Guilin resumes ancient river cruises

Guilin, one of China's most famous tourist cities, has just finished a two-year project to clear its waterways and resume scenic cruises.

Guilin, with a history of more than 2,000 years, is renowned for its green mountains, clear water and strangely-shaped limestone formations.

In addition to the two rivers running through the city, Lijiang and Taohua, there are four lakes in its urban area. Cruises along the Lijiang River have been the most important tourist attraction in the city.

The city's water system was once navigable, according to historical records. However, the urbanization process had blocked the waterways.

Now that the system is smoothed out, Guilin has some 400,000 square meters of lake in the urban area, with the cleanest lake water of any Chinese city.

The project has not only greatly enhanced the tourist charm of Guilin, but also contributed to the urban environment.

According to the municipal environmental protection department, the city borrowed from the World Bank to treat sewage problems while dredging the water system over the past two years.

There used to be 47 sewage discharge outlets around Ronghu, Shanhu and Guihu, the city's three major lakes, and residents living nearby contributed more than 20,000 tons of untreated water into the lakes each day, causing a serious pollution.

With the completion of the face-lift project, the environmental problem has been solved with the building of two sewage treatment plants and a pollution discharge pipeline.