The water level of China’s famous scenic attraction, the Lijiang River in Guilin, Guangxi Province, is at the lowest level in 50 years. Part of the river course has dried up so much that riverbed rocks have been exposed. The famous golden waterway, which attracts millions of native and foreign tourists every year, no longer exists.
Guilin City is experiencing a drought and has had almost no rain since the fall. Consequently, the water level of the famous Lijiang River is visibly lower and riverbed stones are exposed in some areas. What used to be an 83 km-tour route has been reduced to about 10 km of waterway.
Tourist boats are seldom seen now. The famous tourist route of Lijiang beside Jiumahua Mountain is almost dried up. One of Guilin’s top scenic spots, Xiangbi Mountain (Elephant Trunk Mountain, the top picture of the article) sits beside a muddy riverbed.
In October, water from the Si'anjiang Reservoir was supplied to the Lijiang River. However, the Guilin locals can still pick shellfish from the exposed riverbed. Sources revealed that as of November, the drought has affected over 144,000 hectares in Guanxi Province, and approximately 530,000 people are experiencing water shortages.
