RP350 Towering Beauties

 RP350 Towering Beauties

Yangshuo County in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has some truly unique rock formations that make for some of the most interesting geography in the world.
Located in Southeast China, Yangshuo is home to extremely picturesque natural scenery. Its landscape is teeming with unique rock formations that are called karsts. These rocks protrude out of the earth in a big way. They look like stone pillars that have grown to be massive just like a tree might. Strangely enough, the two ingredients for this peculiar geography are extremely simple: water and time.
It took a long time for Yangshuo to inherit its unique geography. Millions of years ago, the Guilin area used to be a gulf. This meant that Guilin's hills were submerged underwater. This water slowly eroded them and fashioned them into pillar shapes. After the water receded, wind and rain continued to eat away at them and contribute to Yangshuo's unique look. Ultimately, the rock formations that we see today in Yangshuo County were tens of millions of years in the making!
There are a few particularly notable karst formations within Yangshuo County. The first of them is called Nine Horse Mural Hill. This landmark is a giant stone cliff that faces the Li River. It got its name from the fact that some people can see nine horses in various poses in the rock patterns. Sunshine reflecting off the cliff face has been known to dazzle spectators with a rainbow of many colors. These colors also change depending on the weather and the time of day.
Elephant Trunk Hill is another famous karst formation in Yangshuo County. It is a limestone arch at the junction of the Li and Taohuajiang rivers. The arch looks like an elephant that has come to drink from the river. Under the arch, there is a crescent-shaped pool that looks like a moon when light strikes it from a certain angle.
While Yangshuo has some of the world's most exquisite karst formations, there are several other worldwide spots that share similar geography. Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and Gunung Mulu in Malaysia are two other popular examples of karst formations that have been dazzling human eyes for thousands of years.