Elephant Trunk Hill
The landscape of Guilin downtown is centered on two rivers, four lakes, three hills and two caves, and the Elephant Trunk Hill is one of the most representative hills. At the southern part of Guilin, Elephant Trunk Hill is located at the western bank of Li River. With an elevation of 600 feet (200 m), the hill towers 165 feet (55m) above the water, it simply resembles an elephant dipping its snout into the river. Nowadays Elephant Trunk Hill is regarded as the symbol of Guilin landscape because of its vivid figure, thus it’s also the travel logo of Guilin city.
Elephant Trunk Hill is a charming Guilin attraction. First, its natural shape is very interesting, because it resembles an elephant drinking water, giving people a lot of imagination. In 2006, Guilin Elephant Trunk Hill became a friendly scenic spot with the Etretat scenic spot in Normandy, France. Furthermore, it creates a water moon between the nose and legs of the hill, the scene is amazing especially when the night is coming and the moon is looking at it.
Facts
- In Chinese: 象鼻山
- Address: No.1 Binjiang Road, Elephant Hill Scenic Area, Xiangshan District, Guilin
- Opening time:
06:30 – 19:00 (Apr 1st to Oct 31st)
07:00 – 18:30 (the rest of the year)
- Best time to visit: all year round
- Entrance fee: RMB70
Legend
A legend tells that an elephant, which belonged to the Emperor of Heaven, came down to earth to help the people in their work. This angered the Emperor of Heaven, who stabbed the elephant while it was drinking at the river's edge and turned it to stone. The cave between the body and the trunk of this elephant figure is of a particularly interesting shape and has inspired poets and other writers, old and new, to engrave verses on its walls. The poems of Lo You, Fan Chengda, and other poets from different dynasties are of inestimable literary and archaeological value. On the top of the hill stands the Puxian Pagoda, erected during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and shaped as the handle of the dagger with which the elephant was killed.
What to See?
Water Moon Hole. It’s located between the nose and legs of the elephant. About 12,000 years ago, the Li River shrank as the earth's crust rose, accelerating the development of the Water Moon Hole and forming a transparent circle with 17 meters long, 9.5 meters wide and 12 meters high.
Chaoyang Pavilion. In the Elephant Hill Water Moon Cave, built in the Song dynasty, but the pavilion is abandoned now. But the pavilion recorded many poems from ancient celebrities and poets to visit the Elephant Trunk Hill, very memorable and meaningful. These poems spread to the world and aroused the yearning of many poets and literati for the wonderful mountains and beautiful waters in Guilin, which made Guilin very famous in ancient times.
Puxian Pagoda. The Puxian (Bodhisattva) Pagoda at the top of the mountain was built in the Ming dynasty to honor bodhisattva. Bodhisattva had a wish that he would help all the people and make the Buddha's light shine in all directions. There are only two pagodas dedicated to Bodhisattva in China, one on Mount Emei in Sichuan Province and the other on the Elephant Trunk Hill in Guilin. It’s a lama-style solid brick pagoda with a height of 13.6 meters. The octagonal shape was adopted because the ancients believed that the sky was round and the earth was square with eight directions.
Legend of Elephant Trunk Hill. It is a real scene magic show with the scenic spot entity as the carrier, using hypermedia, laser, lighting and other technologies to create. The show gives a three-dimensional display of Guilin’s landscape and historical culture through four theme chapters including the Ancient Guilin, the Mysterious Village, the Phantom Theater and the Legend of Holy Elephant.
How to Get to Elephant Trunk Hill?
It’s close to the center of Guilin downtown, we recommend you taking bus or walking there. Bus 2, 16, 23 or Sightseeing Bus 1 runs to Xiangshan Park Stop, get off and you can easily find the hill.
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