Scenes from the City of Guilin

2. Li River

Three hundred million years ago the sea swallowed this region. When it reemerged, and the exposed limestone became sculpted by acidic rain, mist, and wind-blown dust. These karsts peaks then got sliced apart and honed into immense pillars over the last two million years. The result has become a forest of stone shafts and crags that seem to have grown straight up from the banks of the Li River, topping out at heights of 200 to 300 feet.