Guangxi Travel: Liuzhou Longtan Park

On the morning of October 24, 2024, after breakfast, I took bus 25 and transferred to bus 19 to reach Liuzhou Longtan Park. Longtan Park is another famous Liuzhou sight, once an entry-fee attraction but now free to all. Longtan Park is a 4A scenic area in Yufeng District, Liuzhou, located in the southern part of town just three kilometers from the city centre. Planned to cover about 544 hectares, it combines karst natural landscapes, southern Chinese ethnic culture and subtropical karst plant scenery into one large scenic reserve. Also known as the Dalongtan Scenic Area, it lies in the southern urban fringe, close to the centre, blending karst views, southern minority customs and lush subtropical karst plants. The park is densely forested and ringed by hills; its twenty-four peaks—including Wohu Mountain (Crouching Tiger), Meinv Peak (Beauty Peak) and Kongque Mountain (Peacock Mountain)—each have distinctive forms. Clear water cascades into Jinghu (Mirror Lake), and the temperatures of Longtan (Dragon Pool) and Leitan (Thunder Pool) stay constant, so in the depths of winter steam rises from them, a phenomenon known as 'Misty Rain over the Twin Pools.' Ancient trees shade the grounds, hills enclose the site like a natural shield, and the twenty-four oddly shaped peaks rise among one lake (Jinghu), two pools (Longtan and Leitan) and four valleys. A spring bursts from the cliff face of Lei Mountain and flows between Lei and Long mountains to form Longtan, anciently called Leitang (Thunder Pond); close by, Leitan is linked to it via an underground river. The lucid pool water spills over the 'Eight Dragons Snow Cascade Dam' into Jinghu, then winds through the park like a swimming dragon before disappearing into a cave beneath Penglian Hill outside the grounds. Lei and Long mountains face each other across the water. Legend says the gods of thunder and dragon dwelled here and ruled the rain, so the place was known as the 'Dragon and Thunder Sacred Realm.' On the cliff is a poem inscribed by Ming-dynasty Vice Minister of War and one of the Eight Sages of Liuzhou, Zhang Chong: 'Below the mountain a clear spring emerges, in the woods life stirs on all sides. If I could couch on the cold clouds, I’d need no search for Penglai.' Thus the 'Dragon Pool Wonderland' is likened to the fairy isles. The great Tang writer and Governor of Liuzhou, Liu Zongyuan, once prayed for rain here and left behind the 'Prayer for Rain at Leitang,' still handed down. Memorial buildings—a Rain-Prayer Stele Pavilion, an altar and Leitang Temple—now stand on the site. Other historical traces include Zhang Chong's angling spot, the 'Zhang Fishing Platform,' the Ming scholar Luo Zhiding's study 'Ceshanglou,' and the Longshan Liyuzui shell-midden ancient human site. Beyond the two main hills, every peak in the park has a storied name, shaped by resemblance or legend: the lifelike 'Tiger Leaping over Dragon Pool' at Wohu Mountain, 'Cowherd Playing a Flute' at Mutong Mountain, 'Green Lion Frolicking with a Pearl' at Yangshi Mountain, and 'Beauty Looking in a Mirror' at Meinv Peak, among other enchanting vistas. Spanning Jinghu is the Longtan Fengyu (Wind-and-Rain) Bridge, an imitation timber reinforced-concrete covered bridge designed after the Chengyang Wind-and-Rain Bridge in Sanjiang. With its upturned eaves, the bridge is highly distinctive. Nearby, the nine-storey Drum Tower rises as a square pagoda: flared eaves, tiered pavilions, glazed tiles, gourd-shaped finial, dignified and solemn. Inside, a covered corridor spirals upward, with a 'signal drum' hung overhead—recalling how the Dong people beat drums to muster, yet also inviting visitors to climb and gaze into the distance. We entered through the north gate at 9 a.m., went first to Dalongtan (Big Dragon Pool), then strolled along the lake to the Wind-and-Rain Bridge, crossed it, returned along the lake to the north gate, and departed the park at noon. We caught bus 19 to Liuzhou Jiangbin Park.