lovely weather we could see all of the mountains scattered around Guilin City. It really is a beautiful place!


We saw a man fishing with a weighted net. He would repeatedly throw it into the water and scoop it up when it hit the bottom. We didn’t see him get any fish, but it was really fun to watch. There were also lots of people swimming in the area. We saw one man carrying a bucket along the shore for quite a while. He jumped into the water with the bucket and swam to a rock. We thought it was odd that this guy went swimming with a bucket, so we watched him. When he got to the rock he pulled a large turtle out of the water and let it swim around him. He had a string tied to the turtle and the two of them went swimming around the rock. I guess he was taking his turtle for a walk, or a swim, or whatever. After a while he put the turtle back into the bucket and swam with it back to the shore. He got out of the water and walked back where he had come from. That was something I have definetely never seen before. After watching the turtle guy we climbed back down Fubo Hill.


When we got to the bottom of Fubo Hill and went down into the caves. The cave was wonderfully cool and had a nice breeze blowing through it. The cave has several passages and some rooms. One room has been transformed into a shop, so we skipped that. Another passage leads up into the Thousand Buddha Cave. The cave opens outside and overlooks the Li River. The cave is filled with hundreds of Buddhist statues from the Tang Dynasty. It is always cool to look at something created over a thousand years ago. My Mother took lots of photos of them before we left that part of the cave. We then went through another passage and ended up outside on the backside of Fubo Hill. This is my favorite part of Fubo Hill. There is a stone that comes down and almost touches the ground. The stone is called Sword Testing Stone and it is said that an ancient general tested the power of his sword by chopping through the stone. The surrounding area is covered with ancient engravings and more Buddhist carvings. From this area we could see the fishermen on their bamboo rafts much better.


Fubo Hill Park is a small park and only takes about two hours to see, but it is a very nice little park. It is beautifully maintained, and Fubo Hill is filled with carvings, and best of all, my Mother enjoyed it a lot.

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Photos

Ancient Temple Bell
This is an ancient Qing Dynasty bell in Guilin's Fubo Park. It is really big and covered with inscriptions.

Buddhist Carvings
This is just a few of the many carvings in Fubo Hill's Thousand Buddha's Cave. They are really beautiful. Some are so old and worn that you can just see the basic shape. Some have worn away completely.

Crowds at Fubo Hill
Fubo Hill being one of Guilin's most popular sites always has large crowds.

Scholars Conversing
The carving is of two scholars conversing. Their conversation is carved in the stone below them. The inscription is centuries older than the carvings. the inscription is so famous that someone carved the two scholars. Even this was centuries ago.

Sword Testing Stone
Legend has it that an ancient general tested his famous sword on this stone and cleaved it in two. It is a favorite photo spot for visitors.

Fiew of Diecai Hill from Fubo Hill
This is a view from the to of Fubo Hill. The long hill in the distance is Diecai Hill, our next stop.