Green Monuments
This scene along the River Li looks (to me at least!) a bit like a humid, green version of Arizona's dusty dry Monument Valley - you might need to squint a bit?
Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate types such as limestone or dolomite. Subterranean rivers, cave systems and extravagant surface deformation due to weathering (all found along the Li River) are examples of some of the features found in karst scenery.
The pinnacle in the centre appears to lean unsupported to the left. But on closer inspection of the image, an almost-white cliff with a vertical edge can be seen under the darker vegetation, holding up the edifice.
South China Karst, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the world’s most spectacular examples of humid tropical to sub-tropical karst landscapes. It is a serial site spread over the provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan and Chongqing and covers 176,228 hectares. It contains the most significant types of karst landforms, including tower karst, pinnacle karst and cone karst formations, along with other spectacular characteristics such as natural bridges, gorges and large cave systems. The Guilin Karst component in Guangxi province is located within Lijiang National Park and contains fenglin (tower) and fengcong (cone) karst formations.
I took this image close to the end of a leisurely boat ride down the Li River near Guilin in the summer of 1984. Scanned from a negative.
Green Monuments
This scene along the River Li looks (to me at least!) a bit like a humid, green version of Arizona's dusty dry Monument Valley - you might need to squint a bit?
Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate types such as limestone or dolomite. Subterranean rivers, cave systems and extravagant surface deformation due to weathering (all found along the Li River) are examples of some of the features found in karst scenery.
The pinnacle in the centre appears to lean unsupported to the left. But on closer inspection of the image, an almost-white cliff with a vertical edge can be seen under the darker vegetation, holding up the edifice.
South China Karst, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the world’s most spectacular examples of humid tropical to sub-tropical karst landscapes. It is a serial site spread over the provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan and Chongqing and covers 176,228 hectares. It contains the most significant types of karst landforms, including tower karst, pinnacle karst and cone karst formations, along with other spectacular characteristics such as natural bridges, gorges and large cave systems. The Guilin Karst component in Guangxi province is located within Lijiang National Park and contains fenglin (tower) and fengcong (cone) karst formations.
I took this image close to the end of a leisurely boat ride down the Li River near Guilin in the summer of 1984. Scanned from a negative.