Poetry and peaks draw tourists to Liuzhou

Encircled by green mountains and the Liujiang River, Liuzhou is a popular tourist destination in China with beautiful natural scenes and a storied cultural background.

Talented and popular poets praised Liuzhou in their writing, such as Liu Zongyuan, a renowned poet in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 to 907 ).

"Trees over hills cover almost everything, and the river meanders through the city," he wrote.

Xu Xiake, a famous geographer and traveler during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) wrote in his travel notes: "Thousands of peaks stand around the city, a flowing river embraces the town", giving a vivid depiction of the city's style and features.

Liuzhou was the last residence of Liu Zongyuan, who was appointed a governor of the city.

Now, Liu Zongyuan's Temple, which includes his hat and clothes as well as inscriptions on tablets and carved stones from different dynasties, are still well protected. They attract a large number of visitors each year.

Liuzhou is a popular tourist city, with about 80 percent of 4A and higher-level scenic sites in Guangxi within the radius of 250 km.

In addition to enjoying the reputation as the site for the "World's Best Natural Bonsai", the city is also known as the "Capital of Rare Stone in China".

There are thousands of stone vendors in the city, which is also known as the largest stone distribution center in Southeast Asia.

As the hometown of Liu Sanjie, a popular folk song singer, the site is also where folk songs are shared.

Songs of the Zhuang people, dances of the Yao people, festivals of the Miao people and buildings of the Dong people are well known as the top four unique attractions of the city.

Taking advantage of the Liujiang River, Liuzhou has developed scenic sites along the waterway, such as the Panlong waterfall group, music fountain, riverside sites and lighting projects and a greening project for Dongti Road.

There are 53 museums in the city, of which 24 are listed in the top 100 in Guangxi.

The dish of river snail rice noodles is one of the most famous snacks in Liuzhou.

In addition, there are a number of popular snacks, such as glutinous rice cake with desiccated coconut, lotus paste rock crystal cake, orange corner cake, fried glutinous rice and sugar dumplings, oil lamp shaped steam bread, stuffed bean curd, stuffed mushrooms and dried beancurd sticks with meat balls.

(China Daily 05/27/2016 page23)