Guilin Li River Mural Hill

Mural Hill is located 61 kilometers (37.8miles) from Guilin city. Standing 536.3 meters (333 miles) high, Mural Hill is a cliff rising abruptly above the water. Its full name is “Nine Horse Mural Hill” and is named because of the naturally shaped images of nine horses in different positions on the cliff.

It is said that anyone who can recognize all nine horses will be the Number One Scholar (the title conferred on the one placing first in the highest imperial examination in the Confucian era. The image of the ninth horse can only be seen by looking down on the hill from the sky.

A beautiful legend exists about the horses on the mountain. The legend tells the story of a herdsman from the Heaven who brought his horses to Lijiang River. An artist happened to see those horses and wanted to draw them. Unfortunately, the horses were so scared of him that they ran into the cliff and never came out again. People say that it is hard to point out the exact image for each horse because the horses were from Heaven.

Mural Hill has been a powerful inspiration for poets and artists since Tang Dynasty. A famous scholar in Qing Dynasty, Mr. Ruan Yuan visited Mural Hill five times when he was Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Province . He wrote that he would rather be a Magistrate of Yangshou County in order to be close to Mural Hill.

Recommended Guilin Tours Including a Visit of Li River